Clegg chases youth vote
By politics.co.uk staff
The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who has enjoyed an unprecedented surge of popularity since Thursday’s TV debate, will be urging people between 18-25 to register to vote in this year’s election.
It is a move many commentators are likening to the tactics of Barack Obama before his election, when he implored young people to vote.
Mr Clegg told the Observer newspaper: “I will be saying to young people that this is their chance to make a difference. It will be a message of hope, but also one of urgency. They can really affect this election campaign, but to do so they have to register.”
It also chimes with his apparently successful message to the electorate on Thursday to ‘do something different’ claiming his party was offering something new.
The opinion polls today will continue to make happy Sunday reading for the Lib Dems.
A BPIX poll for The Mail on Sunday shows that support for the Lib Dems has jumped to 32%, one point ahead of the Conservatives on 31%, with Labour trailing third at 28%.
A ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror puts the Conservatives on 31%, the Lib Dems on 29% and Labour on 27%.
Figures issued last month by the Electoral Commission suggested that 56% of eligible voters under 25 were not on the electoral roll.
A surge in the past couple of weeks has seen 250,000 people register online, of whom 40% were under 25. At the 2005 election, only 37% of young people voted.
Next Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote in the May 6th poll.
