It's no myth to anyone that the age group least likely to vote in general elections is the bracket of 18-24 year olds. Although we did see a rise from 50% to 58% in youth turnout this election, many young people are still failing to fill out the ballot on voting days. Let's turn this statistic completely on it's head. What if the young people were the
only people voting? Using the latest political data here is a resemblance of what Westminister would look like*:
diagram put together by myself
As you see, the outcome of the election would be considerably different. Rather than a Conservative majority, we would be seeing one slightly larger but with a Labour government rather than a tory one. This signifies the vast political differences between the old and the young; which is that younger people are much more left-wing than those of their elderly counterparts.
A common claim is that once you grow up, you tend to lose your left-wing tendencies although a
recent study suggests otherwise.
Great news for those on the left of the spectrum, although probably slightly worrying for those on the right. It may also be worthwile to note that the Greens and UKIP both received 10% in the opinion poll, but the diagram does not reflect that at all. Possibly even more reason to replace First Past The Post?
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Method of calculation here:
Spoiler:
Because the electoral system we use is First Past The Post and not a form of proportional representation, a method of calculation for the amount of seats using a national percentage can never be completely accurate however I believe the calculations used below are the closest we are going to get.
The method for this is as follows; first taking the number of votes total, then multiplying it by the percentage given in the opinion poll, and then dividing it by the current number of votes per seat. Sources are below the calculations.
Labour Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.41) / 40,290
Conservative Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.24) / 34,244
Green Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.10) / 1,157,613
UKIP Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.10) / 3,881,129
SNP Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.04) / 25,972
Liberal Democrat Seats = (30,691,680 * 0.08) / 301,986
[Source #1 - Opinion Poll: Lord Ashcroft,
http://theconversation.com/how-did-y...e-future-41650]
[Source #2 - Votes per Seat: The Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/gene...ach-party.html]
*Disclaimer: This diagram was calculated using only six parties, and therefore more regional or smaller parties such as the Democratic Unionists were not included in the chart itself.