New voters seen as key after EU split causes division in old party loyalties

WAKEFIELD, England — Until the Brexit referendum, Gary Hill had never voted.

Now the 58-year-old roofer plans to back Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives in Thursday’s election because he wants Britain out of the European Union.

The EU divorce has broken the mold of British politics, luring new voters like Hill to the ballot box and deeply eroding old party loyalties. That makes turnout — and the election result — all the harder to call.

May, who last year campaigned quietly to stay in the European Union, is now leading the march for the exit. If she can poach Brexit-supporting voters from the opposition Labour Party and the United Kingdom Independence Party, her big gamble on a snap election could pay off.

In contrast, if opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn — who voted against EU membership in 1975 — can entice enough younger proEU supporters out to vote Labour in the hope of a “softer” Brexit, he could be in with a chance.

“As long as they get us out of Europe I’m not bothered” about other issues, said Hill.

Nearly 3 million more people voted in the referendum than in the 2015 national election, with the biggest increases in leave-supporting

These are not habitual voters, these are one-off voters.” Antony Calvert, Conservative Party candidate

areas, like Wakefield northern England.

The city, held by the Labour Party since 1932, voted 66 percent in favor of leaving the EU. Turnout was more than 10 percentage points higher in the referendum than in the 2015 election.

Whether people like Hill will turn out again, and how far socialist leader Corbyn will succeed in attracting his own cohort of new voters, is driving uncertainty about the election result.

Since May called the election in April, her party’s poll lead has narrowed. But different polling methods have produced a dramatically wide range of forecasts — from May losing her majority in parliament to winning a landslide victory.

“(Turnout) is the big unknown, it is one of the reasons why there is a difference between all the polls at the