Campaign groups ramp up their activism in the run up to the election in bid to get young people to head to polling stations
An anti-Boris Johnson protest group has projected the words ‘Boris is a wasteman’ onto the walls of Eton College.
Organised by the campaign group FCKBORIS, the projection was beamed onto Johnson’s old college five days before registration for voting closed.
Rosa Caradonna, a spokesperson for the campaign said: “This projection is a reminder that Johnson is not the ‘man of the people’ he performs, but is just another Eton boy who believes he was born to rule.
“He will trash the NHS, fumble through government, and treat ordinary people as fodder for propping up his rich mates. It is up to us to remind Johnson of who we are – people who know we all deserve better.”
A group of majority BAME young women, the FckBoris campaign runs events – mostly street parties – under the hashtag #KickBorisOut, with the aim to unseat Johnson in the upcoming election on December 12.
The campaign gained traction after the London Underground was treated to an anti-Boris makeover in October, when ads were placed across the tube network emblazoned with facts and statements regarding the Prime Minister’s policies and personal life. In November, FckBoris held a street/protest party in Johnson’s constituency of Uxbridge, where an estimated 3,000 people have turned 18 since the 2017 election.
It is uncertain as of yet how effective campaigns with humorous angles like this will be – whether it has encouraged young people to vote, and how. In a poll from this past week, results show that movement from young voters could be crucial in swaying the vote in the upcoming election.
The data from YouGov shows that in 18-29 year olds, Labour is the overall favourite to vote for, increasing 13 percentage points since the beginning of October and now sitting with just over half of those in the age range voting for them.
Whilst this might fall short of the 60 percent stake Labour held in the previous UK election, the Conservative party trails behind with just 20 percent of those polled in the age range voting for them.
After the 2017 election, perspectives on how and why young people vote are changing, and preferences being shifted.
“I’m not really one for protesting. I don’t think that shouting in the street can achieve all that much,” Sarah, 22 and supporter of FckBoris, tells Raven News. “But Boris and his policies make me scared, and this kind of campaign, for me, combines the right amount of action with a similar level of the absurdity that Johnson is projecting – just in a different way.”
What becomes clear from campaigns like FckBoris is the power of keeping the young voter entertained and engaged. As with most political campaigns supporting a party, any humour found in their opposition becomes effective and useful because it is easy to exploit and broadcast.
Political campaign group Led By Donkeys does exactly that, satirising mainly pro-Brexit politicians since its inception in January. By blowing up tweets and pasting them to billboards around the country, it reminds politicians of things they have said or tweeted and remind the public in doing so. Most recently on November 26, the group projected video footage across Sheffield City Hall of Boris Johnson arguing with members of the public in Doncaster and Yorkshire.
Targets of the dissatisfaction felt by groups like FckBoris and Led By Donkeys remain right-wing leading up to the General Election. Dissemination of the group’s actions largely comes from social media.
Those opposed to campaigns like these may stress a lack of political understanding and respect, along with the enforcement of creating echo chambers for young voters, instead of real freedom of choice.
Whether being used for catharsis or taking literal action, it remains to be seen if humorous, youth-driven campaigns can be said to have inflicted any real change in the upcoming election.