The deadline for registering to vote is fast approaching with online applications closing at 23:59 on 26 November. But rapper Stormzy has already caused a massive surge in registrations after announcing his support for Jeremy Corbyn.
In fact, Stormzy nailed exactly why so many people are backing Corbyn as PM. He stated that while he had “never trusted politicians or relied on them to be the bearers of hope and righteous people”, the Labour leader:
is the first man in a position of power who is committed to giving the power back to the people and helping those who need a helping hand from the government the most.
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Voter surge
Following Stormzy’s announcement, there was a huge surge in people registering to vote. As the London Economic reported:
The number of people signing up jumped from just over 10,000 at 6.45pm to 40,000 at 6.50pm, with the high levels of traffic remaining steady throughout the rest of the night.
Voter registration among people under 34 was already up 31% on the 2017 election by 19 November, and that trend looks like it’s continuing with large numbers of young people registering in the days since. This is bad news for Johnson as, according to YouGov in 2017, “age seems to be the new dividing line in British politics”. Young people are much more likely to vote Labour.
Even more alarming for Johnson is that, among first-time voters, Labour was 47% ahead in 2017. And it’s not just teenagers voting Labour. Because YouGov found that:
The tipping point, that is the age at which a voter is more likely to have voted Conservative than Labour, is now 47 – up from 34 at the start of the campaign.
But there’s still a long way to go. Because as of 18 November, one-third of eligible teenagers were not registered to vote.
Don’t miss your chance. Register NOW!
Registering to vote should take less than five minutes. Do it now. Don’t waste this opportunity to vote for a truly radical and transformative government. Voting isn’t the only way to make this happen. And voting doesn’t mean stopping all other political grassroots work or fighting for alternatives to parliamentary democracy. But as Stormzy said:
I think Boris Johnson is a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering.
And right now, the best chance we have for positive change and keeping a liar who repeatedly uses racist language out of Downing Street is registering to vote. So, what are you waiting for?
Featured image via Wikimedia – Rwendland / YouTube – EMPLEX Island
