‘Just because young people see Reform’s content doesn’t mean they’re buying into it.’
Reform UK are in for a shock! Despite Nigel Farage insisting that younger voters are being drawn to the far-right party, the evidence suggests otherwise.
A new poll for YouGov, carried out as part of a study with the University of Exeter, found that that nearly two-thirds (61%) of 18 to 30-year-olds said they were very unlikely to ever vote for Nigel Farage’s party.
Those asked were asked to rate on a scale of 0 (very unlikely) to 10 (very likely) to say how likely they were to ever vote for each party.
The findings of the poll will be a blow to Farage, who has tried to broaden his appeal to younger voters, including via TikTok and on social media generally.
Yet HuffPost reports that ‘just 13% of the young voters under 30 gave Reform a score of 7 or higher’.
The University of Exeter’s Dr Stuart Fox said: “Reform’s aggressive social media strategy targets younger audiences with short-form videos and populist messaging.
“But just because young people see Reform’s content doesn’t mean they’re buying into it.
“In the year since the election, Labour has gone from dominating the youth vote to being in a three-way race with the Greens and Lib Dems. Reform, despite the headlines, isn’t even close – but that won’t worry the party.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
