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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Polls apart | | Author(s) | Eric Midwinter |
| Journal title | Third Age Matters, no 31, Spring 2018 |
| Publisher | Third Age Trust, Spring 2018 |
| Pages | p 33 |
| Source | http://www.u3a.org.uk |
| Keywords | Elections ; Participation. |
| Annotation | Gender and income are the two variables most likely to influence voting intentions in elections. Eric Midwinter's opinion piece begins by explaining how 30 years ago, Channel 4 commissioned the Centre for Policy on Ageing (CPA, of which he was then Director), to study older age voting patterns in the 1987 general election. The resulting television programme and report ('Polls apart? Older voters and the 1987 general election', by Eric Midwinter and Susan Tester) disproved the widely held myth that older voters are more likely to vote Conservative. They are more likely to be conservative (with a lower case 'c'), to have made up their minds about voting intentions before an election campaign, and to have "brand loyalty" to a chosen party. Income disparities should not be disregarded as a factor: whereas at age 50, the average wealthy man and women will live to 89 and 92, the average poor man and woman will live to 76 and 78. This "chasm" of 13 or 14 years equates to chances denied of voting in three or four further elections. In recent elections, older people voted in higher numbers than other age groups; however, turnout by younger voters did increase at the 2017 general election. The author concludes that how one votes and voting at all is "largely a question of habit". (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-180420200 A |
| Classmark | VLE: TMB |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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