Jeremy Corbyn’s strong showing in the General Election was caused by the biggest turnout among young people since 1992.
New research by Ipsos MORI has revealed that some 64 percent of Britain’s 18-24 year olds voted in the June 8 election – an sixteen percent increase on the turnout in 2015.
The figure is the highest since 1992, when 67 percent of 18-24 year old cast a ballot.
The rise is believed to be the reason for Labour’s strong result in the election, which saw Theresa May lose the Conservative Parliamentary majority – but it has also heightened the sharp age divide between Britain’s electorate.
Youth turnout rose dramatically to its highest level in decades. But pensioner turnout fell..#ge2017 (turned off by Cons manifesto?) pic.twitter.com/G9POwDEmPK
— Ben Page, Ipsos MORI (@benatipsosmori) June 20, 2017
Labour now holds a 35 percent advantage over the Conservatives among 18-24-year-olds, while Conservatives led by 36 percent among over 65s – creating a massive generational gap.
Describing the huge youth turn out, Ipsos MORI’s Glenn Gottfried said: ““Labour’s always had electoral success with young people but 2017 saw an exceptional rise in their support, especially amongst young women, tied together with higher turnout compared to recent general elections – although similar to the EU referendum.”
During the election, Jeremy Corbyn received widespread backing from UK artists – with the likes of JME, Skepta, and Wiley also voicing their support for the Labour leader.
In the aftermath of the election, he also received praise from Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno – hailing him as ‘human, a real person’.