Youth turnout surged to 60% at election almost carrying Jeremy Corbyn to power, first poll confirms
A YouGov survey has revealed that nearly 60 per cent of young people turned out to vote
YOUNG voters almost carried Jeremy Corbyn to Downing Street by turning out in huge numbers to support Labour, it has emerged.
The first poll of General Election voters confirms reports that far more under-30s cast a ballot than in previous elections.
And they were overwhelmingly likely to vote for Labour, with barely a fifth of young voters backing Theresa May.
The also revealed that working-class Brits are now just as likely to vote Tory as Labour, while wealthy liberals have flocked to Mr Corbyn.
Labour defied expectations by taking 262 seats, despite predictions the party would face an election wipeout.
In the immediate aftermath of the election, it was initially reported that youth turnout was as high as 70 per cent - up from 44 per cent in 2015.
Now it has emerged that the real figure was around 59 per cent for people aged between 18 and 24, which is still a dramatic surge since two years ago.
66 per cent of teenagers voted Labour and only 19 per cent supported Mrs May, while for those aged 20-24 the figures are 62 and 22 per cent.
All age groups under the age of 50 were more likely to vote Labour than Conservative, YouGov revealed.
However, Mrs May managed to win the election thanks to strong support from older people, who are still much more likely to vote than the young.
69 per cent of over-70s voted Conservative, while 58 per cent of those aged 60-69 and 47 per cent of 50-somethings supported the Tories.
Each of these age groups had a turnout of more than 70 per cent, according to the poll.
YouGov said: "In electoral terms, age seems to be the new dividing line in British politics.
"The starkest way to show this is to note that, amongst first time voters, Labour was forty seven percentage points ahead.
"Amongst those aged over 70, the Conservatives had a lead of fifty percentage points."
Mr Corbyn made a huge push for the youth vote, befriending grime stars and appearing on the cover of magazines such as NME and Kerrang!
Despite the huge contrast between age groups, class is no longer a major factor in how Brits vote, according to the company.
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Wealthier professionals are only slightly more likely to vote Tory, while the working classes are almost evenly split between the two main parties.
45 per cent of men voted Conservative and 39 per cent voted Labour. Women were divided 43-43 between Mrs May and Mr Corbyn.