The Corbyn Effect
The way we engage politically has drastically changed over the years. Politically charged conversations were something that, to put it lightly, were avoided like the plague in social settings in my youth. Political engagement only came in the form of educational systems that lacked the means to connect youth with the material. Then came the age of new technology and social media activism. Young people found a new way to politically engage that aligned with their daily routine. A morning scroll along Instagram stories and posts filled with infographs on current political climates, socio-political awareness and current news events. Simple yet effective. However this often focuses upon social political issues not the current voting climate.
So what was so different about Jermey Corybn ?
Jermey Corybn had an unbelievably fast connection with the younger population during the 2017 General Elections. Polls taken by The Guardian in the lead up to the elections identified Corbyn as most popular with 18-24 years olds, 25-34 year olds, students and black and minority ethnic voters (Travis, 2017). This was most likely because of the policies Corybn believed in aligned with the interests and needs of these groups. Consider his controversial manifesto released during his 2019 campaign for Prime Minister. It focused on taxing the rich more, more housing, increasing living and public sector wages, free wifi and decreasing the voting age to 16 (BBC News, 2019). When criticised for how he was going to finance this, an age-old question in parliamentary politics, he retaliated at those with financial power for weighing in. He often criticised his own government for holding back on money that could have been put towards helping the general public.
“They don’t own the Labour Party. The people own the Labour Party”- Jermey Corybn, BBC News (BBC News, 2019)
Corbyn loudly and proudly pushed the age old Labour ideal with a level of intensity that UK Politics had not seen in a long time, it’s about putting the people first. This, the intense bravado he spoke with, the confidence to call out his own governments for being corrupt and filled with financial greed struck a cord with the younger demographic of voters. To put it simply, youth were 100% focused on Corbyn both on and offline.
Online, Corybn was a comical sensation. Now most people would think that becoming an internet sensation via memes would do nothing but kill your political career. But for Corbyn it did the exact opposite. These online jokes often centered around his left wing views in comparison to his opponents and at many points, helped him fight this political debate (Parkinson, 2017). Thinking back to the 2017 General Elections again, the internets’ light hearted defense around Corbyn helped fight online smear campaigns from the conservatives (Parkinson, 2017). In response to this, Corbyns younger following stormed to social media trending #LastMinuteCorbynSmears on Twitter with a plethora of comedic conservative call outs such as the photo below (Parkinson, 2017).
(Fig.1 Twitter meme mentioned in Guardian article, Parkinson, 2017)
Twitter memes and hashtag wars might seem like it is doing nothing but trivialising politics at first but in fact it’s helping young people engage. These memes increased the conversation around the general election, whether it is considered legitimate or not, its engagement. Tweets in support of Corbyn, and various hashtags relating to him, were tweeted a grand total of 503,307 times over the general election (Cram etc, 2017). This is 200,000 more times than any hashtags relating to Theresa May (Cram, 2017).
This energy from UK youth in response to Corbyn can even been seen outside the online sphere. Chants of Corbyns name swept UK’s youth like wildfire. The festival scene in the UK had never been so politically charged. No matter what the event, what artist was playing or what area of the UK it took place in, a crowd of youth chanted his name to the tune of the bass line in The White Stripes song Seven Nation Army. This bass line is often a popular choice for football chants, a perfect combination of British culture and mild anarchist behaviour.
(Fig.2,Video: Festival crowds at Glastonbury chanting the politicians, Guardian News, 2017)
Although is does not seem serious, it starts a conversation. That conversation can lead to awareness and that awareness can lead to further more invested engagement than we have ever seen from the youth in the UK. Corbyns impact on the youths political engagement can not be denied. It further shows we, as a country, need to change the ways we try to mobilize our youth.
So why did it not work out ?
The enthusiasm delivered by those who supported Corbyn was impressive to say the least. However, most youths engagement with current political issues, it fizzled out. The same survey that highlighted Corybns strongest supporting groups also noted that those groups are the least likely to show up on voting (Travis, 2017). Other research found similar results in the 2017 elections as the 18-24 bracket had the lowest voter turn out (Curtis, 2017).This was reflected in the landslide results of the 2019 general election that left the conservatives with the majority of the seats and Corbyn on his way out (BBC News, 2019). Research into the UK youth’s disengagement from its country’s politics acknowledges this divide but claims this stems from alienation from the UK’s political systems (Sloam, 2007). This alienation can be fixed. Politics does not stop just because of one flawed system. Research suggests focusing on closing the gap caused by this alienation, consider other forms of mobilization, ensure the young are informed on the issues and empower them through their involvement and focus on the issues that also matter to them (Sloam, 2007). It’s not about political empathy or interest, it’s about making sure the next generation of voices fell heard.
