British millennials, understand 25-45 year olds, don’t like conservatives. For two thirds of them, the Tories deserve to lose in the next elections of 2024. It is the think tank Onward which affirms it after having carried out a study with this very particular generation. Unlike its elders, this one does not seem to become conservative with age.
The key to understanding this “anomaly” does not lie in a supposed radicality but, in a much more prosaic way, in the growing difficulty in accessing housing and property. This step towards the age of responsibilities and loans over twenty years seems to escape these young people who are accustomed, or rather forced, to rent everything: housing, car and even clothes. And they are angry with the Tories, in power since 2010.
According to Onward, it was precisely that year that their political breakdown took place, with broad electoral consequences. But this disaffection does not make them potential revolutionaries. Quite the contrary. It would suffice if the conditions for first-time buyers were more favorable for them to end up being satisfied with their fate. In terms of economics and taxation, British millennials say they prefer low taxes and a job in a large company. Which makes them, according to Onward, “timid capitalists”.
This report has already given ideas to the Tory party whose Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is, shall we say, the least unpopular leader since Brexit. His advisors whisper to him to put the turbo on housing construction and low-interest loans and, also, to stop talking about immigration. “Conservatives really need to prepare for the time, not too far away, when these millennials will be the heart of the electorate,” said Sebastian Payne, director of Onward. According to him, apart from the creation of housing, it is also necessary to facilitate rental by restoring the rights of tenants annihilated under Thatcher and to develop maternity and paternity leave, as well as aid for childcare. Today, in Great Britain, public crèches are reserved for the poorest while private structures are only accessible to the wealthiest. The middle class, on the other hand, considers itself abandoned by the public authorities. To save the fate of the conservatives in the next election, Sunak, himself a millennial, therefore only has a short year ahead of him.