An early election was aimed at stopping students voting, BoJo aides admit

The government tried to call an election on 15th October in part to limit the amount of students who would vote, Boris Johnson's aides have admitted.

The Times has revealed that Boris Johnson's campaign team privately admitted an early election would have limited the number of students who would register to vote.

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This was one of the benefits of a 15th October election, as The Times say Number 10 took account of the fact that those at their home address pose less of a threat to the Conservatives.

Young people and students voted overwhelmingly for Labour in the 2017 general election, and university constituencies played a part in the Conservatives losing their majority.

No, seriously, register to vote

Labour gained Cardiff North in 2017 on an increased turnout of 77.4 per cent. The seat, in which the bulk of Cardiff Uni's halls fall, had the 18th highest turnout of any constituency.

Meanwhile, the Conservative majority over Labour in Southampton, Itchen was only 31 votes.

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And in Portsmouth South and Canterbury, swings of over 20 per cent saw Conservative seats fall.

Conservative campaigners have privately admitted to The Tab that mayoral campaigns in Birmingham's student areas aim to restrict the student vote, whilst mobilising other demographics.

Ok, I'm warning you again. Register to vote

Boris Johnson pushed for an election on 15th October after being defeated on legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

However, the government then failed to gain a two-thirds "supermajority" in the vote to call an early general election.

REGISTER. TO. VOTE

MPs will vote again on Monday to decide whether to hold an early general election before the Brexit extension deadline on October 31st.

In the past few days, almost 70,000 under-35s have registered to vote.

Related stories that are actually just links to register to vote:

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Featured image: Arno Mikkor (EU2017EE) via Flickr