The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has spoken of the need to fix a ‘broken politics’ in the UK. This challenge is particularly urgent when it comes to younger generations, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Less than 40% (37%) of 18–24-year-olds voted in the 2024 General Election, while participation among young people from the lowest (DE) socio-economic group was just 22%, compared with an overall turnout of 60% across all age groups. This represents the lowest level of youth electoral participation since records began in the 1960s and is less than half the turnout recorded among young people in countries such as Germany (78%, 2025) and Sweden (84%, 2022).

Rejuvenating democracy in such a hostile environment will be one of the defining challenges for the new government. Disillusionment with mainstream electoral politics has been fuelled by repeated failures of public policy to meet the needs of young people during successive waves of crisis: from the financial crash and austerity of the 2010s – including cuts of 74% to youth services in England between 2010 and 2021 – through the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption to education, to dramatic increases in the cost of living alongside rising youth unemployment identified in the Milburn Review, and the growing threat of climate change. Young people from less well-off backgrounds have borne the brunt of these crises, further undermining social mobility in the UK and deepening disillusionment with democratic politics.

At the same time, the UK’s highly centralised system of government presents another major barrier. The lack of autonomy for local and civic authorities has contributed to comparatively low levels of youth contact with politicians and public officials. As a result, efforts to involve young people in the co-creation of public policy are often tokenistic rather than genuinely meaningful. This growing distance between young people and political institutions at every level weakens democracy – creating space for populism and misinformation to flourish, while reducing the quality of governance.

So, how can this democratic deficit and the vicious circle of distrust, low participation, and political neglect be addressed?

There are reasons for optimism. Young people are interested in politics and want greater opportunities to participate in local decision-making, aligning closely with the Prime Minister’s ambition to devolve power to local and civic authorities through devolution and community empowerment. Evidence includes the large increase in students taking undergraduate politics degrees – up by 41% between 2011 and 2023 – and research showing that around half of 18–24-year-olds wish to become more involved in local decision-making.

In this context, the Labour Government’s policy agenda offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rejuvenating British democracy. Votes at 16, alongside a new National Youth Strategy focused on youth voice and the strengthening of citizenship education in the new National Curriculum for England, have the potential to deliver if they build upon the existing evidence on effective youth civic and political engagement.

The evidence suggests that addressing the deficit in youth participation requires action on both the demand and supply sides of democracy.

On the demand side, young people must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to participate effectively in democratic life – the development of what is described in the literature as ‘internal efficacy’. This can be achieved through stronger citizenship education in schools, provided it is accompanied by a substantial expansion in the training of specialist teachers and Ofsted inspections that give greater priority to citizenship. Research shows that this citizenship education is particularly effective in encouraging democratic engagement – and developing transferable skills – among young people from less privileged backgrounds.

On the supply side, democratic institutions must create more high-quality opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds to influence decision-making – the development of ‘external efficacy’, or the belief that one’s actions can make a difference. This requires expanding opportunities for inclusive and meaningful participation in the co-creation of public policy, particularly at the local level.

The ‘civic mentoring model’ I developed through research with the Mayor of London’s Peer Outreach Team provides one compelling example of how this can work in practice. The Peer Outreach Team’s approach of focussing on (1) ‘personal development’ and (2) ‘civic engagement’ – empowering and resourcing young people to reach to their peers – proved to be highly effective. It has improved young participants’ lives, strengthened civic capacity within communities, and increased participation in democratic processes. Greater feelings of empowerment among participants also generated positive spillover effects for their employment prospects.

Involving young people in ‘shaping public policy’ has provide to be a tougher challenge. Meaningful youth participation in policymaking does not happen automatically. Many politicians and public officials require support and training to work effectively with children and young people as genuine partners in the policymaking process.

Taken together, this dual agenda – strengthening young people’s democratic skills while improving the quality of opportunities for participation – has the potential to transform the relationship between young people and British democracy. By generating a virtuous circle of greater trust, higher levels of engagement, and more youth-centred, future-oriented public policy, it can improve both the quality and the long-term sustainability of democracy in the UK.

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James Sloam is Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The findings used in the blog are drawn from Professor Sloam’s recent publications Turning Youth Voice into Public Policy (Policy Press, 2025) – the introduction for this book is free to download here and all royalties will be donated to youth voice charities – and Youthquakes and Aftershocks: Political Participation of Young People in the UK, Europe and the United States with Professor Matt Henn and Dr Ana Nunes (Springer, 2026).