Sana Kardar
Politics has long told young people that they are the future. The problem is that the future is too often presented as something they must wait for, rather than something they are encouraged and empowered to shape today.
Decisions being made now on employment, housing, education, artificial intelligence and public services will have a profound impact on the country young people inherit. Yet political participation cannot begin and end at the ballot box. If young people want politics to reflect their priorities, experiences and aspirations, they need meaningful routes into the places where ideas are debated, challenged and ultimately translated into policy.
Labour’s own history demonstrates why youth participation matters. From the Labour League of Youth to Young Labour, generations of young activists have organised within the movement, bringing new perspectives and ideas into political debate. More importantly, youth participation has helped carry ideas that were once considered ambitious or marginal towards the centre of government policy.
At Labour Conference last year, Ellie Reeves recalled that, as London’s youth representative on the National Policy Forum 25 years earlier, she had campaigned for votes at 16 and an end to age discrimination in the minimum wage. A generation later, a Labour Government is legislating to extend the vote to 16-year-olds and has committed to ending discriminatory age bands in the minimum wage.
That is a powerful reminder that joining a political party should not simply mean supporting decisions made by others. At its best, membership gives people an opportunity to influence the direction, priorities and future of their political movement.
That opportunity is particularly important today. Nearly one million young people are outside education, employment or training. Labour’s Youth Guarantee and Jobs Guarantee represent significant efforts to address this challenge, including plans for more than 90,000 fully funded jobs by 2029.
However, effective youth policy cannot simply be designed in Whitehall and delivered to young people. Those experiencing barriers first-hand often understand realities that statistics cannot fully capture: inadequate transport, inaccessible opportunities, limited professional networks and the repeated experience of being told they lack experience when nobody is prepared to give them their first opportunity.
For young people who share Labour’s values, active participation provides a route to bring those experiences directly into political debate. That should mean supporting the Government when it gets things right, while also having the confidence to question and challenge it when policies fall short. Constructive disagreement, fresh ideas and pressure for greater ambition can strengthen political movements and ensure they remain connected to the communities they seek to represent.
As Labour Conference approaches in Liverpool, this principle should be clearly visible. Conference should not simply be a place where young people listen to politicians discuss their future. Young people should be among those shaping the conversation, contributing to policy debates, sharing their experiences and building the networks from which the next generation of organisers, councillors, campaigners and MPs can emerge.
Political parties remain relevant when each generation does more than inherit their values. They must interrogate them, renew them and decide what those values mean for the challenges of their own time.
Labour can create opportunities for young people, but it must also create genuine space for their leadership. Young people, in turn, should recognise the influence that comes from participating rather than simply observing.
The country they will inherit is already being built. They deserve a meaningful hand in building it.
