“Labour is solidly ahead of the Conservatives with voters under 40 years old, despite being more than 20 points behind in the polls overall, according to a significant new poll,” The Independent said on April 26.
The article said a mega-poll of nearly 13,000 voters by YouGov conducted over a two-and-a- half week period found Labour’s socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn would be heading to Downing Street were the election decided by 18-40 year olds. It found Labour was particularly popular with women under 40, who split 42% in favour of Corbyn’s labour and 27% for the Conservative Party.
The poll found Labour was well behind in the polls overall – by about 20 points – due to a significantly lower expected turnout among young voters and a huge generational divide.
Just over 40% of voters under 40 say they were “certain to vote” compared with 64% of those above 40.
The Independent said: “The divide in the poll mirrors the split at the European Union referendum, where older voters pulled Britain out of the European Union against the overwhelming wishes of younger voters.”