Give an X

At the start of 2024’s general election year, over 30% of 18-25-year-olds weren’t registered to vote. Some felt they didn’t know enough about politics, many didn’t trust politicians to look out for them, and others just… didn’t give a shit. On a mission to change that, Shape History partnered with My Life My Say and the iWill movement to launch Give an X: the youth-led, non-partisan campaign that made politics personal.

Past voter registration drives have tried to bring people closer to politics... Give an X did the opposite. The campaign didn’t lecture young people, it met them where they were: on their phones, in their favourite brand spaces, and in their daily conversations. Co-created with a diverse steering group of 18-25s, it flipped traditional messaging on its head, using bold, youth-led creative, brand collaborations, and influencer advocacy to turn their everyday into an urgent rally for registration. The campaign secured partnerships with brands like Tinder, Snapchat, Lime Bikes, and Ben & Jerry's, and spoke through influencers including Ellie Goulding, GK Barry, and Riz Ahmed. We appeared at Glastonbury and London Games Fest, on the radio, in the news, and in digital and outdoor ad spaces. And it worked. 488,846 young people registered to vote directly through Give an X in just six weeks, with 100,000 on Voter Registration Day alone. The campaign reached over 4 million young people—70% of 18-24s in the UK—proving that when you make politics personal, young people do give an X.