Could Corbyn's Leadership be Good For Young People?

Jeremy Corbyn has just won the Labour leadership election, beating Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

I don’t think Corbyn will be good for Labour, in fact he’s likely to destroy their chances in 2020, but it is possible that he’ll be good for young people, and not just those who support him.

Ask Corbyn who was driving his election campaign and he’ll put it down to a team of enthusiastic and inspired young people who have found an alternative to traditional Westminster-centric politics though him. And this is where Corbyn has actually found a good solution to an ever-growing problem.

The Conservatives aren’t aiming their policies at young people – that’s a fact. A few apprenticeships here and there don’t cut it when the majority of their ‘please vote for us’ policies are based around pensioners. It makes sense, the Conservative’s support comes, predominantly, from older generations (over 45s voted for the Conservatives over Labour, whereas in the under 45s category, Labour did better). 43% of 18-24 year olds voted, whereas 78% of over 65s did.

That is where Corbyn comes in.  He’s not going to be good for young people by winning a general election, but he will hopefully push young people issues higher up the agenda. If this happens, and I believe there is a large chance of it, then hopefully the Conservatives will get just a little bit worried and start to offer their own youth-orientated policies which, as I said earlier, don’t just consist of a few apprenticeships here and there.

I’m skeptical, but let’s hope we get something good out of Corbybn’s leadership.