They are all superstars on the Chinese app TikTok: Wonderboy and “mother-in-law’s dream” Jordan Bardella in France. Rock star and “TikTok-Daddy” Alex Vanopglagh in Denmark. Viral Simen Velle here at home in Norway. Yes, even the banned raven Maximillian Krah in Germany. These guys have something Støre doesn’t. They have pulled on the guys. And they don’t do so badly among young ladies either. Although there are many differences between the four politicians, they have in common that they are pulling European youth to the right, and they speak particularly well to young men. A faded wonderboy None of these can be said about the Norwegian Labor Party. It has been a while since Jonas Gahr Støre was Norwegian politics’ undisputed rock star with the nickname Super-Jonas. AP deputy leader Jan Christian Vestre is constantly referred to as a wonderboy and shooting star, but so far this has not resulted in a voter storm, but rather more top positions in the party. Now Støre has got another big challenge in his lap that he hardly saw coming when he signed up as captain of the Ap ship ten years ago. Young men escape from the party in such large streams that the ship’s bell should ring. It came as a bit of a shock that only 7 percent of young men voted Ap in the local elections in 2023. Since then, a number of polls have shown that Ap’s grip on the youth, and especially the boys, is looser than a glass jellyfish. According to the average of the measurements by the website pollofpolls.no, only 12 percent of the youngest voters would vote Ap. From pain to Velle In the recent Oslo poll for Dagbladet, Ap was just as attractive as KrF among voters under 30 in the capital. Sorry KrF, but that says a lot. Older ladies in the districts have been their parade branch. A provisional starting point is the Academics’ survey of the voting of highly educated people. Only one (1) percent of highly educated men under the age of 35 would vote for the Prime Minister’s party. In return, the FRP is glimmering, both in the capital and among academics. Although individual measurements must be taken with a large grain of salt, the trend is clear and disturbing when viewed through social democratic glasses. It also dispels the myth that it is typical working-class boys in particular that the Labor Party has lost. But it also punctures another notion. FRP is no longer an old man’s party. Sylvi Listhaug’s party has grown steadily in the polls, and part of the growth is due to them doing particularly well with young men. Leader of the youth party, Simen Velle, has received much of the credit for this turnaround. He is also one of Norway’s most popular politicians on TikTok. Simen Velle is reminiscent in style of European right-wing politicians who do well among young men. Photo: NTB There he talks a lot to boys, and says things like “even if you’re having a hard time, you have to seize the opportunities”. The self-help politicians He is not alone in this self-help-like way of speaking. The Danish phenomenon Alex Vanopglagh has done something so un-Norwegian as to become popular with young people by asking them to “pull themselves together”. He has great success with political talk shows (with admission!) and makes it big as “Daddy” on TikTok. According to polls, 26 percent of young Danes say they will vote for the bourgeois party he leads, the Liberal Alliance. The phenomenon Alex Vanoplagh can become prime minister in Denmark. Or a short-lived hitchhiker. Photo: Reuters Blue, blue wind At the darkest end of the scale of dark blue we find Maximilian Krah, the first candidate in the EU elections for the controversial party Alternative for Germany (AfD). He has had great success reaching young voters on TikTok with messages such as “Be confident. Don’t let anyone imagine that you are supposed to be kind, soft, weak or left-wing”. He has even provided check tricks. But there are limits to how extreme one can become. Now he has been banned from his own party because relations with Russia and China and, not least, Nazi flirtation. Controversial AfD’s top candidate in the EU elections Maximilian Krah has mastered the art of being so controversial that he was banned from his own party. But he had appeal among the young people on TikTok. Photo: AFP Then it goes much better with France’s wonderboy, Jordan Bardella. As party leader in Marine Le Pen’s National Assembly, the 28-year-old has not only led the party to an electoral landslide in the EU elections. He is also a kind of favorite to become the country’s next prime minister. A large part of his success is attributed to his communication with voters on … Yes, guess what: TikTok. Jordan Bardella (28) is France’s wonderboy and could become prime minister after the election in July. Photo: CHARLES PLATIAU / Reuters Must all politicians dance on TikTok? TikTok has become a headache for both politicians and the media. We will spare the children from social media, but do everything to be there ourselves. You would rather not give the Chinese app access to your life (also known as the mobile phone), but what do you do when it is where young people get their news? Almost 6 out of 10 young people in a European survey get news from social media, and in particular TikTok. Here at home too, according to Kantar, there is a growing trend, especially among the youngest between 15 and 19. So is the solution for Jonas Gahr Støre, who has obviously become more at home on the “oldies’ sites” Facebook and Instagram, to take the axe, the cabin eider (which unfortunately is dead) and the skis to TikTok? Well. Should Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre stop talking about green industrial adventures and waiting times in hospitals and instead share checkup tip videos? Hardly. (But what do I know) Should they both rather be dancing? No. The right-wing parties in Europe are obviously more active and receive more response there. Jo Skårderud in Klassekampen is among those who believe the left must get on TikTok. But that hardly solves the problems. Because it probably doesn’t help to be great on social media if the message doesn’t hit home. Becoming a TikTok Jonas is hardly the only way to success. Becoming a TikTok Jonas is hardly the only way to succeed in politics. You also have to hit the mark with the message. Photo: NTB Not only TikTok, dark blue politics thank you In several European countries, far-right parties have done very well with younger voters. According to the report “Youth in Germany”, the turn to the right among young people is very clear. 22 percent state that they would vote for the previously mentioned right-wing populist AfD. A survey reported in the British newspaper Guardian shows that young people are more negative about immigration than older generations in parts of Europe. Since the last EU election, attitudes towards immigration have hardened. At the same time, climate commitment among young people has dropped significantly in most of Europe. This trend collides head-on with notions we have had that young people are more concerned about the climate and positive about immigration than so-called baby boomers. It’s no wonder. When I was a student, there was a queue around the Studentersamfundet in Trondheim of young people who wanted to hear Jonas Gahr Støre talk about the big things, such as climate, peace and foreign policy. And no one knows what will come after TikTok. * But after this comment was written and before it could be published, Jonas Gahr Støre managed to make his debut on TikTok. You can read how it went in Dagbladet. Published 15.06.2024, at 11.39 Updated 15.06.2024, at 11.53
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A quite different wonderboy – Ytring
