The Democracy Gap
By Cormac, Intern at Unlock Democracy
A January report by Channel 4, ‘Gen Z: Trends, Truth and Trust’, found the much-repeated figure that 52% of 13-27 year olds would prefer having a ‘strong leader’ who does not have to ‘bother with parliament and elections’. A more worrying 33% of these young people believe the UK would be a better place with the army in charge.
But not all of my generation are so convinced: Generation Z is the age-group most divided by gender in their support for far-right parties. Young British men are twice as likely as women to place themselves strongly on the right. They also have a 7% higher preference for living under dictatorship.
Why are young men giving up on democracy?
Young men are angry, and disaffected men are gravitating towards radical figures who wage war on democratic institutions. This tells us more has to be done to inspire trust in UK politics in the eyes of young men. If the government does not fix the flaws of the Westminster model, it will be complicit in advancing the red herrings and politics of hatred posed as solutions. Although democratic reform is not a panacea to regain the trust of young men, meaningful representation provides us with the tools to properly address their concerns and narrow the ‘democracy gap’.
Rising support for ‘strongman’ leaders, like Tommy Robinson, Donald Trump, and Elon Musk, is a consequence of this exclusionary political system, in which many young men feel their concerns are being ignored. This leaves them impressionable to domineering versions of masculinity that promise strength and direction in a confusing world. Populist rhetoric compounds the problem, as these figures foster distrust in institutions, for example by claiming that elections are rigged, or that the government serves only a corrupt elite. Political disengagement and mixed messages as to what ‘counts’ as male identity are being utilised as tools for political gain. This creates a vicious cycle, where young men take a cynical stance against democracy, when it’s the solution to their disengagement. By improving our political system and giving weight to citizens’ voices in democratic channels, we can rebuild young men’s trust in politics and make progress against those who sow division.
Have young men been left behind?
The same Channel 4 report found nearly half (45%) of Gen Z men perceive that in the journey toward gender equality, we have gone so far that we are discriminating against men. It is true that men have fallen behind: young women reach tertiary education at a rate 14% higher than that of men, in addition to overtaking them in income and employment rates for the first time.
It is therefore no surprise that young men feel disaffected, and deprived of the power promised to them by far-right, misogynistic agitators. If a political system does not perform its function of representation, those who promise to take a sledgehammer to the system become an easy choice for these angry sectors of society. To ignore this issue would be unsustainable and irresponsible.
Time to fix our political system
The necessary precursor for the policies that help both men and women is the amplification of ignored voices. Although a voice driven by anger is unlikely to be insightful on its own, a chorus of voices driven by anger tells us that we need to recognise the problems fueling it.
First Past The Post (FPTP) deepens the alienation young men feel. If communities see a disconnect between their ballot and their representative, they are pushed to the political fringes. We need to recognise that excluding people will only strengthen their convictions, i.e. in Musk saying we either “fight back or die”. Fair representation is the solution, and a more proportional voting system would make huge progress towards it. The UK government acknowledges the flaws of FPTP in mayoral elections, but fails to extend this logic to general elections. Rather than our winner-takes-all approach to politics, Proportional Representation (PR) encourages collaboration through coalition. A proportional voting system with multiple members for each constituency would accurately represent diverse communities, where no single person can embody the ‘average’ constituent. Each candidate would have to appeal to the majority, rather than just a plurality, giving us more cooperative politics.
Decentralising power out of Westminster would also help young men feel represented. Devolving decision-making to the lowest level possible will give people a real say in what happens in their area, and would further claw back lost trust in politics.
If men, especially young, working-class, white men, see their vote count towards the election of someone who advocates for the issues they face day to day, whether that’s expanding employment or improving education for boys, we can channel their desperation away from anger.
Furthermore, a dedicated Minister for Men could champion the issues of men and boys in government, and be held to account when the government falls short. This would show disaffected young men that their concerns are being taken seriously at the highest level, in addition to enabling coordination with the Minister for Women. A large number of the problems facing women today are in fact problems about men. In 2025, the UK government reported that 92% of female homicide victims in the last decade were killed by men. This new Minister could work to tackle rising violent crime against women and girls, demonstrating how men’s and women’s issues go hand in hand, and both are concomitants of a broken political system.
Therefore, I press that we are currently not doing enough to tackle an issue that affects 100% of our country. Young men turning their back on democracy only diminishes the power of politics to bring about change, and exacerbates existing problems like violence against women and girls. Meaningful representation will hinder the success of anti-democratic groups who promise a superficial alternative. It’s time we delivered a fairer voting system for Westminster and tangible devolution to local communities.