There are three major events happening in the UK at the moment:

1. The Euros are happening. Is it coming home? No idea. Are we going to use it as an excuse to go day drinking. Probably.
2. The general election is coming. So all the parties are trying to get your vote via various memes, debates, leaflets and trips to Thorpe Park.
3. Love Island is happening. Where lots of 20 somethings wear swimwear by day and club outfits by night in the hopes of finding love and Pretty Little Thing deals.

Now some of these events are going to be more of a priority in your life than others. For me, it’s event number 2.

That being said, the logistics of this year’s Islanders (that’s what we call Love Island contestants if you’ve somehow managed to avoid the show over the last 10 seasons) when it comes to voting has been a valid form of contention on TikTok. So today, I’m using my knowledge of the different voting options to take you all down the Love Island political rabbit hole.

1. How could the Islanders vote if they’re sunbathing in the villa?

Realistically the only way the islanders would probably be able to vote this year would be via a proxy vote. This is where you instruct someone who will be voting at the same polling station as you (e.g. someone you live with) to vote on your behalf. Assuming they flew out on the 27th May to film promo material, that would’ve gave them a 3-4 day window to apply for a proxy vote of they hadn’t already done so. Given one can do the form online, they probably completed this on the Thursday night or the Friday. 

Would they actually know who they could vote for?

Not exactly. Let’s act under the assumption that all of the Islanders had some basic knowledge of how the UK political system works and the key issues the UK is facing at the moment prior to traveling. As opposed to learning about said issues by the pool as was the case in season 4.

The deadline for candidates to nominate themselves was Friday 7th June. At least that was the case in my constituency which is Melton and Syston. This year’s season of Love Island premiered on the 3rd June and a typical episode will cover the previous 24 hours. Meaning that the initial cast and the first set of bombshells are probably only aware of whether major parties (labour, Tory, Lib Dem, Green, Reform, etc.) are fielding candidates in their constituency as opposed to smaller parties (ADF, Rejoin EU, Monster Raving Looney Party, etc.).

Also the islanders would only be acting on information that was given before flying out which didn’t include manifestos. For those of you who are new to the political world, a manifesto is a series of plans/promises that the winning party look to implement when elected. For some people this information is plenty, for others, including myself, the more information the better. At the time of the Love Island premiere, the only party close to a having a detailed manifesto viewable to the public was Reform. Every other major party have only recently released fully costed manifestos over the last couple of weeks. Do I think manifestos for the other parties should’ve been out sooner instead of this drip feeding BS? Yes. Yes I do.

Is this the first time that Love Island has taken place at the same time of a general election?

No. There was one other year where Love Island took place at the same time at a general election. Islanders voting in the genny elec has only ever happened (to my knowledge) once and that was during 2017. For those of you trying to remember that season, it’s the one where Amber and Kem won and Jonny called Theo a bellend whilst Chris offered to rap to lift the mood.

According to Google, information about how the islanders were able to vote, if they actually were, is incredibly sketchy/non-existent. What we do know is that the general election that year took place on the 8th June. Whilst the premier of that season was on the 5th. So depending on fly out dates, the islanders may have sent a postal vote instead. A postal vote, is where you get sent the polling card prior, cast your vote and then pop it in the postbox before the deadline.

What’s interesting is that there doesn’t seem to be any acknowledgement of Love Island at the time of writing by political parties. Contrast that with 2017 where former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn encouraged people to vote for former Blazing Squad member and finalist Marcel. Maybe it’s because the parties are now too busy making memes on TikTok and need to binge watch the mess before endorsing an Islander.

Do production want these conversations to happen?

The short answer is that it depends on who you ask. The Daily Mail reported that Islanders will be allowed to tell their proxy who to vote for whilst they are filming in the hopes that production will be able to film highly charged political debates. Bare in mind, they are the only news site to do this, at the time of writing. So take what they say with a gain of salt.

As it stands, there is a lack of chatter regarding the general election that has been shown on TV. Now that’s not to say, said conversations haven’t been had but given how messy the episodes have been thus far, production right now probably don’t believe those conversations are high priority. Who cares about what Labour plan to do about our education system when we can just show Joey Essex causing chaos. I personally care alot about the former but I also appreciate that some people might want a break and that’s OK.

So what do I think the answer to the question is?

I think that the Islanders who were interested in voting would’ve had some idea on who they planned to vote for prior to getting the call and that said Islanders have instructed their proxy votes accordingly. It would not surprise me if future bombshells come in, introduce themselves and then spill the tea about Rishi Sunak not being able to have Sky TV as a child whilst Ed Davy discusses the single market on the spinning teacup ride.

The key thing is that a large portion of the demographic that watch Love Island are also the demographics that certain parties really want to capture, as highlighted in my previous manifesto break downs. Will they reference it amongst the Sky TV chatter? We shall see…

Thanks for reading folks and I hope you enjoy this alternative piece of political content. If you did, make sure to share the blog post and follow me on your favorite platforms. I don’t just post political content on there, I also post about Melton Mowbray’s various businesses and events.

Until next time folks,
Kelly.