Story of a vote unforetold: young people, youth activism and the UK general election

This article by Dr Shakuntala Banaji and Sam Mejias, LSE The UK election result which came out on June 9th 2017 was a surprise to even seasoned commentators. Instead of backing a Conservative government with an austerity agenda and a track record of punitive measures against young people and refugees – removal of housing benefits, higher and higher fees, soaring house prices and rents, zero hour contracts – almost half of the British electorate turned instead to the Labour Party with an unashamedly social democratic set of policies in its manifesto. And, given that the UK mainstream media, including rightwing commentators from inside the Labour party, had spent much of the past two years misrepresenting, mocking, belittling, trolling, undermining and delegitimizing Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters, this seemed like a momumental upset to some, a phenomenal victory to others. So, what accounts for the swing towards Labour?