UK Political Parties’ Youth Factions: A Glance at the Future of Political Parties

Emily Rainsford

doi:10.1093/pa/gsx040

Abstract

After a long decline in membership in political parties across Western democracies, parties in the UK have seen an upsurge, especially in young members. Surprisingly, few studies have explored young members of political parties. This article addresses this gap and examines the following: Who are the young party activists? What do they think about politics? What are their motivations for political participation? This article draws on a unique dataset of activists in the three main parties youth factions in the UK. It finds that the youth faction activists have very similar socioeconomic backgrounds, perceive themselves to be politically effective and hold quite positive views about politicians. The analysis also shows that these young people do not consider their youth faction to be the only way for them to influence politics and are not self-interestedly motivated—that is, joining to begin or advance a political career. Finally, the article proposes improvements as to how political parties, and their youth factions, engage with young people in order to secure their future viability.

Highlights

IntroductionFew studies have explored young members of political parties
The analysis follows the themes found in the literature on members in political parties and youth factions discussed above and explore the demographics, political efficacy attitudes and motivations of the Youth Factions (YFs) activists
Who are the youth faction activists? Most literature asks why young people do not participate in formal politics, and this leads to a gap in our knowledge about members and activists in political parties’ youth factions

Summary

Introduction

Few studies have explored young members of political parties This article addresses this gap and examines the following: Who are the young party activists? We know even less about why young people engage in formal politics, such as political parties and their youth factions This article addresses this gap by asking why (some) young people participate in political parties’ youth factions. Whether their membership in parties is increasing or not, it is important to understand who these young members are, and what motivates them to participate in politics

Objectives

Results

Conclusion