influence of age on voting behaviour

Question 1

age and general elections

Answer 1

-first time voters, labour 47% ahead of the tories, but tories 50% ahead with those over 70s

• 69% voters 70 plus voted tories in 2017 and only 19% voted labour
• shows Youngers want change so likely to vote labour as have concerns of student debts and property ladder
• corbyns ratings started at -23 points but appealed to youths at Glastonbury ended with yougov rating of +39 points
• shows young will vote for someone who notices them and becomes relatable

Question 2

age and referendums

Answer 2

• 27% of over 65s voted yes, 50% of -55s voted yes in Scottish ref
• biggest supporters were aged 26-29 and 30-35
• shows youths value UK less and keen for Scottish sovereignty
• in brexit 73% of 18-24 year olds voted remain
• 60% of 65+ voted leave
• shows older voters dislike intrusive EU powers, keen to return Britain to state of sovereignty

Question 3

age and media

Answer 3

labour dominated digital election in 2017, platforms to motivate voters rather than attack tories

• labour has 664k followers whereas tories have 369k
• labour used the hashtag for the many, ti empower voters and made it trending on twitter
• new media over powers old media and labour are ahead in the race to reach young people who are more active online

-biggest twitter users aged 25-44