First-time voter CAITLIN CLIFFORD speaks to other General Election first-time voters about whether they will vote next Thursday, and about what issues really matter to them, discovering  just how unpopular the son of a tool-maker is with sixth-formers 

X marks the spot: some Croydon first-time voters have been put off taking part in the General Election

After weeks of politicians refusing to answer the questions they were asked, and ever-increasing numbers of Conservatives being investigated as part of the growing betting scandal, the election is now almost here.

And along with several million more young people who are now eligible to vote, though with many of them having a reputation for not being politically engaged, we set out to examine how Croydon’s newest voters are feeling about the process.

For anyone born between 2002 and 2006, this will be their first General Election in their lifetime when they have been old enough to vote. Yet many of them probably won’t bother.

Polls suggest 40% of under-35s have no intention to vote, with under-25s even less likely to vote. In contrast, 16% of 35-to-65-year-olds say they won’t vote – suggesting 84% will. The vast majority of over-60s do intend to vote.

Older voters turning out more than the young is a common trend and explains why many complain that the larger political parties only cater to pensioners, although they still have no clear plans regarding the ever-increasing social care crisis.

Recent YouGov polls suggest the most important issues to Britain’s voters are the cost of living, health, economy and immigration.

But for younger voters specifically, the issues centre around the cost-of-living crisis (a key issue for 49% of under-25s v 31% of over-65s), the housing crisis (20% of under-25s v 7% of over-65s), climate change (20% of under-25s v 12% of over-65s) and the conflict in Gaza (14% of under-25s v 1% of over-65s).

These issues were echoed by several young people I spoke to.

Leo, 18, a state college student from Carshalton and Wallington’s key motivations for voting are the cost-of-living crisis and the state of the NHS. “I want to give people an equal chance at living a good life by voting the Tories out,” he said.

“The Conservative Party has made living in the UK more and more impossible and unbearable for many.”

He is also concerned by the “ridiculous” treatment waiting times and the “irresponsibly handled” NHS budget. Leo says that he hopes Labour will fix the mess made of the NHS under the Tories.

Ria is 18 and has just finished her A levels at a private sixth form after having previously attended state schools. From the north of Croydon, Ria agrees with Leo’s approach of voting for a better future, although she lacks confidence in her MP, Steve Reed, and Labour generally. “I don’t agree with the Labour manifesto, but the Tories have been in power since I was four and all I can see is a more divided country, with more femicide, more sexism, more racism and more general upset. We need change.”

Tommy, 20, now studying at a university outside London, went to a state school in Croydon. He says that he will be voting “to make a difference”.

Age difference: YouGov’s polling on important issues between the 18-25s (red) and the over-65s (purple)

The climate crisis is still a key issue for 20% of under-25s, including Leah, 18, who is now working, having finished her state education in Croydon South this year. She is planning to vote, explaining: “The Tories need to be out of power. I would hate Labour to get in also. Vote Green.”

Leah says that she used to have much greater faith in Labour, but like others of her age group, she has a growing frustration with political inaction on climate change. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the very ordinary “son of a toolmaker” Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, although she commented that at least he doesn’t prove his “normality” by claiming the absence of Sky TV as a child to have been a great sacrifice.

Hands up: Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell speaking to a large audience of politically engaged sixth-formers. Few in the audience like Starmer

I saw this first-hand attending an A Level Politics Conference with my school earlier this year – an event which saw speakers ranging from Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the former director of Liberty (who shamelessly plugged her book throughout her talk), and Lord Alf Dubs, who fled to England on the Kindertransport in 1939 and has worked tirelessly since on policies helping child refugees, to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who bemoaned that he was not the most right-wing person there, as he followed Richard Tice, the chairman of Reform UK. It all culminated with The Rest Is Politics podcast hosts, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart.

During the conference, one speaker asked who actually liked Starmer.

They saw a mere handful of students raise their hands despite the audience consisting of hundreds of students. The speaker then asked who would vote for Starmer purely to get rid of the Conservatives. The vast majority of hands went up, except for some attendees from the ultra-posh schools (most of whom seemed to be based in Cheltenham, from what I heard) who looked scandalised by the very notion of voting for Labour.

It reminded me of the time I overheard a Whitgift boy, with an unnaturally posh accent even for that school, scoff that “you can’t vote for Labour if you go to a private school”. A statement disproved by Starmer’s own cabinet.

However, while the majority of those I spoke with are planning to vote, overall fewer than half of all 18-to-24-year-olds are expected to vote next Thursday.

Deric, 19, who is on a gap year between finishing his state education in Croydon last year and starting at university in September, is one of those intending not to vote. Deric studied politics in the sixth form.

Join the dots: the difference in views between the generations is marked

Rather than convincing him of the importance of voting, Deric says learning about electoral systems led to him feeling “disheartened”. He told me: “So many votes are wasted by First-Past-The-Post, so when you live in a safe seat, you don’t see the point.” Three of Croydon’s four parliamentary seats being contested next week are reckoned to be overwhelmingly “safe” seats.

Deric said that he is also “disillusioned with governments that don’t prioritise key issues of the public”.

Bakari, 18, who is planning to start university in September having finished his private education in Croydon, disagrees with this attitude, arguing that voting is “one of the most important things you can do, especially at such a tumultuous time in UK Politics”.

Purr-fect candidate: who would get Larry’s vote?

Bakari said that it’s important to stay “informed about what’s going on in government… even if you’re not politics crazy”.

With a landslide victory predicted for Labour next week, it is likely young people will play a part in helping Starmer get the keys to Downing Street and responsibility for Larry the Downing Street cat (who, if he were human, would be just half a year off being old enough to vote).

But with Nigel Farage being the most popular political leader on TikTok, and growing frustration surrounding the climate and the conflict in Gaza, Starmer would do well to stop taking the young for granted and start praying for the levels of popularity with them that his predecessor attracted in 2017.

And younger voters, myself included, would do well to remember that we can’t honestly complain that politicians don’t listen to us if we can’t even be bothered to vote.

• Why vote? Listen to our special edition of The Croydon Insider podcast, where our panel of experts answer young people’s questions about the importance of taking part in the General Election on July 4 – this episode is FREE to download from Spotify or our Patreon page. For more details, and links, click here now
  

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