One of the striking aspects of the AfD’s success in the German elections was the party’s popularity among the young, especially men under 25: one in four voted for the hard-right movement. Support for bracingly conservative positions among Gen-Z men isn’t just a German phenomenon, however. In Westminster and beyond, a new breed of young right-wing influencers is seeking to shift our politics. Meet the Zoomer Doomers.
They use acerbic posts to humiliate the defenders of the status quo, in a strategy known as ‘from posting to policy’. Terms such as ‘Boriswave’ – which refers to the net migration figure that spiked at 900,000 under Johnson’s leadership – first appeared within this network. They believe that mass immigration and moronic Tory rule have brought Britain to the brink of collapse.
The movement is fuelled by a feeling that the social contract isn’t working for young people. One Westminster right-winger pointed me to a meme which originated in France: Nick, 30 ans. In the middle of the British version is a young man in a shirt sitting with his head in his hands. Around him are arrows pointing to where his wages are going: to the elderly, via pensions, and the NHS; to Africa via UK Aid Direct; and to Karim, 25, wearing a balaclava, receiving his share of Nick’s cash via the Jobcentre and housing benefit.
‘People in Westminster who are in their twenties and thirties are basically beholden to this ideology,’ says one excitable thinktanker. It’s an exaggeration, but there is a large contingent of disaffected young people in professional politics. Many of the Zoomer Doomers would like to see either the destruction of the Conservatives or a total takeover of the party, akin to the MAGA Republicans.
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