An overwelming margin of Oxford students plan to vote Labour in the general election on 8 June, a Cherwell poll has found.
The poll, which surveyed 784 Oxford students, revealed that 48.5 per cent of those eligible to vote said that if there was a general election tomorrow they would vote Labour, compared to only 18 per cent for the Conservatives, and 23 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.
Support for Labour did vary between the two main Oxford constituencies, as 54.2 per cent intend to vote for Labour candidate Anneliese Dodds in Oxford East, while just 18.2 per cent backed Marie Tibdall in Oxford West and Abingdon. Students in Oxford West, which contains a minority of Oxford colleges, backed the Lib Dem candidate Layla Morgan by a margin of 40.8 per cent.
Of the students surveyed, 38 per cent thought that Jeremy Corbyn would make the best prime minister, while only 25 said this about Theresa May. In fact, at Theresa May’s old college, St Hugh’s, the Tory share is lower at 13 per cent, with Lib Dems and Labour tied at 38%.
Student support for the Labour Party appears to have increased since 2015, when 31.6 per cent of Oxford students said they were voting for Ed Miliband’s party in a similar Cherwell poll.
According to the survey, Oxford students consider Brexit to be their biggest concern in the election. Of the students surveyed, 38.8 per cent think the EU or Brexit is the most important issue facing Britain, compared to 19.5 per cent who said inequality, and 14 per cent who were most concerned about the NHS.
Pro-EU Lib Dem supporters may be dissppointed that while 82 per cent of those surveyed voted Remain last year, only 26 per cent of them are voting Lib Dem on 8 June.
Despite concerns over the number of young people registering to vote, 98.9 per cent of those who took part in the survey, which ended before the deadline to register to vote on 22 May, said they were on the electoral register.
Labour support with students in Cherwell‘s survey appears to be on a similar level to that estimated by pollsters nationally. A recent poll suggested 55 per cent of students across the UK were planning to vote Labour on 8 June.
