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Labour ’ s strength and gain didn ’ t come from having a large proportion of press or wealthy backers on their side . Their strength came with the mobilisation of people across the country and their ability to harness social media to its full extent . The Conservatives spent more on social media campaigning but failed to engage voters with their advertising , whereas Labour ’ s campaigns online were often poignant and felt real rather than forced and fake . Several times Jeremy Corbyn ’ s large rallies went viral thanks to sites such as Another Angry Voice ( AAV ) and Evolve Politics .
Youth and Brexit engagement
Labour ’ s victory isn ’ t the result itself but the mobilisation of support and engaging people into voting for their future , in particular the youth vote , with reports suggesting 72 % of 18-24s voted on June 8 th . The figure has yet to be confirmed but this engagement with younger voters means that they will likely to vote again in the future . Social media and 18-24s are not the only reason that Labour saw impressive gains from where they were , but with the collapse of UKIP , many expected them to switch to the Conservatives over
Brexit .
It was reported in the Telegraph and various other outlets that within Labour heartlands , that UKIP voters were switching their allegiances to Conservative . However , this hasn ’ t turned out to be true , a fair chunk of UKIP voters have switched to Labour , it is estimated to be a 50 / 50 split between Conservative and Labour in UKIP gains . This is down to Brexit and Labour were clear in their plan to leave the single market , and a lot of UKIP supporters had been dismissed as racist , xenophobic and prejudice by many . This is not true , they have concerns and previously UKIP were a protest vote .
Cognitive dissonance
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Issue # 8 17th June 2017
Labour had a large mobilisation of people , an effective social media campaign , engagement with youth voters and a clear plan for Brexiteers . These four aspects had a significant part to play but this still doesn ’ t fully explain the turnaround by Labour . A lot of commentators , politicians and those who engage online often accused others of cognitive dissonance of the issues , this may be true for the minority , it certainly doesn ’ t apply to the majority . However , cognitive dissonance was still rife and it came from most of the press , politicians , political commentators and journalists alike .
The so-called ‘ establishment ’ displayed a staggering amount of cognitive dissonance from society itself . Theresa May ’ s campaign epitomised this very aspect , with her constant avoidance of public scrutiny and engaging with real voters . Theresa May , made the campaign about Corbyn and herself and that move has proved costly to her image . She tried to make this election all about Brexit but whilst people believe it is important , people have concerns in their everyday lives that she failed to address . She was trying to tell people what is important to them , rather than listening to what is important to them . This display of cognitive dissonance supported by many the press and journalists , turned people towards Labour from other parties such as UKIP .
Labour ’ s small step for society
Labour will see this as a positive step for their plan and the election has been particularly peculiar . Analysing it from a traditional sense of who won and lost is murky . Conservative , SNP and Labour have all simultaneously won and lost , Conservative because they will still form a government but a weak minority after losing seats , Labour gained seats and changed the conversation within politics itself but still lost the election and the SNP won Scotland but also lost seats .
The Labour victory isn ’ t outright victory itself but it is people and society telling our leaders that , they don ’ t want the same all the time , they want to give voice to those who are poorest within society . Their victory is signalling that change is slowly happening within the heart of society itself and whilst some of the old guard remain on to fight for the status quo , there are others engaging who want real change . This could be the start of something new and this election has proved that our political system is broken .