Sesh the vote: How young people and electronic music influenced the general election result

In the realm of house and techno, Patrick Topping and Floating Points both played Labour rallies and the likes of Jackmaster, Ben UFO, Madam X and Throwing Shade all urged people to register and vote, with Artwork posting a photo of himself during a canvassing session.

These musicians, all prominent figures within their respective genres, took control of the conversation and used their influence to encourage participation – invaluable when most politicians and mainstream media ignore the demographic these artists represent and speak to (this is slowly but surely changing in terms of MPs, though).

While The Sun and Daily Mail dedicated reams of copy to bashing anything that didn’t come with a Conservative stamp of approval, kids were taking cues from an alternative information source made up of viral videos, passionate tweets and youth media hyperlinks – all featuring their favourite DJs, MCs and producers.

And it’s not hard to understand why a large proportion of electronic music culture ended up supporting Corbyn and Labour (if we've missed a similar surge of support for the Conservatives, please let us know and we'll link to it). His policies are aimed at young people, he doesn’t talk smack and he looks as good in a Wilson tracksuit as Skepta does in a Cottweiler one. Just before the election he pledged to support live music, while his main rivals will always be known for going against the very values that electronic music is built on.

As we’ve explained before, electronic music and politics are intertwined. Things like Brexit and licensing have direct consequences on dance music. Whichever way they’re voting, it’s completely positive that more young people than ever before are turning up to the polls and that artists are encouraging them to do so.

Seb Wheeler is Mixmag's Head Of Digital, follow him on Twitter. Jasmine Kent-Smith is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter

Image via Reuben Dangoor