Poll: Huge student swing to Labour
By politics.co.uk staff
The Liberal Democrats have seen a collapse in student support since the election, a poll confirms.
A YouGov survey of students currently at university had the party on 15% – one third of the support it enjoyed among the group in May.
The main beneficiary appears to be Labour, up 18 points to 42%, while the Conservative support among students has gone up slightly to 26% from 21% at the general election.
The poll backs up the public perception that anger over higher education proposals is being directed mainly at Nick Clegg’s party for its failure to fulfil a pre-election pledge to vote against any rise in fees.
Lib Dem business secretary Vince revealed this week that he may abstain on his own proposals – an extraordinary action for a government minister – in order to maintain party unity.
Mr Clegg’s MPs have endured a torrid time over the fees issue, as they scramble to justify new proposals amidst growing student discontent demonstrated in a series of protests against fees and wider cuts to higher education.
According to the poll, the coalition proposals for increasing the tuition fees cap to £9,000 is opposed by 78% of students, while 80% thought Nick Clegg should not have gone back on his election pledge.
Labour leader Ed Miliband used an article in the Evening Standard today to take advantage of this apparent siphoning of student support from the Lib Dems.
He accused David Cameron of “playing fast and loose with the facts”.
“Mr Cameron claims the trebling of fees is unavoidable,” he added. “That is simply not the case. His government has chosen to target a huge and disproportionate cut on our universities.
“Overall government expenditure is being cut by an average of 11%. Yet Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg have chosen to target an 80% cut on the public funding for teaching in our universities.”
Making hay out of Mr Cable’s comments, the Labour leader added: “When Mr Cameron can’t persuade his own government he is right, how can he expect the country to buy his argument?”
The opposition has yet to spell out its own policies on higher education, however. Mr Miliband stated only that a graduate tax was his party’s “long-term goal”.
The topline poll figures by YouGov currently put the two largest parties at a tie on 40%. The Liberal Democrats continue to languish on ten per cent.
Although the next general election is not scheduled to take place until 2015, Lib Dem MPs will have one eye on local elections next May as a potential indicator of the backlash they may suffer from their traditionally strong student constituency.
