Vote at home or at uni? Momentum launches tool for students to decide

Boris Johnson's seat is one of those Momentum is trying to register students to vote in.

The Momentum campaign group has launched an online tool to help students decide whether they should vote at home or at university.

The tool is called Univotes and allows students to enter the postcodes of their family home and their university home.

It then tells them which of their two constituencies Labour most needs their votes in.

The group says that, as students tend to vote Labour more than Tory, having them registered to vote in marginal seats could help Labour win several seats.

One of those seats is Boris Johnson’s own West London constituency, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where Brunel University is based.

Johnson has a majority of just 5,000 and is being challenged by a 24-year old Brunel University graduate called Ali Milani.

Other marginal Tory-held seats with lots of students include Truro and Falmouth, Loughborough, Wallsall North and Cities of London and Westminster.

Marginal Labour-held seats with lots of students include Canterbury, Warwick and Leamington, Portsmouth South, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Lincoln.

The drive comes alongside renewed fears within the Conservative party that their low popularity amongst young people could hurt them in a snap general election.

Last week Boris Johnson confirmed his preferred October election date was designed to stop students from voting.

Laura Parker, Momentum’s National Coordinator, said: “Johnson’s attempt to rig the election and stop students from registering is deplorable, and it’s heartening to see so many young people getting registered in response.”

“Young people surged to Labour in the last election because we offered a concrete vision of hope. They turned seats like Canterbury and Newcastle-under-Lyme red, and we’re going to register tens of thousands of young people in key marginals to make sure they’re part of the movement against this government which treats them with such contempt.”

In the 2017 election, Labour had a 45-point lead over the Conservatives among full-time students.

The Green Party and the Liberal Democrats are also more popular among students than the general population.

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