Here’s quite a dull pub quiz question: what do Rishi Sunak, Angela Rayner and Kemi Badenoch have in common? They were, as you may not know, all born in the year 1980.
Clearly, the beginning of that decade was important for British politics. More interestingly, 1980 was also the year Generation X ended. The first millennials were born in 1981, but they seem to be struggling to make it to frontline politics.
The prime minister is in his 60s, and so is Nigel Farage. Spring chicken Ed Davey, by comparison, will only turn 60 in six months. The politicians we think of as young are already some way into their 40s, and it isn’t clear that either mainstream party currently has a pipeline full of exciting future talent.
What a joy it was, then, to witness Zohran Mamdani’s surprise victory in New York City last month. The Davidesque 33-year-old took on Goliath – Andrew Cuomo, the former state governor – and won. The assembly member and former rapper, who once went by the nickname Young Cardamom, will now be the Democratic candidate in November’s election, and is all but certain to replace Eric Adams as NYC mayor.
Waking up to the news that Cuomo had conceded was a delight, in part because it was so unexpected. There are many reasons to hate the former governor, especially as his pitiful handling of the pandemic remains quite fresh in people’s memories, but there is one reason why his defeat felt especially symbolic. Cuomo was, a few years ago, credibly accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.
Had he become the left’s candidate in New York, it would have sent a powerful message to the country and the world: that no one – no one! – in politics actually cares about what happens to women. That it didn’t come to pass should be cause for celebration.
We should also take a moment to talk about the brilliance of Mamdani. A smiley, joyfully charismatic young man, his campaign was relentless, original, and contagiously fun.
Sure, I did spend two months in New York last year, and so consider the city to be like a cousin, or a former lover I remain on good terms with. That’s not why I got hooked on the candidate’s social media stuff, though.
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Everything about him was just so jolly and compelling, and kept going effortlessly viral. What a change it was from the usual stodgy, slightly awkward content put out by the Labour Party here, or the DNC over there, or – well, any mainstream centre left party in the world, as far as I can tell.
Around a decade ago, wonks realised that the internet was an important tool to use for campaigning, but few people truly managed to capture the algorithm, especially on the progressive side. It isn’t why Trump won and the populists are on the rise everywhere, but surely it is one part of the explanation.
Similarly, there aren’t many grand, widely applicable lessons to learn from Mamdani’s insurgent victory. New York is New York, the Democrats are the Democrats, Cuomo is Cuomo. Still, what we, or at least I can say for certain, is that seeing brilliant 33-year-olds making political headlines is terrific.
Yes, I also am 33 years old, as it happens, and actually that is my point. We millennials have now been adults for a long time, and much has been said about us. We’ve killed diamonds, mayonnaise, sit-down lunches; we love our skinny jeans and our side partings; yadda yadda yadda. We’re also being replaced by Gen Z – those who were born in 1996 or later – meaning that we’re no longer the cool kids on the block.
That’s fine, to be clear. I own three sets of seasonal pyjamas. I’ve not been the coolest kid on the block for some time. What I would like to see more of, however, is people my age actually being taken seriously, and being welcomed into positions of power. We have a lot to contribute to politics, and know what it’s like to have to battle against an economy and a housing market working against us.
Millennials are a resilient generation and we ought to be taken more seriously. We know what we’re doing, and shouldn’t have to wait in the wings as older bed-blockers keep insisting that they have the solutions, despite quite blatantly not having them.
Politics hasn’t really been working for anyone under 40 in a while now, both in Britain and elsewhere. What can we do about that? Well, how about actually trusting some people under 40 when they say they know what should be done next? It may seem like a risky bet but it isn’t clear that there are any other solutions on the table.
Mamdani has won an important battle but we’re yet to find out if he can win the war, both by becoming mayor of New York City and making the city more affordable and comfortable to all, as he promised during his campaign. His primary triumph may not have taught us much so far, but it’s fair to say I’m now rooting for him – for all our sakes.
