Young Labour now has as many members as the Liberal Democrats Labour’s youth wing is now so large it could be a mass-membership political party in its own right. Young Labour […]

Labour’s youth wing is now so large it could be a mass-membership political party in its own right.

Young Labour has more than doubled in size since Jeremy Corbyn took over as leader, making it almost as large as the whole of the Liberal Democrats.

A party source confirmed to i there are almost 100,000 Young Labour members – those aged between 14 and 26 years old – compared with 102,000 Liberal Democrats overall.

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Conservative MP Andrew Bowie revealed there are less than 10,000 Tory party members under 30.

Labour’s youthquake

Labour has seen its largest rise in youth membership in big cities – with over 15,000 young members in London alone.

“Membership has grown massively in the last few years, as young people feel empowered in their ability to have a political voice,” Megan Corton Scott, Vice Chair of London Young Labour says.

“There has been a very real youthquake in Labour and young activists are now a campaigning force to be reckoned with.”

Labour’s surge in young members is credited with boosting its results at the 2017 general election.

Young activists and students – who often have more time to campaign across the country – helped the party to swing results in key marginal seats.

Lib Dem fightback

Liberal Youth, the Lib Dem’s equivalent, counts 9,000 members among its ranks – almost the same as the Tories, despite 11 million fewer voters in 2017.

Many universities reported few, if any, visible Liberal Democrat activists after Nick Clegg supported tripling tuition fees in 2010.

However the party’s anti-Brexit agenda has seen a sharp membership rise since 2016.