Third of young Brits favour authoritarian leader over democracy
A third of young adults said they would back an authoritarian system if leaders could take decisions more quickly, a new poll has said, in signs new voters believe the UK’s social contract is breaking down and belief in the principles of democracy are fading.
In fresh research led by Adam Smith Insights, a sister group to the free market think tank, it was revealed that more Brits aged 18 to 30 have lost faith in politicians’ ability to deliver on improving people’s lives.
Its poll showed that 33 per cent of young adults said they would prefer an “authoritarian system” led by someone able to make quicker decisions at the “cost of some democratic freedoms”.
One in five young Brits said they did not know or were unsure about what they would prefer while 48 per cent of 18-30-year-olds backed the current democratic system with slower decision-making as a caveat.
Nearly two fifths of respondents said they did not feel politicians were addressing the biggest issues in the UK with 66 per cent of Reform voters claiming they were unhappy.
Over half of Labour and Conservative voters (54 per cent and 52 per cent respectively) said they also did not feel that politicians were addressing the issues that mattered most to them.
Young Reform UK voters were the likeliest to support an authoritarian system after as much as half of respondents said they would be ready to compromise democratic freedoms in favour of a stronger leader.
Adam Smith Insights asked over 1,300 young people during its research and polling was weighted to match population profiles derived from Ipsos’s post-election analysis on electoral trends, which used official data.
Emma Schubart, data and insights manager at the Adam Smith Institute, said the rise in support for authoritarianism was a “predictable result of a broken political system”.
“Young Britons are paying the price for years of economic mismanagement,” Schubart said.
“With the prospect of starting a family or buying a home feeling increasingly out of reach, it’s no wonder many feel drawn to more extreme ideas.”
Authoritarian support is ‘no wonder’
A survey earlier this year led by Channel 4 suggested over half of Gen Zers believed the UK would be better if a leader who did not “bother with parliament and elections” was in charge, setting off alarm bells across the UK.
The polling highlights concerns that policymakers have shunned young voters despite Labour committing to lowering the voting age to 16.
James Cowling, managing director at the campaign group Next Gen Tories, said stagnant wages and low home ownership levels among young Brits was pushing them to “radical solutions”.
“UK politicians continue to block the reforms that would genuinely improve young people’s lives; unlocking housing and infrastructure supply, lowering taxes on work, and making it easier to raise a family,” Cowling said.
“Delivering on these aspirations is the only real antidote to rising support for authoritarianism.”
Government legislation can take years to pass through the House of Commons and House of Lords, with amendments often undoing key government-led reforms.
The Online Safety Act took two years to be signed off after much wrangling and public debate.
But bills can also get passed through more quickly via fast-tracked legislation on an expedited timetable.
They can be completed in a day in extraordinary circumstances, as seen through recent measures to prevent British Steel from closing down.
Democracy’s delays
The Labour government has faced staunch opposition within parliament despite pledging to accelerate growth reforms.
Planned changes to the UK’s welfare system, which would have saved the government around £5bn, were put on ice after dozens of Labour MPs rebelled against top ministers.
Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is seen as essential to drive house building and easing costs on major national projects, has also faced intense pressure from backbenchers, who have managed to add environmental protections.
Looking for Growth, an online-led campaign group focussed on improving living standards for Brits, has described opposition to the flagship Labour bill as the “Vegetable Lobby” looking to block reforms.
Chris Hinchliff, who was suspended from the Labour Party over his opposition to welfare savings, led the revolt against the planning bill, claiming his proposals would protect some habitats and stop the government from handing developers the “right to pay cash to trash nature”.
The government has also pledged to launch a full-scale crackdown of quangos, with the exact number of arms-length bodies widely disputed.
In March this year, Keir Starmer wrote in CityAM he would “unleash the power of the private sector” by slashing red tape and eliminating regulators.
Opposition groups have accused the government of adding quangos and creating new state bodies, with Reform UK claiming it would cut billions of pounds’ worth of waste if elected and the Conservatives saying it would prioritise making spending cuts over increasing taxes.