Is Labour getting older? It’s my experience that the party is not involving young people as it must to maintain its novice members. The likely decline in youth membership could be explained by the party’s failure, post-1997, to develop the talent, energy and effervescence of the droves of young members who joined us to help create a better Britain.
In 1997 the desire for change was keenly felt amongst those who had spent most of their lives under a Conservative administration – Thatcher’s children wanted to see what would change under Labour.
Young people were attracted to the ‘New’ element of Labour in 1997. The party, under the modernising direction of Tony Blair, offered an alternative not only to the social isolation and national decline of the Tory years, but also to the introspective Old Labour guard which was perceived as punishing entrepreneurialism and ambition.
Enthusiastic young people tirelessly pounded pavements across the country during the General Election campaign. Their energy contrasted sharply with the tired Tories and provided the defining image of a resurgent national force, the Labour Party, ready to revolutionise dated government institutions. There was a feeling amongst young people, for a short while, that a political party like Labour could be an effective force for change for the better.
It was inevitable that some of the new recruits would drift away once election fever had died down; but a lack of nationwide activity by Young Labour must partly account for the sense of redundancy and subsequent disappearance of young members from the party.
It is not just Young Labour’s lack of action that has turned young people off. Novice members who pluck up the courage to visit their local branch meetings often find that the ‘Blair revolution’ has yet to reach draughty Labour clubs outside London. Some older members have been known to resent what they perceive as interference by ‘upstarts’ and have failed to provide a forum in which the young feel comfortable to express their views on national and local policy.
The spectre of the early 1980s still haunts Labour. The Young Socialists were an acute symptom of the militant hard left that did so much damage to the party’s electoral prospects for the next decade. My politics is not that of the hard left. The return of positive, progressive politics as an exciting force, which young people view as an effective vehicle for positive social change, will only come about as a result of a rejuvenated Young Labour network.
With the next general election possibly less than a year away, it is time now to start to attract back young members and try to get young activists and voters out to support Labour again. It will be difficult to recapture the squandered enthusiasm of 1997, but a future Young Labour leadership could, with funding and support from senior figures at a national and local level, establish a vibrant youth section. Such a youth section must extend activities beyond London and the major urban centres, using regional events as a means of keeping in touch with members. Social events cannot only raise funds and introduce members; they could also provide a valuable forum for young members to voice their concerns about issues important to them.
Young members of today are the leaders of the future. Young people are best placed to know the views of their peers – they understand the anxieties and values of their generation. This unique access must be incorporated into the Labour mainstream – to the advantage of both the party and young people nationally.