Google searches for “move to Canada” have spiked by 49 per cent following the Conservative’s victory in the UK general election today (December 13).
Understandably, the prospect of another five years of austerity is difficult to stomach for many (us too), and data from Google reports that the surge began as soon as the exit poll results were published last night (December 12), with the peak occurring at 8.16am today after Johnson’s majority was officially confirmed.
While Canada was the most popular destination that UK web users searched for, Australia, France, and Ireland have also seen a rise in search traffic.
“Normally, the search volume for the phrase ‘move to Canada’ is around 1,700 searches a month, or around 55 a day. With the influx of this demand, the term could increase up to as much as 83,300 searches in the month or 2,738 searches in a single day,” Richard Moffat, chief executive of OLBG, which tracks search trends relating to polling data and election campaigns, told the Independent. A similar upsurge of search results also took place following the election of Donald Trump in 2016, as well as the UK EU referendum the same year.
While these stats aren’t an accurate representation of how many people will actually bite the bullet and leave Britain, it’s a pretty good indication of the mass disillusionment felt across the nation right now.