'Getting squeezed on both sides': Liberals a distant third among younger voters

The federal Liberals are seeing a dive in popularity among younger voters, once the core of their base, falling 23 points behind the Conservatives by the end of August, according to new polling from Nanos Research.

The federal Liberals are seeing a dive in popularity among younger voters, once the core of their base, falling 23 points behind the Conservatives by the end of August, according to new polling from Nanos Research.

The data shows the Liberals in a distant third place for 18-29 year olds with 15.97 per cent, compared to the Conservatives and the NDP with 39.21 per cent and 30.92 per cent respectively.

It’s a dip for the Liberals, who were at 26.8 per cent at the beginning of August for the same age group. And it’s a boost for the Conservatives, who are up from 29.3 per cent at the beginning of the month.

“I would be very concerned if I were the Liberals,” said said Nik Nanos, CTV News’ pollster and Nanos Research’s chief data scientist and founder. He told CTVNews.ca the party has to do three things to win the next election, currently slated for 2025: win back women who have pivoted their support to other parties, mobilize younger voters under one progressive banner, and be more competitive among male voters.

“Right now the Conservatives are really doing well among male voters, they're more competitive among female voters than they have been, and the Conservatives are now doing well among younger voters,” he said. “That means that the Liberal coalition that was built in 2015, the movement led by (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau, is slowly unraveling, and they've got to reverse this trend if they want to have any chance to hold on to government.”

The new numbers from Nanos Research come while Trudeau has seemingly been trying to appeal to the younger demographic. Last week, while wrapping up a multi-day meeting of his ministers with a message to young people, he said: "We owe it to you to take action."

From housing affordability to climate change, Trudeau attempted to reach out directly to the demographic that's helped him win past elections.