Poll says most students will vote tactically because of Brexit

Campaigners from the Vote For Your Future initiative. Photograph: Twitter. - Credit: Archant

Brexit is the key factor for the majority of students who are prepared to vote tactically, new analysis has found.

According to a poll of 1,000 students by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), more than half of all students will vote in a way “to maximise the chances of their side of the Brexit divide”.

With the country facing the first December election in over 100 years, most students will be back in their family home for the holidays.

This means students will get to make the choice on whether they vote in their university constituency or from their home address, maximising the power of their vote in whichever constituency it has the greatest effect.

53% of students said they would vote tactically while 15% would be unwilling and 33% were neutral.

The poll also found the single largest concern for students was Brexit, and that 74% of students oppose the UK leaving the EU.

Nick Hillman, director of HEPI, said that for many students the election will be “full-on tactical voting because of Brexit”.

In fact Brexit is an even greater concern among students than tuition fees, according to the report which found 70% of students want another referendum and 75% expect Brexit to negatively impact their future prospects.

In the 2017 general election, the student vote was viewed as delivering big wins for Labour, helping them take seats with large student populations, such as Canterbury and Portsmouth South.

Youthsight, which conducted the poll in October before the election was called, has a panel of 150,000 people aged 16-30 which it uses for research projects.