REVEALED: Which party are Southampton students voting for?

With the General Election just one week away, we decided to poll our readers to see which party Southampton students are voting for- or whether you all think voting is […]


With the General Election just one week away, we decided to poll our readers to see which party Southampton students are voting for- or whether you all think voting is “wank“.

With well over 500 responses, our figures suggest there is a significant lead for the Conservatives, holding 33% of the vote, with Labour a distant second on 21%.

Despite the Conservative’s lead, the spread of responses highlights an ideological split among students. 14% support the Greens, amid popular suggestion that many Green supporters are being forced to vote tactically for Labour to avoid another Tory-led government.

At the other end of the spectrum, a surprising 8% of young Southampton voters plan to vote UKIP, which is encouraging for a party which won just 3.9% of the overall vote in the 2010 Election in Southampton Test, and 2.6% in Romsey and North, and traditionally relies on an older voter base (they were polled at just 15% for voters under the age of 40 in 2013, compared to 71% for voters over 50).

The Conservative lead appears to be in keeping with the National trend, with High Fliers Research publishing a national poll last week confirming a swell of support for the right-wing establishment party, despite the traditional public perception of students as being socially liberal.

Managing Director Martin Birchell claimed in the report that “the country’s top universities are set to vote for Labour and the Conservatives in almost equal numbers”.

Of the 22 Russell Group universities polled by High Fliers, both Labour and Conservative have nine universities each in which they are leading.

Students from two universities predominantly support the Greens, with the rest of the Group rounded out by support for the SNP in Glasgow and Sinn Fein in Belfast.

What do you think of the results? Are Labour still safe in Southampton? Let us know in the comments!