Why more Gen Z could vote for Farage and it could be what we all deserve

Voting for extreme parties or not voting at all – all eyes will be on what Generation Z and millennials are doing this election. But, don’t blame us if we rebel, says Zing Tsjeng – we feel betrayed and taken for granted, and everyone will pay the price, not just us…

Nigel Farage poses for pictures at a pub in Blackpool before England’s match against Denmark at Euro 2024 (Reuters)

If you want to understand how politicians treat young people, last Thursday’s debate told you everything you need to know. A 19-year-old University of York student deigned to ask Rishi Sunak: “Is there any policy you can offer me that would positively impact my life and the life of people my age?” With seconds left on the clock, Sunak feebly answered: “When you get a job, I’m going to cut your taxes.” The prime minister’s response completely missed the point: that this undergraduate, already burdened with enormous debt, was most likely worrying about finding a decent job at all. And yet the next day, Times columnist Camilla Long scathingly noted this exchange had all the hallmarks of a “sense of hurt entitlement and rage: me, me, me”.

From politicians to commentators, nobody seems to be that fussed about young people in this country, which is why, come 4 July, we shouldn’t be surprised if the young aren’t that fussed about them either.

As someone who worked for a succession of youth media companies, I’m well-acquainted with the suspicion that accompanies any mention of “yoof” politics. The cliche is that everyone is born idealistic and left wing, before accumulating a spouse, house and children. It’s a sentiment epitomised by that widely misattributed Winston Churchill line: “If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.”