Tony Devenish: How can councils appeal to Gen Z?
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly.
I knocked on a front door ahead of the May 7th 2026, Council Elections. A 20-something Gen Z opened the door on a chain lock and shouted:
“I voted for Keir Starmer. I will never EVER bother voting again!“
Then she slammed it shut in my face.
The cost of living is hurting young people, and Starmer is looking increasingly tired and middle-aged.
So Councils and Mayors need to answer this urgent question:
How can we appeal to Gen Z?
How can we serve anyone who is under 30 years of age?
I am now in my 20th year as a Westminster City Councillor and a former London Assembly Member. This demographic isn’t my natural comfort zone.
Opinion polls report that two-thirds of young women are considering voting Green and similar numbers of young men may vote for Reform UK.
I recommend a carrot rather than a stick: offer a 100 per cent rebate on annual council tax for those under-30s who volunteer for community leadership roles. That might mean working a few hours a week as a volunteer in a community-run sports club, a library, a rough sleeper charity or perhaps even becoming a Police Special. With unemployment hitting young people worse than at any time since the 1990s, the more work experience on offer, the better.
And we definitely can afford the loss of council tax income. The Treasury can cap any steep loss in Council tax for Councils with disproportionately large numbers of Gen Z. Participating as community volunteers may save the taxpayer billions of pounds over the medium and long term. An example of joined up budgeting, that the public sector often talks about, but rarely achieves.
Cheaper energy for Gen Z and all of us : Councils must continually pressurise Ed Miliband to honour his manifesto promise to reduce energy bills and ensure that Whitehall passes on the funding to make Gen Z’s (mainly) landlord housing better insulated.
City living: 20 somethings still want to live in our cities. Despite that, at the recent excellent Conservatives Together inaugural graduation, I was concerned to hear that a 2024 Tory parliamentary candidate had moved to Hampshire, even though he worked in Central London. Councils have, with one or two exceptions, an appalling record on building new homes. Labour-run Westminster City Council all but eliminated intermediate housing for young professionals so that they could build more homes for those trapped on welfare. Shamefully, not one single new home has been initiated in the last three years by Westminster Council. So it’s no surprise that supply and demand rental costs continue to crush Gen Z aspiration.
Safe streets : younger people are disproportionately victims of crime. …
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly.
I knocked on a front door ahead of the May 7th 2026, Council Elections. A 20-something Gen Z opened the door on a chain lock and shouted:
“I voted for Keir Starmer. I will never EVER bother voting again!“
Then she slammed it shut in my face.
The cost of living is hurting young people, and Starmer is looking increasingly tired and middle-aged.
So Councils and Mayors need to answer this urgent question:
How can we appeal to Gen Z?
How can we serve anyone who is under 30 years of age?
I am now in my 20th year as a Westminster City Councillor and a former London Assembly Member. This demographic isn’t my natural comfort zone.
Opinion polls report that two-thirds of young women are considering voting Green and similar numbers of young men may vote for Reform UK.
I recommend a carrot rather than a stick: offer a 100 per cent rebate on annual council tax for those under-30s who volunteer for community leadership roles. That might mean working a few hours a week as a volunteer in a community-run sports club, a library, a rough sleeper charity or perhaps even becoming a Police Special. With unemployment hitting young people worse than at any time since the 1990s, the more work experience on offer, the better.
And we definitely can afford the loss of council tax income. The Treasury can cap any steep loss in Council tax for Councils with disproportionately large numbers of Gen Z. Participating as community volunteers may save the taxpayer billions of pounds over the medium and long term. An example of joined up budgeting, that the public sector often talks about, but rarely achieves.
Cheaper energy for Gen Z and all of us : Councils must continually pressurise Ed Miliband to honour his manifesto promise to reduce energy bills and ensure that Whitehall passes on the funding to make Gen Z’s (mainly) landlord housing better insulated.
City living: 20 somethings still want to live in our cities. Despite that, at the recent excellent Conservatives Together inaugural graduation, I was concerned to hear that a 2024 Tory parliamentary candidate had moved to Hampshire, even though he worked in Central London. Councils have, with one or two exceptions, an appalling record on building new homes. Labour-run Westminster City Council all but eliminated intermediate housing for young professionals so that they could build more homes for those trapped on welfare. Shamefully, not one single new home has been initiated in the last three years by Westminster Council. So it’s no surprise that supply and demand rental costs continue to crush Gen Z aspiration.
Safe streets : younger people are disproportionately victims of crime. …
Tony Devenish: How can councils appeal to Gen Z?
Be honest—this is ridiculous.
Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly.
I knocked on a front door ahead of the May 7th 2026, Council Elections. A 20-something Gen Z opened the door on a chain lock and shouted:
“I voted for Keir Starmer. I will never EVER bother voting again!“
Then she slammed it shut in my face.
The cost of living is hurting young people, and Starmer is looking increasingly tired and middle-aged.
So Councils and Mayors need to answer this urgent question:
How can we appeal to Gen Z?
How can we serve anyone who is under 30 years of age?
I am now in my 20th year as a Westminster City Councillor and a former London Assembly Member. This demographic isn’t my natural comfort zone.
Opinion polls report that two-thirds of young women are considering voting Green and similar numbers of young men may vote for Reform UK.
I recommend a carrot rather than a stick: offer a 100 per cent rebate on annual council tax for those under-30s who volunteer for community leadership roles. That might mean working a few hours a week as a volunteer in a community-run sports club, a library, a rough sleeper charity or perhaps even becoming a Police Special. With unemployment hitting young people worse than at any time since the 1990s, the more work experience on offer, the better.
And we definitely can afford the loss of council tax income. The Treasury can cap any steep loss in Council tax for Councils with disproportionately large numbers of Gen Z. Participating as community volunteers may save the taxpayer billions of pounds over the medium and long term. An example of joined up budgeting, that the public sector often talks about, but rarely achieves.
Cheaper energy for Gen Z and all of us : Councils must continually pressurise Ed Miliband to honour his manifesto promise to reduce energy bills and ensure that Whitehall passes on the funding to make Gen Z’s (mainly) landlord housing better insulated.
City living: 20 somethings still want to live in our cities. Despite that, at the recent excellent Conservatives Together inaugural graduation, I was concerned to hear that a 2024 Tory parliamentary candidate had moved to Hampshire, even though he worked in Central London. Councils have, with one or two exceptions, an appalling record on building new homes. Labour-run Westminster City Council all but eliminated intermediate housing for young professionals so that they could build more homes for those trapped on welfare. Shamefully, not one single new home has been initiated in the last three years by Westminster Council. So it’s no surprise that supply and demand rental costs continue to crush Gen Z aspiration.
Safe streets : younger people are disproportionately victims of crime. …
