General Election 2017: How many Britons are interested in the general election? “The idea that young people are apathetic is a myth”
According to a recent poll, 63 per cent of Brits say they are interested in the General Election 2017, with the number of people aged 18-24 that are interested being just as high as the number of general voters.
The BMG Research polling conducted for the Electoral Reform Society found that 30 per cent of all voters say they feel well informed about the vote, with 25 percent the young adults aged 18-24 stating they feel the same.
The middle-aged group showed some sort of a gap, with 26 per cent of 25-34-year-olds stating they feel well informed and 25 percent of people aged 35 to 44 stating they feel the same.
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The poll showed the interest rates to be similar to the general public, yet the older voters reported higher scores for being ”very interested” – 29 per cent of voters aged 65 to 74 stated they are very interested and 46 per cent of those aged at least 75 consider themselves in the same category.
Moreover, the poll saw that 60 per cent of Brits say they will ‘definitely’ vote on June 8 or have already voted by post, while 12 per cent of the voters claim 8/9 out of 10 in terms of likelihood to vote at the General Election 2017, to be held on June 8.
“These findings show that far from voters being bored by the election, they are highly switched on and interested. The public care about this vote, and look set to take part in large numbers,” Darren Hughes, deputy chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said.
“It’s encouraging to see that the idea that young people are apathetic is a myth – 18-24-year-olds are just as engaged as the rest of the public, with nearly two-thirds saying they are interested. Moreover, of those who say they are very likely to vote, the figures are very similar between 18-24-year-olds and the rest of the public – suggesting the Democratic generation gap may not be as significant as it has been in the past,” he added.
“However, there are warning signs here in that most people do not feel well informed about the vote – something we hope is made up in this final week of campaigning. Parties and the media would do well to focus on the policies rather than personality politics or issues of process in this home straight. These findings give lie to the notion that voters are tired of democracy – they are following the vote and we could see high turnout next week. Given the rates of interest among 18-24-year-olds, this could be the election where young people turn out in force,” he concluded.
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