OPINION - UK: ‘Strong and stable’ to ‘weak and wobbly’

By Mustafa al-Dabbagh

- The writer, who mostly covers issues related to the Middle East and particularly Iraq, is a London-based independent researcher and political commentator.

LONDON (AA) - It would be fair to say that the hung parliament that resulted from last Thursday’s general elections sent shockwaves throughout the British political establishment.

Channel 4’s Jon Snow summed it up pretty well by using a line from a well-known TV show by saying: “I know nothing. We, the media, the pundits, the experts, know nothing.”

Although to some it may not have come as a complete shock. The past three years we have learnt to expect the unexpected during election campaigns, from the Brexit referendum to the U.S. and French presidential elections.

When the election was announced, everyone, myself included, thought it was a foregone conclusion. The Conservative party’s lead over Labour was in double figures. Many had written off Jeremy Corbyn as unelectable and his policies labelled as too extreme and “risked taking the country back to the 1970s”.

Many experts and pollsters predicted that the Conservative Party would gain between 30 to 70 seats, and that the Labour Party would drop down to a measly 100 or so.

What transpired, however, through the weeks of campaigning was the complete opposite. Week after week, we saw the lead of the Conservative Party slashed. Labour chose to launch a manifesto which it claimed was “for the many and not the few”.

The party promised to abolish student loans, renationalize the railway and to tax higher earners. Each rally held by Jeremy Corbyn saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people attend.

On the other hand, the Conservative Party, led by the incumbent Prime Minister Theresa May, decided to run a campaign more presidential in style and focus more on the fact Mrs. May would be able to provide “strong and stable leadership”.

It also suggested that she would be the person to secure the best deal for the United Kingdom during the negotiations to leave the European Union.

What became apparent throughout was that the Conservative campaign was not going as well as they first thought.

-Campaign errors

From their catastrophic manifesto launch, which brought forward a policy some people dubbed a “dementia tax”, to her refusal to attend televised debates with other party leaders, the “strong and stable” brand was starting to crumble and was labelled by many on social media as “weak and wobbly”.

What was even more upsetting to the status quo was the monumental increase in the youth vote.

Those aged between 18-25 turned out in droves. Early estimates put the turnout at a phenomenal 72 percent, dwarfing that of the 2015 general election, which was, rather embarrassingly, only 43 percent. One Conservative MP was heard saying jokingly: "We never, ever, ever, ever want another election and we want to raise the voting age to 40."

Labour’s clever use of social media is to be commended. Using targeted advertisements and tongue-in-cheek posts and memes drew in a large audience, and engagement with the party skyrocketed.

Some were even peddling the phrase “Facebook generation”, drawing comparisons to how the youth of Egypt had used the various platforms available to them to mobilize and to topple the regime of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Having spent the day of the election campaigning and canvasing with several young voters, it is apparent to me now more than ever that this generation of youths are active and politically aware.

Gone are the days where a 22-year-old can be criticized for being apathetic and disengaged. For some this was their very first time. One person from Manchester told me: “This is the first time I’ve ever voted; Jeremy Corbyn is a breath of fresh air”.

It was clear from the beginning of the campaign that conventional media and the usual media outlets were not going to affect the decision of these young voters.

The shameful smear campaign that was spearheaded by various right-wing media establishments, such as the Daily Mail and The Sun, fell on deaf ears. Noor Ahmad, a young lady from north London said: “Thank God for the 18-25-year-olds that don’t read the newspapers”.

-Youth vote

For others, voting for the Labour Party was more a vote for Jeremy Corbyn than anything else. One young man whom I met whilst campaigning told me that the policies and stances of the party are shifting “particularly after the Blair years and the Iraq wars, the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn has re-engaged the youth with the party and their transformative policies”.

It was not just the youth that were out in force last week. We also saw a surge in voters from the Muslim community. It seems that barriers are finally being broken and one can no longer accuse the Muslim community for failing to get involved with their society.

Dr. Omer El-Hamdoon, from the Muslim Association of Britain, seems to think that due to the increase in the various issues that affect the Muslim community, such as the deterioration of the National Health Service (NHS), the rise in university tuitions and the constant talk about security, “not being engaged is no longer an option”.

Others attribute the sudden rise in the Muslim vote to the rise of Islamophobia and all that comes with it, from domestic and foreign policy to the much criticized PREVENT strategy. The Muslim community has said, to use the prime minister’s own words, “enough is enough” and have decided to have their say, with most of their votes -- as with the youth population -- going to the Labour party.

One such example of Muslim engagement and participation in the political process is the Labour Muslim Network (LMN). It is a new and inclusive initiative which seeks to support British Muslims’ engagement in the political process and with the Labour Party, based on the shared values of social justice and equality.

The director of LMN, Yusuf Hassan, told me that throughout the past weeks they were “highly active in several priority marginal constituencies, all of which were won by Labour.

“We engaged with Muslims at community centers, mosques, and on the doorstep.”

On the subject of the increasing engagement with the Labour Party and British politics, I was told that this was probably due to the “increased politicization of British youth, as well as recent issues such as Brexit, and a Labour Party that many feel now represents them more than ever”.

What one can take away from recent events is that the political scene has now changed, and will probably never be the same again.

We, the youth and those from minority backgrounds, matter now more than ever. We have the power to influence policy and to bring about reform, and we should hold our heads up high and say: “My voice matters”.

* Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.