All eyes on Kenya after 60% youths vote for opposition in UK elections

It has emerged that 60 per cent of youths voted for the opposition Labour party in the just concluded UK elections.

According to an exit poll by the NME/The Stream, the first evidence of turnout levels among younger voters rose 12 points to 56 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds since 2015.

A live update on the election by Andrew Sparrow said the survey, based on 1,354 respondents, confirms that a majority of younger voters opted for Labour, with 60 per cent of under-35s saying they had voted for the party.

Sparrow says this rose to 66 per cent with 18- to 24-year olds saying they had voted to back Jeremy Corbyn’s party.

He said the survey found that 36 per cent of the youth who voted were first-time voters and that half went to the polls with a friend or family member, with Brexit the main factor in their decision to vote.

Mike Williams, NME’s editor-in-chief, said: “A lot of talk during this election has been about whether young people would bother to get out and vote.

They did, in huge numbers, and on a scale not seen in the UK in recent years. We at NME are incredibly proud to see this and it’s further proof that young people in the UK are massively engaged with politics in 2017.”

With less than 60 days to the Kenyan general election, questions are abound on whether the youth will play a significant role in determining the outcome.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking a second term, has been endearing himself to youths with the look and brand of his Jubilee party.

He has been donning a varsity Jubilee-branded jacket during majority of his public appearances, most recently when he was cleared by IEBC.

Opposition chief Raila Odinga has not been left behind, having merged his names 'Raila Amolo Odinga' into the acronym RAO.

NASA and Jubilee have also taken turf wars to social media as they battle for the hearts and minds of 19 million registered voters.

The massive investments in digital messaging could well revolutionise political campaigns in Kenya as both Jubilee and NASA step up customised approaches to win voters.

More on this: Uhuru, Raila teams take campaign wars online

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