The UK's political constituencies if only those aged 18-24 voted (top left), 25-49 (top right), 50-64 (bottom left) and over 65 (bottom right). The age-based split is certainly striking to see. It would be interesting to see the same plots over time. Have Labour (red) and the Tories (blue) always appealed to such markedly different demographics ?
https://www.indy100.com/article/yougov-data-election-maps-uk-conservative-labour-brexit-divided-young-old-demographic-8528901
https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1037273833462542336/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1037273833462542336%7Ctwgr%5E373939313b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https://www.indy100.com/article/yougov-data-election-maps-uk-conservative-labour-brexit-divided-young-old-demographic-8528901
I read somewhere, and I currently can't find where, that on average 35 is when people stop voting Labour and start voting Tory. Presumably because they have houses/kids/etc and somehow at that point Change Is Bad. Never happened to me or anyone I know. If anything I've got more vehemently anti-Tory as I get older..
ReplyDeleteWhat's also interesting about those maps is it looks like in many places the Lib Dems manage to appeal to voters fairly consistently across generations. It's almost like they're a reasonable compromise or something.
Heh, I'm 34 and I'm no longer voting Labour. That was about two years ago, mind you, and it'd take something of a perverse miracle to get me to vote Tory. Most likely I'll go for the Greens or some other protest vote, possibly the Monster Raving Loony Party. There are pragmatic (though remote) circumstances which could get me to vote Tory, but I can't imagine making a sustained ideological shift. I don't think I know anyone who's done that either, but I know people of different generations who switched away from Labour. I'd switch back in a heartbeat if conditions were right. I've also voted Liberal Democrats previously and will probably do so again at some point.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see the maps split not just by time, but also into smaller age groups - specifically, does the Conservative and Unionist Party shift towards neoliberalism in the 1980s and 1990s from traditional conservatism affect people's likelihood of voting for them?
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit older than you and I'll keep voting Labour not because of anything Labour stand for, but because they're the most likely to defeat the Tories where I live. Which is a mostly-rural constituency so it's highly unlikely - but my voting choices have always been about keeping the Tories out rather than electing anyone who particularly represents me. I can't imagine a situation when I'd ever put a mark by a Tory name. I'd certainly have to wait until my parents were dead because they'd disown me if they ever found out...
ReplyDeleteI'm almost entirely Green, policy wise, but while we still use FPTP I'll keep voting tactically.
Mat Brown The instinctive reaction would be about Charybdis and Scylla, but even when both sides are bad, alternation by itself does have mitigating advantages.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happens now, I sincerely wish you good luck, UK - looks like you'll need it...
Elie Thorne - it's not quite that kind of choice. Both aren't as bad as each other by a long shot. It's more like incompetent and broadly well meaning vs incompetent and broadly evil. The choice isn't bad or bad, it's bad or worse.
ReplyDeleteLast time we had a change we ended up with Brexit so y'know. Maybe change isn't always good. For all their other sins (and they are many of those), that alone I will never forgive the Tories for.