“I think it's important that the makeup of politics isn't retirees only,” says Dylan Law.
The 20-year-old only stepped into politics around a year ago, but the Green Party candidate for Hackney Downs could soon become the borough’s next deputy mayor.
“I'm sure a lot of young people would prefer to have someone their own age represent them, rather than have someone triple their age,” he tells The Independent.
“Most of my support comes from people who are 30, 40, 50 years old, people who have seen previous politicians fail, and are willing to see what I'm doing.”
The most recent Councillors' Census in 2022 found that only 16 per cent of English councillors were younger than 45. However, it also revealed there were 189 local councillors under the age of 25 – a 76 per cent increase on the 107 in 2018.
It forms part of a wider trend of young people taking matters into their own hands, with the Young Greens membership recently surpassing 50,000 people.
With the May elections just days away, Labour is fearing an electoral wipeout. A MRP poll of the 32 London boroughs, conducted by YouGov for Sky News and Politico, projected the worst result for Sir Keir Starmer’s party since the 1970s.
The Green Party and Reform UK are looking to make an impact and are set to make huge gains throughout the capital. The Greens have the highest vote share across four councils, while Reform is expected to take the highest share in three. Neither party has ever topped the poll on any council in London.
According to YouGov, 36 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds would currently vote for the Green Party at a general election, while 24 per cent would vote for Labour, 9 per cent for the Tories, and 6 per cent for Reform.
But who are the younger politicians vying for the vital votes of their peers, and hoping to change the face of politics as we know it?
Sarata Sawo, the Labour and Co-operative Party candidate for Hunslet and Riverside in Leeds, is just 22 – but that hasn’t stopped her from putting in a bid for a seat on her local council.
“A lot of people aren’t aware of local politics… a lot of them don't understand how much councils have an impact on your everyday life.”
She said her campaign at the upcoming local elections has “encouraged a lot more young people around me to look into politics and be aware of what's going on around them”.
“We definitely need to be at the table and have a say on choices being made that are impacting all of us.”
A poll published by the University of Glasgow’s John Smith Centre found 73 per cent of young people have taken part in some kind of political activity in the last year.
Polling expert Lord Robert Hayward said younger voters would be more inclined to vote for somebody similar in age and better at engaging with them.
He told The Independent: “They’re better at using social media... they may use phraseology and turn to issues which matter to younger people.”
At local elections, young men are more likely to support Reform, while young women are more likely to vote for the Greens, he suggested.
Lord Hayward added: “Younger people tend to hold their politics more strongly. If they’re participating, they're likely to be at one end of the spectrum or another.”
Green Party candidate for Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction, Ciara Alleyne, said she has heard from young voters “across the board” who “are fed up with decisions being made on our behalf without us actually having a seat at the table”.
“We don't want to be shouting from the outside in order for our interests to be represented,” the 22-year-old said.
“I think it's really important that young people are seeing other young people in these positions.”
George Finch, the youngest council leader in British history, agrees that local government needs youth representation.
The 19-year-old, who was elected to run Warwickshire County Council last year for Reform UK, believes he has the ability to bring people together and put aside different opinions to deliver outcomes. But his leadership hasn’t come without its challenges.
He claims his achievements so far include keeping the rise in council tax to 3.89 per cent and launching a crime prevention programme to tackle assaults, burglaries, and vandalism.
But last month, the leader also narrowly survived a no-confidence vote called by the council’s Green Party group leader, Jonathan Chilvers, who alleged that he “abused the office of leader” and brought the council into "disrepute".
Mr Chivers accused the leader of repeated attacks on staff, political point-scoring and breaching “British values”. Mr Finch called the vote a political stunt.
Despite this, the teenager said young people can help councils better understand the issues facing young people.
“Age is irrelevant, as I've said, as Nigel [Farage] has said, if you're good enough, you're old enough,” he told The Independent.
“If you can stand up in these rooms and fight the battle, if you can stand up and talk in front of councillors and speak to residents, if you can sit in the meetings with a business mind and have the knowledge of how to do things, how to communicate, how to fight every day for what's right and what the people want, then you've got it.”
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