Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
Christmas has come early for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, according to a new poll [TWEETS]
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has received some exciting pre-Christmas news. While the Conservative government squabbles among itself and makes a mess of Brexit, the opposition’s poll results keep improving. And the most recent figures bode very well for Labour’s future.
The youth vote
Young people have been instrumental in Labour’s recent revival. The general election of June 2017 saw a surge in the number of 18-to-24-year-olds turning out to vote. The majority of those voted Labour.
By contrast, the Conservatives appealed to the opposite demographic. In the same election, 69% of over-70s voted Tory. And this is a cause for concern among Conservative insiders. Former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine has suggested that around 2% of the mostly Conservative-voting older electorate is dying every year.
Latest results
The latest poll conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) shows a marked increase in Labour’s youth vote. Prior to June’s election, 55% of 18-to-24-year-olds indicated a Labour voting intention. In the survey released on 18 December, that figure rose to a massive 68%. This is Labour’s highest ever showing in a HEPI poll. And the public has been quick to react on Twitter:
Labour has out smarted the Tories and over many years created a solid movement within the education system based upon progressive liberalism. It is now not cool to be a Tory in college or university. It’s a youth system.
— Zanchin (@Zanchin01) December 18, 2017
Look, when your mum and dad went to college for free or almost nothing and you see austerity for what it is. A political choice to favour the rich then why wouldn’t they vote for change?
— Richard Tucker (@rtucker66) December 18, 2017
Some die-hard Tories, meanwhile, have attempted to deride students:
https://twitter.com/GBerry1984/status/942661496244523008
But others have been swift to respond:
This is why they can not ever get the student vote. They still think we are voting for tuition fees because they assume everyone is a selfish voter like them 🙄
— 🇳🇬QUEEN 🎉 (@blixberrie) December 18, 2017
The future
With Brexit proving to be the poisoned chalice many predicted, the current government appears fragile. Another election could be imminent. In that eventuality, Jeremy Corbyn is likely to become prime minister. Even Conservatives admit so.
With the younger generations so securely on Labour’s side and Conservative support fading, the latest polling from HEPI suggests that rather than being a one-off, a Corbyn government could be the beginning of a new political era – an era of Labour domination.
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