Jeremy Corbyn is far more popular among young voters than Sir Keir Starmer, new polling has indicated, suggesting that Labour’s decision to extend the vote to 16 and 17 year olds could backfire.
While both leaders remain deeply unpopular among the public, there is a surge in support for Sir Keir’s predecessor among those aged 18-24, a new poll has shown.
The survey comes just days after Mr Corbyn launched his own political party alongside former left-wing Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
While Sir Keir’s approval ratings are poor across all age groups, new polling conducted by YouGov on the day Mr Corbyn announced his new party showed that the left-wing politician has a rating of plus 18 among 18-24 year-olds. By contrast, Sir Keir has an approval rating of minus 30 among the same group.
But among voters overall, the two leaders have a near identical approval rating, with Sir Keir on minus 40 and Mr Corbyn on minus 39.
Earlier this month, the government announced it will give the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, expanding the electorate by 1.6m people at the next election.
While there have been accusations from the right that the move was an attempt to shore up its own support, the YouGov polling for The Times suggests the move could serve to split the electorate even further if the results are reflected among 16 and 17 year olds.
It comes amid growing concern over the direction of Sir Keir’s government from voters on both the left and the right, with the prime minister’s approval rating hitting an all time low earlier this month.
Sir Keir’s support among the public reached new depths of minus 43 after the £5bn welfare U-turn, according to new polling.
The survey, first reported by The Sunday Times, also found that just a year after coming to power, seven in 10 voters think Sir Keir’s government is at least as chaotic as the Tories’ previous term.
That includes one in three voters, who believe it is more so.
Seeking to capitalise on the discontent with the Labour government, Mr Corbyn promised a “new kind of political party” when he launched the as yet unnamed project with Ms Sultana on Thursday, claiming that more than 200,000 people have signed up.
But dismissing the movement, technology secretary Peter Kyle said that the Islington North MP “doesn’t think about governing, he thinks about posturing”.
Asked about the move, Mr Kyle reflected on what he called the “chaos and instability” of Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
Speaking on Times Radio, Mr Kyle said: “He’s not a serious politician. He doesn’t think about governing, he thinks about posturing. And we see that writ large at the moment, because all the posturing, of course, just puts him at odds with his own supporters, which is why you’ve got George Galloway saying he won’t join it.”
When Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana announced their new party, a Labour source said: “The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn led party.”
The polling, conducted by YouGov for The Times, spoke to 2,013 adults between July 24 and 25.
