Six in ten Cambridge students intend to vote in the upcoming local elections, which is more than average, and the majority are voting for left-leaning parties, Varsity’s survey finds.

On Thursday 1 May, Cambridge students will be able to vote for Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, as well as councillors for the Cambridgeshire County Council. Those in East Chesterton and West Chesterton will also vote in by-elections for the Cambridge City Council.

Varsity’s survey finds that 57% of students intend to vote in these elections – more than the 41% turnout in Cambridge city for the mayoral election and the 30-50% turnout in council wards with high student populations in 2021 – indicating a strong desire for students to express their views at the ballot box this year.

One student told Varsity that: “I’ll be voting in the local elections because, while they may not seem as permeative or heavyweight as national ones, local councils directly impact and modulate the places we live in – transport, housing, and funding for youth and cultural services. In the whirlwind of today’s political landscape, it’s easy to overlook how much of politics is quite literally infrastructure.”

He continued: “As a student in a city so often defined by its university, it’s easy to feel detached from the wider community, but voting is a small way to stake a claim in a vast shared space and show we care about what happens to Cambridge beyond its role as an institution.”

Another student said: “I will definitely be voting in the local elections. I am always an advocate of utilising our right to vote, which is often especially important in local elections where the turnout can be very low – and, therefore, your vote will likely have a significant impact.”

However, more than four in ten surveyed said that they would not be voting in the local elections, representing a lower average turnout rate than Cambridge witnessed at the general election in 2024. One student told Varsity that: “As a third year, my time in Cambridge is coming to an end. So, to be honest, I’ve disengaged from Cambridge local politics, especially as these elections are just after the Easter vacation which I have spent at home.”

She added: “I wouldn’t vote in an election where I wasn’t properly informed and, as I won’t be living in Cambridge much longer after the election, influencing local issues doesn’t feel right.”

Commenting on the figure, Esmé Hennessy, a Cambridge student who is running as a Green Party candidate for the county council in the Cambridge Market ward said: “It’s so important that students vote because the Labour-Lib Dem County Council has very clearly been shown to take students for granted. Most of us only stay for three years, so they invest very little time and money into addressing our priorities. That’s why bike lanes are so poorly maintained, night time safety is inadequate, and student housing is so expensive.”

Varsity’s survey also found that of the students voting, the majority will lean left with Labour and the Green Party receiving 38% and 27% respectively.

Despite historical links between the University and the Conservative Party, they are currently the least popular major party according to Varsity’s survey, only receiving 7% of the votes compared to 9% for Reform and 14% for the Liberal Democrats.

Commenting on students’ voting preferences, Chloe Mosonyi, another Cambridge student running as a Green Party candidate for the county council in the Trumpington ward said: “Labour and the Lib Dems have failed to deliver in the fight against inequality and the climate emergency. Momentum for change is building in Cambridge; the Green Party achieved a record vote share at the last General Election and has been gaining more seats locally than the other parties.”

Cambridgeshire County Council is currently run by a joint Liberal Democrat, Labour, and independent coalition, and has no Green councillors. According to another poll conducted by the Cambridge Independent, the County Council is likely to remain in no overall control.

The County Council is responsible for many important services that students rely on, including road maintenance, public transport, public health, and waste disposal.

Meanwhile, the mayoral election is set to be a close race with Labour set to lose the post to the Conservatives, according to The i Paper. Paul Bristow, former Conservative MP, is hoping to defeat local councillor and Labour candidate Anna Smith by focusing on themes including housebuilding and transport.