GENERATION REFORM: THE NEW PUNK?

The Right, and the elixir of youth

Graphic created for Inside The Right. Photos from Reform Party UK

What is it with Nigel Farage and TikTok? I may be doing him a disservice, but I very much doubt the Reform UK leader personally knows how to use it. Far too fiddly for him to waste his own time learning how to post material that goes viral. What he does have is a very smart young team, some whom spend almost every waking hour thinking about how to make him look good. These social media whizz kids are super savvy, and their ability to capture the attention of Gen Z and Gen Alpha is a huge asset for the wider party.

All political parties want to capture the “youth vote,” not just because they need the numbers, but because it makes them look - if not exactly cool - at least less uncool. Unfortunately, the mission is fraught with danger. Anything managed from the centre is particularly risky, as the Conservative’s nightmare with its now defunct ‘youth wing’ showed. Back in 2015, the party was rocked by a scandal involving young activists, one of whom tragically took his own life. A culture of bullying, harassment and inappropriate behaviour on boozy “road trips” was exposed, leading to the resignation of the then cabinet minister Grant Shapps. The episode was a bitter lesson about the perils associated with political youth movements.

Small wonder that Reform UK has been as loathe as the Tories to enter this arena. For the time being, the party hopes to keep young supporters interested in other ways, leaving them to create their own WhatsApp groups and other informal networks. The party’s online output is crucial to drawing more young people in.

Two days before polling day, it emerged that Reform had amassed a staggering 39 billion views across social media – completely eclipsing both the main parties. With far bigger budgets, the Tory and Labour parties only managed three billion and eleven billion views respectively.

Mainstream media will suggest that all the clicks and likes were thanks to Russian bots. Critics like to imagine Reform supporters are too fuddy-duddy to know one end of a Smartphone from another. This is clearly nonsense. Something far more intriguing is at play, and it should truly alarm the Establishment parties. What we ae witnessing is a seismic shift toward Reform among under 25s.

For years, Farage has expertly used social media to promote his ideas, from Twitter (now X) to Cameo, where punters can pay him to deliver witty lines for a modest fee. Somehow, his content strikes a chord with younger audiences, who don’t see him as fusty old politician. Instead, he’s the guy who famously quipped, “Sigma, sigma on the wall, who is the skibidiest of them all?” or “Got a few pints with the lads tonight, up the RA!” . Somehow, he pulled this off without looking a d*** - no mean feat.

These clips have become iconic in internet culture, echoed daily in playgrounds and shared relentlessly online. Politically, this is far more important than it may seem.

Between now and 2029, the growing number of young people who are attracted not only to Farage, but to what he stands for, will be critical in shaping the party’s brand and appeal. His youthful supporters are a very powerful political weapon. What sets them apart is their tech-savviness: an ability to create memes in minutes and spread them like wildfire in seconds. We are also witnessing the rise of “Gen Z” political commentators who champion pro-Reform and right-wing viewpoints, drawing hundreds of thousands of views daily: emerging influencers such as Jack Anderton, Nicholas Lissack, Charlie Simpson, William Fotheringham-Bray, Erin Crawford, and Holly-mae Nelson. These figures are able to highlight the real dangers of urgent issues like mass migration in a way that hits home for their generation.

All this presents the party leadership with a conundrum: how to tap into this growing reserve of youth support without it all blowing up. The controversy with the University of Warwick Conservatives singing "Erika," a German marching song, is a prime example of what can go wrong.) (1)

Nonetheless, the rewards could be great. By 2029, there should be an army of young volunteers ready to door-knock, distribute leaflets, and demonstrate that Reform is a dynamic, multi-generational movement. Some kind of structure would also give young conservatives, who often feel isolated among their so-called “progressive” caffe latte-sipping peers, a chance to connect with like-minded others. Many “Gen Z” kids on the political Right yearn for such a group.

I don’t envy whoever has to come up with a solution, but it would be a travesty not to try.