Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Far-right parties are surging across Europe — and young voters are buying in.

Many parties with anti-immigrant agendas are even seeing support from first-time young voters in the upcoming June 6-9 European Parliament election.

In Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and Finland, younger voters are backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, analyses of recent elections and research of young people’s political preferences suggest.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters. In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

The analysis also points to a split: While young women often reported support for the Greens and other left-leaning parties, anti-migration parties did particularly well among young men. (Though there are some exceptions. See France, below, for example.)

  • TinidrilEnglish
    31·
    27 days ago

    I’m not sure why you assume I don’t know who’s pulling the strings. However, the impact of those who don’t vote is dwarfed by the impact of those who vote for the wrong candidates. I know it’s liberal orthodoxy to write off a ton of voters completely, but I think that’s a mistake.

    If I have to blame voters for the predicament we’re in now, I would have to land on Biden voters in the 2020 primary. It’s hard to blame them though without blaming corporate mainstream media that lied constantly about electability in the general.

    As for why Trump became president in 2016, I think the failures of the Obama presidency are pretty relevant. Obama ran as a reformer in 2008, and voters turned out for him in massive numbers. Then Obama betrayed them by being the most milquetoast establishment President possible.

    There is plenty of blame to go around, but none of that interests me. What I care about is, what strategies might dig us out of this mess. Voters shaming is not a viable strategy, and it’s more likely to drive voters away than help.

    The other big thing that voter shamers don’t get is that we don’t just need people to show up at the polls. Democrats tend to write off the youth vote because they vote in lower numbers than other demographics. However, when it comes to phone banking, knocking on doors, or marching in the streets, youth far outstrip other demographics. Enthusiasm is critical, and voter shaming destroys it. Whatever grassroots movement was behind Biden is utterly dead, and Zionist Biden is responsible.

    • TigrisMorte@kbin.social
      41·
      27 days ago

      I tore your entire bullshit position to shreds, so you whined a lot about unrelated crap in an effort to distract from your having no leg to stand on.

      • TinidrilEnglish
        21·
        27 days ago

        That’s an interesting take. Let me know if anyone lets you know that they decided to vote Biden because of voter shaming. I won’t hold my breath