(Fig.3, Survey results on demographics around 2017 election showed the 18-24 to have the lowest turn out, Curtis, 2017)
What can I do ?
If any of you reading are part of this demographic, often portrayed as lazy and uncaring, now is the time to change that. Take the same momentum and same unique engagement tactics that have formed your generation’s voice and make sure the youth of the UK are heard. End the era of trend based involvement and focus on long term change that matters to you. Prove them wrong.
Bibliography
BBC News, 2019. General election 2019: Jeremy Corbyn apologises over heavy Labour defeat. [online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50797729> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
BBC News, 2019. General election 2019: Labour launches ‘radical’ manifesto. [online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50497288> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Cram, L., Llewellyn, C. and Hill, R., 2017. UK General Election 2017: a Twitter Analysis. [online] Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh. Available at: <https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.02271.pdf> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Guardian News, 2017. Glastonbury crowd chant ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ at silent disco. [online] Youtube.com. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lUq0H_cclU> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Curtis, C., 2017. How Britain voted at the 2017 general election | YouGov. [online] Yougov.co.uk. Available at: <https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Parkinson, H., 2017. Was it the Corbyn memes wot won it? Here are some of the best. [online] The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/corbyn-memes-wot-won-it-some-of-the-best> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Sloam, J., 2007. Rebooting Democracy: Youth Participation in Politics in the UK. Parliamentary Affairs, [online] 60(4), pp.548-567. Available at: <https://academic.oup.com/pa/article/60/4/548/1581141?login=true> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
Travis, A., 2017. Guardian/ICM poll: Tories’ 12-point lead offers Labour crumbs of hope. [online] The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/30/guardianicm-poll-tories-12-point-lead-offers-labour-crumbs-of-hope> [Accessed 23 February 2022].
I absolutely agree that youth engagment has been happening more and more online. I think it is really important for politicians to understand this when campaigning and trying to appeal to younger voters. That is why I think Corbyn and Bernie Sanders in the U.S became quite popular but had similarly low voter turn out. While they were popular online, they did not necessarily push for youth voting and engagement as much as they could have.
Hi Kim, I totally agree ! I have followed along with a few of the U.S Election and can see the similarities between Bernie and Corybn. I think they both politician gained traction on the internet for their openness and the photos or videos of them that eventually became memes. It’s interesting to think that online jokes seem to have more persuasion over the younger generations’ political choices than most would think.
I agree political engagement is changing the youth of today don’t see it as just a conversation, you have highlighted that the young people of today have changed the way they politically engage. It’s only natural that when society is changing with the rise in technology young people would adapt to the new society and the way they engage with politics was clearly going to change. Social media activism is their new go to when talking on politics as it is their new way of having the conversations of politics at the dinner table. ‘Alienation’ is a great way to put on why the youth engagement is lacking I agree that politicians need to look for other ways to help the youth engage, by adapting the way politics is spoken about and attempt to find ways that will help reach out and inform the youth to make them feel like there voice is important as the issues that matter to them should be a great part of politics since its their future that is at stake.
What do you think the best way to get the youth involved in politics is? Should politics intertwine with social media more in an attempt to keep the youth engaged?
Hey Jodie,
I was just wondering why you think youth political involvement eventually fizzled out with Corbyn?
Do you think that the fact that social media is too strongly associated with light hearted and superficial means of entertainment and social approval from our friends and peers has anything to do with this? As opposed to being used and thought of as a space for serious political action, conversation and change? Like when you mention in a subtle way that ‘twitter hashtags and meme wars’ may not seem like a ‘serious’ mode of political engagement or may be ‘trivialising’ politics. Maybe they are after all not real enough forms of political participation? What do you think?
And how Corbyn became a ‘comical sensation’ on social media, which is ultimately fun but maybe not far-reaching enough for politics?
This link here supports what I said, if you feel interested, please look:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1354856515592512?casa_token=vkRwX_2xnPIAAAAA%3Ai9PdVhNRtrJTrbLDp0PF5CtViBXTTwgvfMPT5cXCJVmy1uYJ0FxHyrXhBNDTNf27MqLnT767PGmL