Last week, my father and I were watching TV on the couch when we started talking about politics.
I’ve been eligible to cast a ballot for the last eight years, and I mentioned that I planned to vote Green in today’s elections. His response was far harsher than anticipated.
“Why in the world would you do that?” he exclaimed, shocked. “Zack Polanski would be an absolute catastrophe!”
I was initially taken aback by the intensity of his emotions, but then it dawned on me that he and I are an almost comedic illustration of a national political difference, or rather chasm, that divides people along both gender and generational lines.
Polanski would seem like a catastrophe to my dad, a middle-aged City businessman who votes Conservative.
Warming to his theme, Dad added, “He’ll crash the economy.” Businesses will fail, taxes will skyrocket, and he is a complete liar.
However, a large number of young women across disagree. They contend that since their lives appear to be so constrained and devoid of opportunities in comparison to their parents’, why wouldn’t they seek drastic change?
What justifies their defence of the status quo?
It’s not just our parents that disagree with us as the nation casts ballots for municipal elections in England and national legislatures in Scotland and Wales. Many of our male friends do the same.
Twelve percent of young males and twenty-three percent of women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four voted Green in the 2024 election, two years ago.
Since Polanski was elected as the Greens’ leader in September 2025, more recent YouGov polling indicates that 44% of women between the ages of 18 and 24 want to vote Green, compared to 30% of men in the same age range.
Why, then, are young ladies gravitating toward the far Left in this way? Is it all part of Zack’s cult?
I met with several female peers from various regions of the United Kingdom, all of whom were middle-class and well-educated, and there are two main conclusions.
One is the feeling that, despite doing everything “by the book,” politicians, both past and present, have terribly let you down.
Call us naïve, but the other is a wish to create a society in which women are protected from pervasive misogyny and people take care of one another instead of continuously, often violently, competing with one another.
Twentysomething women have lived their entire lives doing everything “right.” After four years of strikes and three Covid lockdowns, we were thrown into a fast contracting job market with debts over £40,000 after working hard, earning good grades, and attending university.
After graduating from a Russell Group university with a first, I had to look for work for two years. At the age of 25, I continue to live at home because rent in London would exceed half of my monthly income.
I would hardly be able to eat after paying expenses, repaying college loans, and travelling.
It was a different world for my parents’ generation when they entered the growing job market in the mid-1990s and found affordable apartments, even in London.
Cicely Higham, an 18-year-old student from London who will vote for the Greens for the first time, told me, “I used to wonder if there would be any point going to university because there might not be a job for me afterwards,” even if her father disapproves of some of their policies.
Just last week, it was announced that London bars are breaking the £10 per pint barrier, while food prices alone have increased by 40% since 2020.
I have little money to save for anything, much less a mortgage.
“I used to wonder if there would be any point going to university because there might not be a job for me afterwards,” Cicely Higham told me.
Polanski’s use of social media, according to Elsa Brayshaw, has changed the perception of the Greens from “a weird party that people don’t actually vote for” to “standing a chance at winning an election.”
Many of my acquaintances have a nervous, worn-out vibe that is driven by being overworked, broke, single, aimless, and—at the risk of sounding like a Jane Austen character—prospectless.
Zack Polanski, our parents’ bête noire, enters this desolate setting. Do you recall the party political broadcast he made with the phrase “make hope normal again” in October of last year?
It depicted him strolling down a city street at first light while discussing the disparity in income and the reasons why so many of us are working absurdly hard to make ends meet.
That movie went viral on social media for weeks, despite the fact that my generation hardly ever watches traditional TV. Yes, the seriousness of it has a humorous quality, but it still touched a nerve with us.
Without a doubt, Polanski’s astute use of social media has transformed the Green Party’s prospects. It uses the same strategy as Reform, which is to speak directly to young people on the channels they use without coming across as condescending or offensive.
The Greens’ reputation has changed from that of “a weird party that people don’t actually vote for” to “standing a chance at winning an election,” according to Elsa Brayshaw, an 18-year-old from south London who plans to vote Green today.
After watching similar videos, one of my friends, a 25-year-old Coventry charity worker, decided to join the Green Party.
