The Book Club
100 Leonard Street
London EC2A 4RH

Date: 27th April
Time: 7pm – 9.30pm
Price: £7.50
Ticket link: https://billetto.co.uk/events/generation-y-your-vote-counts
Panel discussion – Generation Y: Your vote counts

Apathy, confusion, distrust or all of the above? The debate around millennials’ lack of political engagement continues. In the run up to May’s General Election, The Book Club hosts a panel discussion on 27th April, boasting a panel including Ryan Shorthouse from Bright Blue, Jenny Luckett from Generation Rent, Fran Boait from Positive Money, Rhiannon Colvin from AltGen, as well as Sara Ghaffari from Bite The Ballot, each exploring hotly talked about topics such as unemployment, housing, democracy – all matters which poll highly for Millennials. We’re also inviting artists from different disciplines to perform alongside the speakers, to communicate politics through art as well as discourse.

Y does this matter now? Politics is present in everyday life for young people, be it education, housing, employment etc. Millennials are in a position of power, however a large majority don’t realise how impactful their vote can be this May. In fact, 71% of Generation Y believe their vote won’t make a difference(3), demonstrating the urgency of demystifying the complexities of politics.

With 5.6 million UK 18-24 year olds, (11.3% of the country’s population) Millennials represents a large amount of leverage for political parties who decide to engage them. In the 2010 election, over-65’s had an voter turnout of 76%(1). In contrast, 18-24 year olds had only 44%(2) with numbers predicted to be alarmingly lower for the upcoming election.

What can we do? Our panellists are all Millennials actively engaged in creating political change. They are living proof that Generation Y care deeply about politics and want to make a difference. The work they do will encourage and empower other Millennials to harness their political power, and hopefully leave them feeling more informed about the issues they care about ahead of the General Elections.

Panellists:

• Ryan Shorthouse from Bright Blue, an independent think tank and pressure group for liberal conservatism
• Rhiannon Colvin from AltGen, who support 18-29 year olds to set up workers co-operatives as a way of reclaiming control over work and creating a more equal and sustainable economy
• Jenny Luckett from Generation Rent, who campaign for professionally managed and affordable private rented homes in sustainable communities
• Fran Boait, from Positive Money, which is a movement to democratise money and banking so that it works for society and not against it
• Sara Ghaffari from Bite The Ballot, a party neutral movement on a mission to empower young people to speak up and act, to make their votes and opinions count. They want young people to be counted and make informed decisions at the ballot box.