Isis Middleton has little sympathy for young people who decide not to vote. “I find it really irritating when people say politics is boring,” says the 19-year-old medical chemistry student, taking a break in the square of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. “You can’t get pissed off about politicians for ignoring us if you don’t vote.”
But time is running out for unregistered young people, with the deadline for applications at 11.59pm on Monday.
There has been a huge surge in young people registering to vote since Theresa May called a general election last month, with almost 1.2 million Britons between the ages of 18 to 35 signing up, according to the Electoral Commission. In the last week more than 200,000 18- to 25-year-olds have signed up to vote, while more than 2 million people overall have registered since the election was called.
Campaigners, youth groups and grassroots organisations are racing against the clock to make sure young people cast their ballots. This week the NUS pushed out the biggest voter registration drive in its history, signing up thousands of students and young people. Organisations likesuch as UpRising, Hope not Hate and Bite the Ballot have been travelling the country offering gentle bribes such as trips to the Thorpe Park theme park and free ice cream, as well as information about party manifestos and help with getting registered.
Youth-influencing stars such as the magician Dynamo got involved, while former footballer Gary Lineker tweeted: “You can’t really get cross if you don’t put down your cross.” Grime stars such as JME and Stormzy have lined up to get young people to vote – and back Jeremy Corbyn. Instagram and Snapchat have both put reminders on their sites urging young people to vote.
Norwich is one of eight areas targeted by the NUS where it thinks the student vote could have the biggest impact, alongside the constituencies Belfast South, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Brighton Kemptown, Cambridge, Wolverhampton South West, Chester, Ealing Central and Acton, and Newcastle-Under-Lyme.
“Student unions across the country are getting students ready to vote,” says Shakira Martin, the new NUS president. “It sounds like political parties are starting to recognise young people’s views, but at the moment we’re getting a lot of lip service, but no lipstick – we need the parties to commit to investing in young people.”
Many students are finding out about voting tactically, looking at websites such as Swap My Vote – which lets voters swap the ballot with someone in a constituency where it will make more impact – or deciding to vote either at their university address or home address, depending on where it would have greater weight, according to students who spoke to the Guardian.
“I think young people can make a difference; the danger is that we think it won’t,” says Jonathan Hendry, a 21-year-old UEA drama student who has dual French-British nationality. “For me it’s incredibly important to have our say, because we are the ones who will be dealing with the consequences of Brexit and whatever the next government does.”
Unlike in the country as a whole, Labour has a significant lead among young voters. In the latest Guardian/ICM poll 57% of 18 to 24-year-olds supported Labour compared with 22% who backed the Conservatives. Among students the lead is even greater: 65% to 16%. A poll of nearly 13,000 voters by YouGov found that under-40s supported Labour over the Conservatives by a margin of 40% to 27%, despite the Tories having a 20-point lead on Labour overall.
But regardless of voter intention, it is boots in the polling stations that makes the difference and young people – along with renters and people in BME and working-class communities – are far less likely to vote. In the 2015 election only around four in 10 of them voted, compared with more than three-quarters of people aged 55 and above.
While figures that suggested only 36% of 18 to 24-year-olds voted in the EU referendum have been debunked, a more accurate figure suggests 64% of registered voters aged 18-24 voted in the referendum, compared with 90% of over-65s. In the YouGov poll only 40% of 18-24 year olds said they were certain to vote compared with 71% of over-70s.
There are some positive signs that the registration drive is having an impact among students however, with those most certain to vote on 8 June rising from 45% to 52% in the latest Guardian/ICM poll.
Even if the youth vote cannot swing this election – the claim that if 30% more people under 25 voted, the Tories could lose the election appears to be more than a little mathematically flawed – an increased youth turnout would at least remind politicians that they have a duty to all demographics, says Lucy Winter, 22, a graduate of Norwich’s University of the Arts. “I feel like I won’t be listened to until I’m 40, or have loads more money,” she says. “But if we want to be taken seriously, we have to come together as a generation.”
