“Thousands of coming-of-age teenagers and new British citizens could play a key role in the general election as the political parties look to sweep up first-time voters.
Under-25s are the biggest age group to have registered to vote since 1 October – with more than 190,000 joining the electoral register in the past week alone – and many will be casting their ballots for the first time on 12 December.
[Do it here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote%5D
In the 2017 election, the age of voters became a clear dividing line in British politics, with older voters backing the Conservatives and younger voters supporting Labour.
Dr Ben Bowman, a lecturer in sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University and an expert in youth politics, said: “Young people can play a big part in this election. If parties can offer policies that bring them out to vote, then young people can swing seats across the country.
”Parties could also get smart about how they organize young people. They can play a big part in campaigns if they’re properly included.
“Young people feel disappointed with politics, and hurt by austerity, just like everyone else. But they don’t want to vote and forget about it; they want to have direct influence, to take direct action. They want to see results.”
He added: “There are two things to watch for in the campaign – which party is pushing voters to register and which party is promising specific policies for young people.”
A poll by YouGov found at the start of this month Labour were still polling well amongst young voters, holding 38 per cent support amongst voters under the age of 29, compared with just 9 per cent amongst those aged over 70.
However, it said they had lost “a lot of their younger voters” since the last election, notably to the Green Party, while the Liberal Democrats were polling at 20 per cent among all age groups.
A poll for the Higher Education Policy Institute has said more than half of students (53 per cent) are ready to vote tactically – with Brexit a key factor. The poll of 1,000 undergraduates, carried out before the election was called, suggested that 74 per cent oppose Brexit.
Between 120,000 and 200,000 people become British citizens each year. Last year, it was reported that the number of German, Italian and French nationals applying for citizenship had more than trebled in three years as the impact of the referendum is felt. There is no source of data on the voting intentions of new UK citizens, although a number voting for the first time after settling in the UK from EU countries have told i they are more likely to back Remain-supporting parties.
The3million campaign, which represents EU citizens living in the UK, has called for them to be given the right to vote in elections – a move which would require a change in the law.
A spokesman said: “It’s a disgrace this election will see over two million EU citizens being denied their votes, despite being directly affected by its result. …”
East Devon Watch 