Environmental campaigner Chris Packham has called on the Labour Party to shift focus to the natural world to win back voters and pull support from the far right. Speaking to the Mirror, the wildlife presenter said that after losing over 1,400 English council seats in last week’s local elections, Labour should adopt a “toolkit” centred on young people and environmental action.
Packham, 65, argued that young people’s climate anxiety is underestimated and that lowering the voting age to 16 would reconnect them with politics. “Rather than just listening to young people, we should allow them to make decisions about their future,” he said. He also proposed an age cap for politicians, suggesting that those over 65 should step aside to make way for younger decision-makers.
The presenter urged the government to ban trail hunting immediately, noting that 80 to 85 per cent of the UK population supports such a ban. He described it as a “highly symbolic” move that would reflect respect for wildlife. On the sewage crisis, Packham said fixing water pollution would be an “easy win” because “there’s not a person in the UK that doesn’t want the whole issue over water sorted.”
