Almost one in five young Londoners have failed to register to vote, with just a month to go before the EU referendum, an exclusive poll shows today.
With the vote on a knife-edge, the findings will be worrying for the Remain campaign, which is hoping to harness the support of millions of 18- to 24-year-olds across the country.
Government strategists and pollsters privately admit that one of the key problems for Remain is that support for staying in the European Union is strongest among young people, the group least likely to vote.
Both the In campaign’s success and David Cameron’s future as Prime Minister could depend on whether young people shake off their apathy and vote in sufficient numbers on June 23 — and whether they sign up to vote in the first place. The Cabinet Office has given additional funding to support local authorities, including many in London, to increase voter registration.
There are five million registered voters in the capital.
Research by TNS for the Regional Counting Officer for London showed that 19 per cent, or nearly one in five young Londoners, said they were not yet registered to vote, compared with just 1 per cent of over-65s.
In addition, 56 per cent of all Londoners did not know that the deadline to register to vote falls on Tuesday, June 7, with 14 per cent believing the deadline had already passed.
The study also revealed that 24 per cent of private renters were not registered or did not know if they were, compared with 5 per cent of those who owned their own home.
Barry Quirk, the official in charge of the London count, said: “The EU referendum is constantly in the news, and Londoners are really keen to have their say. But there are a lot of misconceptions, with many people believing they are automatically registered if they pay council tax or that their registration follows them to their new address if they move house. This isn’t the case.
“I don’t want anyone to be disappointed on polling day, so if you aren’t already registered, now is the time to take action by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.”
The research comes as a survey found that 60 per cent of London university students did not know when the EU referendum was taking place.
The poll conducted for Universities UK found that many students will not be able to vote because they are not registered at the address where they will be on June 23. Because the referendum is outside term-time, many students who registered to vote in the local elections this month may need to re-register if they will be at a different address on polling day.
MORE ABOUT