Just one in ten (11%) 18 – 25 year old’s say they intend on voting Conservative at the upcoming election, with Rishi Sunak’s party falling to third among young people, according to the first youth poll of the campaign from Savanta for ITV Peston.
Savanta’s new research also suggests a significant drop in Labour’s (53%) support of eight points, with a number of smaller parties – including the Liberal Democrats (12%), Greens (10%) and Reform UK (7%) – all making gains among young people.
Both the Conservatives’ and Labour’s campaigns so far have focused on winning over ‘the grey vote’, with younger people “feeling like a bit of an afterthought”.
However, Labour still holds a 31-point lead over their nearest rivals, the Liberal Democrats.
Rishi Sunak has seen another fall in his personal ratings among 18 – 25 year old’s, with a record low net favourability score of -46, down from -44 in April, and -20 last autumn.
Keir Starmer has seen an increase in his personal ratings among young people, with a net favourability score of +6, up from -5 in April 2024. However he underperforms compared to The Labour Party in general among young people, who have a net favourability score of +22.
Emma Levin, Associate Director at Savanta said, “Young people could be forgiven for feeling like a bit of an afterthought during this election campaign, with both the Conservatives and Labour aiming their election offers at ‘the grey vote’.”
“The lack of focus on young people may well be because of the huge leads that Labour holds in this area, which has continued. But smaller parties do appear to be making up ground, meaning the Conservatives have dropped to third place among young people.
“There is a potential risk for Keir Starmer that younger people, who are statistically less likely to vote, see a Labour victory as guaranteed and don’t feel obligated to turn out on 4th July.”
