Earlier this year the Conservatives became the laughing stock of the country after party figures show they received more money from the dead than they did from living people. But according to the latest figures, Brexit could be facing a similar dilemma.
Alastair Campbell pointed out on Twitter today it has been so long since the referendum that not only has the will of the people changed but so has the people who voted in it.
Some 1.3 million people have died since the vote took place and 1.5 million have reached voting age, begging the question “who matters more, the dead or the young?”
Just over 70 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds who voted in the referendum backed Remain, according to academic and commercial polls, with just 40 per cent of those aged 65 and over voting the same way.
And according to the latest statistics these younger and older voters may be even more polarised now.
Also it has been so long since the referendum that not only has the will of the people changed but so has ‘the people’. 1.3m have died. 1.5m have reached voting age. Who matters more, the dead or the young? @peoplesvote_uk https://t.co/riPQfSbwp8
— Alastair Deeply Unhelpful Campbell (@campbellclaret) October 9, 2018
A total of 82 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds with a voting preference say they would vote Remain in a second referendum, an average of polls conducted in the past three months suggests, while only 18 per cent of this age group say they would vote Leave.
Analysis of census data shows the group who have come of age since the EU referendum now outnumbers the Leave side’s 1.26 million majority over Remain, and could tip the scales the other way.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: “The referendum two years ago was influenced by the Conservatives’ resistance to open up the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds. Given theirs is the generation that will be most hurt by Brexit, this was wrong.
“What is striking is that getting on for one-and-a-half million of those denied that vote have turned 18 since June 2016. We know from the breakdown of the referendum that the vast majority of these young people would have voted to remain in the EU, almost the polar opposite of older people.
“This demographic shift shows why it is so important that they have the opportunity to have the final say on any chaotic Conservative deal with the option of an exit from Brexit.”
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