As she stopped to chat under a sign calling on people to “Vote Out to Help Out”, Ellie Lee said she was excited to be spending what is expected to be the final days of the Conservative government at Glastonbury festival. “We are very excited to get rid of the Tories,” the 29-year-old, sporting a Fuck the Tories necklace, said. “All of my adult life has been the Tories, basically. It will be so nice to have a bit of change, and a bit of optimism.” “I’ll toast to that for sure,” added her sister, Amy Morris, 24. The sisters, from Manchester, said the impact of their Labour mayor, Andy Burnham, had boosted their enthusiasm for the prospect of a Labour government. “I am starting work as a doctor next year, so I’m excited to see what Labour do … At least there will be some glimmer of hope,” Morris said.
Glastonbury’s notably leftwing political undercurrent was much in evidence this year, with references to the election – and calls to vote – dotted throughout the festival. A black coffin, branded the “End of the Conservative Project”, was paraded around the site to raucous cheers, carried by cartoonish effigies of Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson. One of the many banners on display in the Pyramid stage crowd read “Rishi Sunak’s leaving drinks”. But some felt there wasn’t as much political enthusiasm in the crowd as there had been in 2017, when Jeremy Corbyn received a hero’s welcome on the Pyramid stage after winning 40% of the vote in that year’s election.
Perhaps this was down to the lack of politicians in attendance, with most of the MPs due to show up pulling out due to campaigning commitments. Angela Rayner had been slated to speak at the Left Field tent on Saturday, and was instead replaced by West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin. A show of hands among the crowd there showed that most people would be voting Labour, with the rest split between the Lib Dems and Greens. But, perhaps more tellingly, when asked whether they were hopeful the election result would lead to Britain becoming a substantially different country in five years, only about half the crowd raised their hands. One of the loudest cheers came in response to an audience member asking: “How can we trust a Labour party that has been beyond cautious on things like immigration and Gaza?” Many festivalgoers said that while they were looking forward to seeing the back of the Tories, they felt a lack of enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s Labour – especially young people.
“I’m basically in camp ‘Not the Tories’. Labour are not as left as I am. So it’s OK, cool, they’re not the Tories – but meh,” said Ebony Bansair, 28. “If Labour win, I am going to feel hopeful. But I feel like there’s a lot of stuff that’s happened in the past 10 years … and we’re going to be stuck with that.” Her partner, Ross Kearsley, 28, agreed: “I’m going to go Labour, but it’s more of a tactical vote to ensure the Conservatives don’t win,” he said. “I can remember Tony Blair when I was a kid, and since then it has been Conservative,” he said. “It’s made me a bit cynical … I’m looking forward to Labour potentially proving to me that politics can make a difference.” For others, the festival provided a welcome opportunity to switch off from the campaign for a few days. “I’m a bit burned out with it all,” said Alastair Brook, 28. “I’m glad not to have thought about it for a few days. It’s a bit of a rude interruption to the escapism of Glastonbury.”
His friends Will and Shayna said this was partly due to people feeling disenchanted with the political options on offer. “I’m a big politics fan, I did a politics degree, but I just think what Keir Starmer is offering isn’t really going to solve the fundamental issues we’re facing,” Will, 27, said. “I do think it will be an improvement, but it’s hard to get excited about.” He will probably vote Green, he said, and would only vote for Labour if he lived in marginal seat. Shayna, 30, added: “I don’t know how I’ll feel when they announce Labour wins. “It’s sad. Finally there will be change, but it feels anticlimactic because it’s with a Labour we no longer stand by. I just don’t think it will make much difference.”