he Independent Student Newspaper
Number 790 Friday 24th April 2015 Published in Cambridge since 1947
Labour tops Varsity poll
Varsity News Team 13 days before the general election, a Varsity poll of over 1,000 Cambridge students – the largest poll of this demographic conducted thus far in the run up to 7th May – can exclusively reveal the political leanings of the student community. Conducted between 2nd March and 10th April, students were asked which party they would vote for if a general election were held tomorrow, with respondents able to change their answers throughout the duration of the polling period. Among the 1,063 participants in the Varsity survey, Labour topped the poll, with 32 per cent intending to vote Labour.
INSIDE:
Perhaps surprisingly, the Conservatives came in second place, with 24 per cent of the vote. his is likely to be the result of the fragmentation of the vote on the left of the political spectrum: the Greens came in a close third place, with 22 per cent of student votes in the poll, and the Liberal Democrats came in fourth place at 19 per cent. A further two per cent would vote for UKIP, and 1 per cent for other parties, including the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Northern Irish parties. Daniel Zeichner, the Labour candidate for Cambridge, said he was very pleased that Labour’s “very strong offer to Cambridge students” was starting to resonate. “It’s clear that many [students] feel let down by the Lib Dems,” he told
Varsity. “We now have a radical and practical ofer for students which will make a real diference for those about to graduate, current students, and those to follow in future,” citing a range of polices including a reduction in tuition fees to be paid for by restricting Pension Tax Relief for the wealthiest pensioners, increasing maintenance grants and ending unpaid internships. “I also ind that students care passionately about social justice, and like what they see from Labour on the living wage, and that we will scrap the unfair Bedroom Tax.” Rory Weal, the Chair of Cambridge Universities Labour Club, agreed that students are turning to the party because they feel Labour “really is ofering something distinctive and diferent... this election”.
Tactical voting: Tories vote at home Further analysis, however, indicates that Cambridge students may not be as left-leaning as they initially appear. Varsity’s survey asked respondents to indicate whether they intended to vote in Cambridge or their home constituency. For those who plan to vote in Cambridge, Labour’s share of the vote remains strong, at 33 per cent compared to the Tories’ 19.9 per cent, who slip into fourth place behind the Greens (24.5) and Lib Dems (20.2). However, among those planning to vote at home, the position is reversed, with the Conservatives receiving a 40 per cent share to Labour’s 27 per cent. his appears to indicate a ‘tactical voting’ trend, with student
Conservatives unwilling to waste their vote in what increasingly appears to be a tight Liberal Democrat and Labour race for Cambridge. As one third-year Conservative voter from Corpus told us: “As much as I’d like to see Cambridge turned blue, there is no way Chamali Fernando will be able to fend of both Labour and the Lib Dems to win Cambridge,” he said. “My home constituency is more marginal for the Conservatives, and my vote will make more of a diference there.” Chamali Fernando, however, remains optimistic, telling Varsity that “job security, apprenticeships and that Government must not spend money that it does not have while transferring current national debt liabilities to Continued on page 4.
UKIP PROFILE, OWEN JONES, JEREMY PAXMAN, STUDENT CAMPAIGNS
FERNANDO. HUPPERT. READ. O’FLYNN. ZEICHNER
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