School funding and early years education policy is key to Labour winning the next election

Wherever you looked after the 2017 election, there was talk of a “youthquake”. It was said Corbyn’s Labour galvanised a generation of first time voters, playing a major role in the party’s surprisingly impressive (if ultimately unsuccessful) showing at the ballot box.

Evidence has now come to light that casts doubt on this theory. A recent British Election Study research paper argues it was not turnout of under 25s but voter defection of those aged 25-44 that made the difference. Just as in the 1990s, Labour’s flagship offerings came under the banner of education, education, education. While the abolition of tuition fees was seen as the big-ticket, big-spending, headline-grabbing policy of the election, Labour’s wins can be explained by its policies on school funding and early-years education.

Everyone, regardless of ideology, wants to give more to their children than they had. The increased turnout in voters aged 35-44 produced the term “centrist dadquake”. One survey found that over a fifth of the electorate changed voting intention during the election campaign and 750,000 voters switched their support to Labour due to concerns over school funding cuts. While the pledge to abolish tuition fees generated more column inches, undoubtedly informed by the disproportionate number of politicians and journalists who received a university education, school funding was key.

The importance of education policy beyond higher education extends also to early-years policy, another high-cost cornerstone of Labour’s manifesto. Among other structural changes to childcare provision, Corbyn pledged 30 hours of free childcare for every 2-4-year-old. It was a substantial increase on the offer made by the Conservatives under David Cameron, whose key pledge guaranteed 30 hours for 3-4-year-olds, providing both parents were in work and their earnings fell within a certain threshold.

Both parties’ commitment to significant funding and political capital in childcare illustrates the importance of child care and early years policy, with the Education Policy Institute arguing that “sustained focus, investment, and political will can lead to a significant improvement and a real breakthrough for poor families”.

The importance of school funding as a social good is clear: it can help to close the attainment gap and to boost social mobility. It also has political value, which manifests itself in headteachers having to write to parents about cuts in funding and job losses, with some even asking them for financial contributions. By offering schools sufficient funding and campaigning on a policy platform with a heavy focus on education, Labour can continue to tap into something that pays dividends on polling day. The party has not yet reached “peak Corbyn”.

Sam Moore is a postgraduate student at Oxford University and a freelance writer covering politics, pop culture and LGBT issues.