“Labour has taken for granted that young women will vote for them,” Cicely continues.
Women in particular see a decline in their quality of life.
The NHS’s failure is a major concern. I am acutely aware of the significance of easily accessible and reasonably priced healthcare due to the stress of financial instability and a brief encounter with a serious disease.
We have “a healthcare system that is crumbling,” as Elsa puts it, and women appear to be more affected than males. I’m scared of having kids, even though I know I want them.
The UK maternal death rate has increased by 20% over the last 15 years, while deaths from curable diseases during pregnancy and the postpartum period have increased by 52%, according to research from the University of Oxford that was just published by Mbrrace-UK.
26-year-old Anna Stenning, who works in events marketing, claims she has had to wait months to schedule consultations for problems unique to women.
And for those who wish to work in the NHS? Hannah Rahman, an 18-year-old London-based medical student, feels disappointed by the government and worries that once she graduates from medical school, she won’t be able to find employment.
She remarks, “There’s such a bottleneck.” “There aren’t enough speciality facilities, so all these doctors aren’t getting jobs.”
Hannah informs me that some of her friends at school work to help put food on the table rather than to earn extra cash for clothes.
It appears that women are more conscious of economic inequality than men are.
Only 29% of males and 40.7% of women between the ages of 18 and 34 listed cost of living as their major concern in 2024.
Do younger voters no longer trust the established political parties in Britain?
Hannah Rahman, an 18-year-old London resident who wants to study medicine, feels disappointed by the government and worries that if she graduates from medical school, she won’t be able to find employment.
“We’re seeing the rich get richer, at the same time as more and more people can’t afford anything,” Elsa stated.
Immigration and transgender rights were not concerns for any of the young ladies I met with; the political gender gap is an economic conflict rather than a cultural one.
Regretfully, no political party is flawless. I think anti-Semitism has no place whatsoever, much less in politics, and I disagree with Polanski’s obviously careless and insulting response to the police handling of the Golders Green stabbings last week.
I disagree with some Green Party positions, just like any voter for any party. Hannah and Elsa both expressed uncertainty about the Greens’ disarmament policy and the party’s opposition to nuclear power, which bothers me because it can be a fantastic means of switching to clean energy sources.
Some of their policies, in Cicely’s opinion, are currently “too impulsive” or unrealistic.
“I want to see the area I live in become greener and more sustainable, but I don’t really want the Greens in charge of the country,” adds Anna. Improved recycling would be fantastic. In the back of my mind, I hear my dad saying that he believes the vote is a waste.
In any case, if not in a general election, she would support them in municipal elections.
Young women are not ignorant; they read manifestos and watch political broadcasts, and the choices depress us.
I couldn’t tell you what the Liberal Democrats stand for, the Tories feel useless and toothless, and few of us can still stand up for Labour.
Regarding reform, their goal is to repeal the Equality Act “on day one.” How in the world could a bright, aspirational young woman vote for that?
We’re hardly going to give up the legal protections we have at a time when the manosphere and its pantomime villains seem determined to restrict women’s rights.
According to Rosie Beveridge, the political gender gap is an economic conflict rather than a cultural one, and none of the young women I spoke with were afraid of immigration or transgender rights.
There’s more to this. We yearn for politicians who offer a different vision of society, for a party that isn’t going to tinker around the edges or cuddle up to the billionaire tech bros, but rather make changes to make women safer and less vulnerable, in light of the growing wave of misogyny and online hate, particularly directed against women and girls. After all, it’s their job.
All of the individuals I spoke with for this article had the same justification for voting Green: “It is the politics of hope,” according to Cicely. The Greens, according to Elsa, concentrate on “how we can make the world a better place.”
Young women find this upbeat, trust-building, locally based politics to be a powerful mix. “I don’t know anyone who isn’t voting Green.” According to Hannah, the crucial discussion is about improving people’s lives.
They resemble a ray of hope. I can’t wait to cast my ballot. Having a voice is such a big deal.
I will therefore vote Green today as well. I’m sorry, Dad. I hope you will pardon me.
