Britain’s youth overwhelmingly back rejoining the EU - but will Labour listen?

Sorry Suella, but the tofu-eating Guardian-reading young wokerati have struck again, and this time their aim is pointed at Brexit.

Last night’s Peston on ITV revealed a poll showing 86% of people aged 18-25 would vote to rejoin the EU if another referendum on membership was held. A mere 14% responded that they would opt to remain outside the bloc. The poll was part of ITV’s inaugural Youth Tracker, using a sample size of 1023.

The show also released a poll displaying voting intention for those in the age group, and a huge 60% of those who answered that they would vote Labour. 15% responded that they would vote for the Conservatives and 9% for the Liberal Democrats.

On the programme, levelling up secretary and former Leave campaign co-leader Michael Gove suggested that the findings meant that it was time for the government to “pause for thought”, while Tobias Ellwood MP, a Tory backbencher who voted Remain, said: “Politicians need to read the room. Young people are saying that they are not in favour of this model of Brexit…”

But, it’s far from plain sailing for the opposition either.

These figures don’t necessarily make for pleasant reading for Keir Starmer. When asked who should lead the Labour Party, the most popular answer, at 26%, was “don’t know”. Only 17% saw Starmer as the best person to lead the party, finishing behind the former leader who has since been suspended as a Labour MP, Jeremy Corbyn at 20%. Just 7% said deputy leader Angela Rayner, who tied with “none of the above”.

Young people have given the Tories and their Brexit a failing grade. However, Starmer – who insists he can still “make Brexit work” – has a job on his hands to stop getting an F too.