My first Publication Overtime November 2019 Merged PDF | Page 4

Pic: Mike Gimelfarb 2008 (Wikipedia commons)
OUR STUDENTS BACK LABOUR
Our exclusive poll of Brighton University students shows overwhelming support for a Corbyn-led government
Words: Harrison Kirby
U
Poll: Harrison Kirby, Katrin Johannessen, Sam Victory & Rath Ganeshalingam
niversity of Brighton students will turn up in
huge numbers to vote Labour on 12 December,
according to an exclusive poll by Overtime.
A survey of 120 students across four campuses
showed that 80 per cent were planning on voting in
the election, with 39 per cent backing Jeremy Corbyn.
This follows Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision
to call a general election amidst the Brexit deadlock.
Less than 15 per cent plan to vote Conservative.
The topic of Brexit, which has been at the forefront
of discussion amongst the British people since the
decision to leave the EU was made on 23 June 2016,
appears to be something that the students of the
University of Brighton are fed up with.
If there was to be a second referendum, 74% of
students said that they would rather vote Remain.
The Liberal Democrats have said that part of their
manifesto will include a second referendum, despite
some Liberal Democrat MPs, including Eastbourne However, amongst core Conservative voters, many
seemed unfazed by Boris Johnson’s style.
Luke, 18, said: “I’ll vote Conservative because that’s
what my mum always votes for.”
There was also a fair percentage of “floating voters”
who were unsure of who to vote for.
Despite 78% of students being able to vote, 16% said
that they were unsure of who to vote for. MP Stephen Lloyd, saying that the result of the
referendum “must be respected”.
A larger percentage of Brighton students were more
interested in the left wing, with parties such as the
Greens and Labour ranking high amongst students
(16% and 39% of the vote respectively).
This follows a recent YouGov survey showing that
Jeremy Corbyn was one of the most popular politicians
amongst millennials.
Johnson, on the other hand, ranked poorly amongst
University of Brighton students, with one student
being quoted as saying “f*** Boris” on the additional
comments of their survey. Results show huge support for Corbyn (Pic: Sophie Brown) A general confusion about the purpose of this general
election and why it was so early existed amongst
University of Brighton students.With the general news
cycle focusing purely on Brexit, it prevents many other
important issues from getting to the general public.
One student wrote that Brexit does not belong in
this election, and we should instead be focussing on
issues such as the NHS.
The Brexit deadline, which was originally going to
be on the 31 October has been given a “flextension”
by Donald Tusk to 31 January, although this new agreement means that the UK can leave on the first of
any month, if a deal is struck.
This agreement comes despite Boris Johnson’s
claims that he would “rather be seen dead in a ditch”
than extend Brexit beyond the Halloween deadline.
The Brexit Party, a hard Brexit-focused party led by
Leave.eu key player Nigel Farage, also saw a 2% vote
in the University of Brighton student survey.
The party, which recently revealed that 20 candidates
had quit, is strongly opposed to Boris Johnson’s Brexit
deal, with Nigel Farage telling the Telegraph that it
“risks putting Corbyn in power”.
On the other hand, the Green Party has pledged
£100 billion a year for climate action.
Following recent Extinction Rebellion protests, it
appeared that young people are becoming more and
more interested in global warming and the planet’s
safety.
A spike in interest in climate change could make
it one of the most important issues in this general
election.
Furthermore, a YouGov survey also showed that a
huge 45% of 18-24 year old voters put this issue as the
second most important after Brexit.
This could be the first British election where the
issue of climate change will rank as highly as issues
such as the NHS, crime and housing.
The polls from these students not only show that
young people will be attending this election in droves,
but also indicates what these young people are looking
for in their government.
The polls, overwhelmingly, show that these students
are wanting Labour in power and, given the chance,
would vote to remain in the European Union.
As young people reach the age to vote, when they
would not have been able to during 2016 and 2017,
a change could be enormous, and (seriously and
severely) shake the system right to its core.
Will you be voting in the election? Which party will you be backing? Second referendum results
Student turnout at the general election is set to be high Our poll shows huge support for a Labour government An overwhelming remain majority exists among students
Young people are becoming more
and more interested in global
warming and the planet’s safety
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