The Green Party has opened up a staggering lead with 18-24 year olds according to one poll:
POLL | Greens lead with 18-24 year olds:
Grn: 35% (+17)
Lab: 19% (-22)
Ref: 17% (+8)
Con: 8% (-)
Lib: 7% (-9)
Your: 4% (+4)
(Source: @focaldataHQ)
—
+/- vs GE2024 data pic.twitter.com/L0LBqjcjGP— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) June 9, 2026
It’s almost as if they’re the only party which is acknowledging the issues young people face.
Meeting needs
The above isn’t the only poll to have shown the Greens leading with young people. This, from March, shows the party leading with everyone under the tender age of 65:
— 18-64s —
— Over 65s —
Poll: @YouGov, 1-2 March pic.twitter.com/Kaa1pBYBJ3
— Stats for Lefties
It’s not hard to see why.
Reform and the Tories mostly target retirees. This older generation is largely secure, having bought their houses at rock bottom prices. While that’s great for them, it does also make them more vulnerable to the message that ‘people are coming to steal what’s yours‘. Young people, meanwhile, can’t afford to buy their own homes, and as such they’ve nothing to conserve – excluding them from the conservative instincts of their grandparents.
Labour’s plan in government has been to pursue changes so marginal that no one even notices them. They’ve also completely abandoned young people on issues like the minimum wage:
Page 45 of Labours 2024 manifesto stated: “Labour will also remove the discriminatory age bands so all adults are entitled to the same minimum wage”
Pat McFadden is asked, when are you going to do this?
McFadden says its not up to the govt to do it. pic.twitter.com/RSVJaZvf7x
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 31, 2026
Under this Labour government, young people are facing an under-employment crisis (one which began with the Tories, to be fair).
– Mid- and lower-skilled jobs have fallen by around 1.6 million over the past 20 years
– Hospitality vacancies have nearly halved in the last 4 years
– Apprenticeships for 16-24-year-olds have fallen by 35% since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in 2017
– The proportion of 16-17-year-olds in paid work has nearly halved from 35% in 2006 to 19% today
– If every current inactive 18-24-year-old was in full-time work, this would contribute an additional £38 billion to UK GDP
– 58% of inactive young people (6 in 10) have never had a job
And as we reported in turn:
As life has gotten more expensive in the UK, many young people are living at home for longer. This means fewer of them need to take the dead-end jobs that many of us accepted to ensure we could pay the rent. The knock-on effect is young people have less disposable income, and as a result they don’t go out, meaning fewer jobs in the hospitality sector. Increasing the minimum wage would better incentivise work, which would better drive economic activity.
So this is what the young can expect under Labour and the Tories:
- Live with your parents.
- Be in student debt for most of your working life.
- Struggle to get a job.
- Be blamed for everything wrong with the country.
In other words, it’s increasingly hard for young people to have hope for the future. And as such, it’s easy to see why the Greens are proving to be so popular.
Greens messaging
These are the sort of messages that Zack Polanski and the Green Party are putting out:
Rising rents, cost of further education, the climate crisis.
There’s lots for young people to worry about.
Yet they have a plan & the determination to end Rip off Britain.
Join us: https://t.co/Q27Jy5eX7z pic.twitter.com/EBAKibIOu3
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 28, 2026
“Austerity is a false economy. If you don’t invest in young people, if you burden them with student debt rather than public investment, that’s why we get the kind of problems we’ve got.”
Zack Polanski on why investing in young people matters. pic.twitter.com/H7pqhJ1PhH
— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) February 19, 2026
With the establishment parties implicitly arguing that ‘things can only get worse’, it’s easy to see why the Greens are cutting through.
Featured image via Jon Rowley (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
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