It’s a snapshot of a generation turning away from the traditional parties, drawn instead to movements that promise to break with the political establishment altogether.
But this isn’t about fickle voting patterns. It’s about a democracy built for another century that hasn’t kept pace with the people it serves.
The internet rewired how we live, work, and organise. It gave everyone a voice, and with it, a sense of agency. Yet our voting system still tells millions of people that those voices don’t count.
A handful of swing seats decide the outcome, while everyone else - and especially younger people - is left watching from the sidelines.
It’s no surprise that frustration finds an outlet in protest parties and extremes. When people feel ignored, they look for someone, anyone, who promises to break the system open.
That’s why Votes at 16 is both exciting and necessary, but also deeply risky.
It’s right that we trust young people with a say in their future. But unless we fix the machinery of democracy itself, we’ll only be showing them, from their very first election, that their voices don’t really matter.
For the most part, young people expect responsiveness, transparency, and honesty. They live in networks, not hierarchies. They know how to organise without waiting for permission. But our institutions still treat politics like a closed shop.
If we want democracy to survive this century, it has to evolve as fast as the society it serves. That means:
Our country isn’t short of energy or ideas. What it’s short of is a system capable of hearing them.
Let’s change that, so that frustration and division is no longer the new normal.
All the best,
Conor
Conor McKenzie
Digital Engagement Manager, Open Britain
P.S. If you share our belief that young people deserve a democracy that works for them, please chip in to support our work. Every contribution helps us grow the movement and campaign for the change Britain needs to make every voice count.
