Estimated turnout for young voters in the general election is HUGE
Voter turnout amongst under-25s has gone up in this election, as young people prove they're more politically engaged than ever.
A great turnout from 18-24 year olds voting yesterday has prompted many to comment that Labour have young voters to thank for their success in the general election.
This comes as no surprise, as our student election poll results indicated as much as 64% of students were voting Labour, whilst just 16% were in support of the current Conservative government.
Although an official figure is yet to be confirmed, many sources - including the NUS, Sky News and the Telegraph - are claiming an incredible 72% turnout amongst 18-24s! Pollsters Ipsos Mori have said we'll know the exact figure next week.
Just 43% of young people voted in the 2015 general election and only 33% voted in the EU referendum last year.
When Theresa May called the snap election back in April, it was thought that the Conservatives would win more seats as a result.
However, this has majorly backfired on the PM, as the election has resulted in the Conservatives losing seats instead - they lost 12 seats last night, whilst Labour gained 29, the Liberal Democrats gained 4 and the Democratic Unionist Party have 10 more seats. The SNP also lost 21 seats in this election.
Did young people swing the vote?
With record numbers of young people registering to vote (58,000 under-25s registered the day following the snap election announcement), and a large majority of under-25s voting Labour, it’s fair to say that young people have not only debunked the myth that they don't vote but have played a considerable role in determining the results.
Celebrities also played their part in the general election hype, taking to social media to encourage young people to get out and vote. Jeremy Corbyn has also proven himself popular on the Grime scene, with JME, Stormzy, AJ Tracey, Novelist and Akala all being vocal online about their support of the Labour leader.
The BBC have also pointed out that some key losses for the Conservatives are in areas where a large number of young people registered to vote.
For example, Labour stole Canterbury from the Conservatives for the first time in nearly 100 years (yes, a century). The Tories claim a large student-focussed social media campaign saw 8,000 new voter registrations in the lead up to the election.
The infamous Nick Clegg - who voted in favour of tripling uni fees back in 2012 after promising young people he wouldn’t - also unexpectedly lost his seat in Sheffield.
Few did as much to undermine young people's faith in politics in Nick Clegg. Tonight, young people struck back. #Election2017
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) June 9, 2017
A recent report by YouGov also recently claimed that for every ten years older a person is, the likelihood of them voting Conservative goes up by 8 points, whilst the likelihood of them voting Labour decreases by 6 points.
Were you surprised by the results of the general election?
