The Independent is the only quality British newspaper title whose readers’ votes in the general election were at odds with the paper’s own pre-election preference, a survey has shown.
In what was probably the most surprising endorsement before the 7 May poll, the paper called for a continuation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
However, a survey released on Friday by YouGov reveals that 47% of its readers voted Labour. Only 17% voted for the Tories. And even fewer, 16%, for the Lib Dems.
How Independent readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): LAB - 47% CON - 17% LDEM - 16% GRN - 11% UKIP - 4%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
Although polls should be treated with a pinch of salt until the reasons behind the industry’s failure to reflect the election outcome are clearer and corrected, the fact that YouGov’s survey has a megasample of 100,000 people, and the data is weighted to the demographic and political character of Britain today provides sufficient reassurance.
Among all the other quality titles, the papers’ endorsements matched readers’ voting patterns.
Among Guardian readers, 62% voted for Labour (which the title endorsed), while 14% supported the Greens and 11% the Lib Dems. Only 6% voted for the Tories, and just 1% for Ukip.
How Guardian readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): LAB - 62% GRN - 14% LDEM - 11% CON - 6% UKIP - 1%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
The Greens hit double figures among Guardian and Independent readers, as did the Lib Dems (who did so with Times readers as well).
David Cameron’s party enjoyed a 61-point lead over Labour among Telegraph readers. The paper endorsed the Conservatives, and even emailed its subscribers inviting them to vote Tory. Labour failed to hit double figures among Telegraph readers, coming in third behind Ukip.
How Telegraph readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): CON - 69% UKIP - 12% LAB - 8% LDEM - 8% GRN - 1%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
The Conservatives also have a majority among Times readers, with 55% of the paper’s audience voting for Cameron’s party compared with the 20% for Labour.
How Times readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): CON - 55% LAB - 20% LDEM - 13% UKIP - 6% GRN - 3%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
Ed Miliband’s party finds itself in third place with Daily Mail readers, of whom only 14% backed Labour, while 59% voted Tory, 19% Ukip and just 5% and 1% for the Lib Dems and Greens respectively.
How Daily Mail readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): CON - 59% UKIP - 19% LAB - 14% LDEM - 5% GRN - 1%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
Nick Clegg’s and Natalie Bennett’s parties performed just as poorly among readers of the Daily Express.
However, despite the paper’s endorsement of Ukip, just over half of its readers claimed to have voted for the Conservatives compared with the 27% who opted for Nigel Farage’s party.
How Daily Express readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): CON - 51% UKIP - 27% LAB - 13% LDEM - 5% GRN - 1%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
Before the election the Sun and the Scottish Sun endorsed different parties.
The Sun is backing different parties in England and Scotland http://t.co/gS39pbiNZu pic.twitter.com/b5dU5gpsMJ
— BuzzFeed UK Politics (@BuzzFeedUKPol) April 30, 2015
Close to half of its readers (47%) south of the border voted for the Conservatives, nearly double the proportion that voted for Labour, while 19% supported Ukip, and just 4% voted Lib Dem.
How Sun readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): CON - 47% LAB - 24% UKIP - 19% LDEM - 4% GRN - 1%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
Finally, readers of the Mirror voted overwhelmingly (67%) for Labour, which was the party the paper endorsed. The Tories barely hit double figures with the red top.
How Mirror readers voted in #GE2015 (YouGov megapoll): LAB - 67% CON - 11% UKIP - 9% LDEM - 5% GRN - 2%
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) June 5, 2015
