Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Patrick Grafton-Green

Fascinating maps show huge divide between younger and older voters in general election

A series of fascinating maps show the stark political divide between younger and older voters at the recent general election.

Twitter account Election Maps UK compiled how different age groups, ranging from 18 to 24s to over 65s, voted in the election – and what the result would have been if only one age group had voted.

The December poll ended in a Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party winning a huge majority of 80 – the biggest the Tories have secured since Margaret Thatcher in the 1987 election.

Labour suffered a humiliating defeat, taking just 203 seats – the smallest number of seats the party has won since the 1935 election.

The SNP performed strongly, winning 48 of 59 seats in Scotland, while the Lib Dems only managed a disappointing 11.

However, data from the election shows that if only 18 to 24-year-olds had voted, Labour would have won a massive 544 seats and the Tories would have secured just four.

The SNP would have taken 58 of 59 seats in Scotland, while the Lib Dems would have fared slightly better, with 22 seats.

In the over 65 category, the Tories would have won a whopping 575 seats and Labour only 32, while the SNP would have taken just five seats and the Lib Dems 10.

Among 50 to 64-year-olds, the Tories would have won 421 seats, Labour 149, the SNP 47 and the Lib Dems 9.

And if only people aged 25 to 49 had voted there would have been a hung Parliament, with Labour winning 310 seats, the Conservative Party 240, the SNP 56 and the Lib Dems 21.

Election Maps UK said the disparity between how the different age groups vote has become much more pronounced since 2017, after Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party and the Conservatives vowed to deliver on the result of the EU referendum.

The person behind the account has previously told the Standard they believe the age people tend to shift allegiances from Labour to Tory is 47.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.