#youth-vote

#youth-vote

Close to two thirds of Tanzania's total population is made up of people below the age of 35, whose main worries seem to echo those from other parts of the continent: job creation, access to quality education, and securing land rights. However when looking at the election campaigns, these concerns appear to be relegated to the sidelines. A significant factor contributing to this negligence of youth issues is entrenched in the nature of the country's political landscape itself:

Just 20% of adults under 30 approve of Trump's job handling, while 75% disapprove This 20% approval among adults under 30 is a 30-point drop from February, when 50% of 18- to 29-year-olds approved of Trump and 42% disapproved Trump's net job approval has declined in all age groups since the start of his term, but no other age group has registered as big a change as adults under 30

Connolly's campaign, backed by left-wing parties including Sinn Fein, has been especially popular among young people, who approve of her declaration that reunification with Northern Ireland is a foregone conclusion, her strong pro-Palestine stance, her commitment to social justice, and criticism of the European Union's growing militarisation. A third candidate, Fianna Fail's Jim Gavin, remains on the ballot papers despite quitting the election earlier this month over a private rent payment scandal, with critics bemoaning a lack of choice in the two-horse race.

Pollster Luke Tryl, from More in Common, told a Tory conference fringe meeting: "At the last election the average age someone started voting Conservative was in their 60s. It's now even later. "The Conservatives are basically only being kept afloat in the polls at the moment by the over 75 age category. Obviously, for demographic reasons, that is not a sustainable place to be."

Tonight, we will celebrate the best result of all time, and my goal is for this to be just the beginning," party leader Sylvi Listhaug told her jubilant supporters on election night.

To keep chasing a youth vote that simply isn't there for Fine Gael, at the expense of loyal older voters, makes no sense.