March 2019
Featured in this insight: Central government & non-department public bodies, Local & regional government
Three-quarters of new young voters would support Remain in second referendum: As Brexit draws even closer and uncertainty shows no sign of abating, a new survey has revealed insight into the position of young people who were too young in 2016 to vote in the referendum.
The BMG survey for anti-Brexit youth groups For our Future’s Sake and Our Choice found that if a second public vote were called, 74% of newly-eligible voters would choose to remain in the EU.
As well as polling young people who were not old enough to take part in the 2016 referendum, the survey also questioned those who were old enough but elected not to vote. It found that just 9% of those polled are against a ‘people’s vote’, with the majority in favour.
Of those who said they would be certain to take part in a second public vote, 87% said they would vote to stay in the EU.
More than seven in ten (72%) who were too young to vote in 2016 said it would not be fair if they were denied the opportunity to vote on whether Britain should leave the EU. Over half (55%) said they would be angry if the UK exited the EU without a public vote – compared to less than one in ten (9%) who would be happy about it.
Lara Spirit, co-founder of Our Future, Our Choice, said: “It’s great that we were able to poll a group that isn’t talked about enough in the Brexit debate – those who didn’t get a vote because they were too young.
“The government hasn’t done anything to address young people’s concerns around Brexit. That’s why we’re more united on the issue than on anything else.”
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