The Manchester campaigner using memes, Snapchat, influencers and Tinder to urge young people to vote

Dan Lawes is part of the Give an X Campaign

A former student is part of a huge campaign using celebrities, influencers, memes and social media to encourage young people to vote in the upcoming General Election.

Dan Lawes, who studied in Manchester, works with the groundbreaking Give an X campaign which targets 18 to 24-year-olds.

Research by the Electoral Commission shows 96% of over 65s are registered to vote, along with 94% of people aged 55 to 56.

But move down the age ranges, in its report published in 2023, the Commission revealed nearly one third of 20 to 24-year-olds were not registered to vote in 2022.

That figure was even higher for 18 and 19-year-olds, with 40% of those not registered.

Give an X is aiming to change that, and had a huge impact in the recent local elections, with a campaign revolving around reality TV shows.

It used the tag line" "You already vote to keep your favourite celebs in the house, the jungle and the villa, and all your other favourite reality TV shows, but now it's time to vote for your own reality", to encourage young people to turn out.

A record-breaking 113,000 young people registered to vote in one day, with 75,000 of those coming from clicks from the campaign.

For the General Election voting registration, Dan and the rest of the team are raising the bar and hoping to get a million people registered on deadline of 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 June.

The group has been targeting 18 to 24-year-olds by speaking to them using the brands and social media sites they frequent.

These include Snapchat, which has introduced a new filter, and Tinder, where users can swipe to be taken to the voting registration page.

Dan told ITV Granada: "We've got a filter with Snapchat, so people can share with their friends that they've registered to vote.

"Tinder is a huge one, and what they're doing is making sure that when people are using the app, and they haven't registered to vote, they can swipe and it takes them to the registration page.

"We've got over 150 celebrities posting today, from Michael Sheen, to YouTubers and social media influencers, all pushing out the same message.

"That message is 'if you Give and X about housing, if you Give an X about the climate crisis, if you Give an X about mental health, then you have to vote, and register to vote'."

Dan continued: "The Give an X campaign is an entirely youth-led, non-partisan campaign, which works with 300 organisations across the country.

"We meet young people where they are, in their digital lives and front-line youth services. We know that young people are the least likely demographic to be registered to vote.

"4.3 million are currently off the electoral register, akin to the UK's second largest city, so we've got a big job to try and get a million young people registered to vote by the end of today.

Dan has been passionate about the importance of young people having their say since he was a teenager.

In 2016, at the age of 16, he founded YouthPolitics UK, a non-profit organisation based in Manchester dedicated to encouraging political engagement among young people.

It provided free and non-partisan campaigning sessions to help youth in deprived areas develop the skills to bring about positive change.

The social impact of Dan’s work was immense. Along with a team of 11 volunteers, he reached over 14,000 young people across the north west by holding campaign workshops, talks in school assemblies and collaborations with youth centres.

Fast forward eight years and Dan's passion for getting young people to use their voice has not been dampened.

Those wanting to register to vote can do so online here. The General Election is on Thursday 4 July.

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