When Rishi Sunak announced that he was calling a general election on July 4, he was accused of trying to disenfranchise students. This was largely because the election is happening outside of term time, meaning that students are now less likely to vote as a concentrated ‘bloc’ (and therefore have a greater impact on the result) in their university constituencies.
But experts have countered these claims and are now arguing that a summer election could actually amplify student voices.
According to Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, students are more likely to vote in a summer election – and not only that, but their votes are more likely to make an impact.
HEPI polling shows the majority of students registered to vote are registered only at their home address (64 per cent). As Hillman notes, students’ home addresses are more likely to be in constituencies that could change hands. Conversely, term-time addresses in major cities are more likely to be safe Labour seats anyway, even without student votes.
“For students’ collective votes to make a difference in any single constituency, they must lean in one particular direction in sufficient numbers and also in a different direction from other local voters – or else students simply extend the majority that one party would have even without their presence,” Hillman explains.
He added that as a result, by voting in their home constituencies students’ voices could be “amplified” in the coming election. Latest polling published by the NUS in April 2024 suggests that students are overwhelmingly likely to vote Labour, which means that students could help get the Tories out in their home constituencies.
Hillman also stressed that “for a student’s vote to make a difference at any election, they have to be registered to vote and they must turn out to vote – and now to do so with an acceptable photographic identity document.”
For more information on voting tactically, click here.
