Following the publication of the manifestos of both main parties, just over a third (35%) of respondents said they worry about the impact of Labour’s policies on them and their family in contrast to under a third (31%) of respondents who shared a similar concern about Conservative policies. However, this gap increases over two-fold when looking at the older demographics, so a quarter (25%) of respondents aged 55 and over worry about the impact of the Conservative Party’s policies on them and their family. This is compared to over a half (53%) of respondents aged 55 and over said they worry about the impact of Labour’s policies on them and their family.

In contrast, at the 18 – 24 age bracket, 32% of respondents worried about the impact of the Conservative Party’s policies on them and their family as compared to 21% of respondents who had similar concerns about the Labour Party’s policies.

On either party having a vision for the country, the result is almost precisely inverse amongst respondents aged 55 and over and those in the 18-24 age bracket. 12% of respondents aged 55 and over believe the Labour Party has a vision for the country, and that more than doubles to 25% of respondents aged 55 and over who think that the Conservatives do. Compare that with 11% of 18-24-year-olds who think that the Conservatives have a vision for the country which almost doubles to 19% of this age group who think that Labour has a vision for the country.

PLMR Director of Public Affairs Mo Hussein said:

“This shows around a third of people are worried about the impact of both Labour and Conservative policies on them and their families. But for voters over 55, the gap almost doubles, with a quarter of this group saying they are worried about the impact of Conservative policies compared to over half saying they are worried about the impact of Labour’s policies on them and their families. The political generation game is coming into play, and both main parties will need to carefully navigate generational divides and level with people about the impact and effect of their policies on both the youth and older votes they are so keen to attract.

“The research was conducted by Censuswide, with 1,001 respondents aged 18+ in the UK between 25.11.2019 – 27.11.2019. The survey was conducted from a nationally representative sample of UK adults. Quotas were applied to nationally representative proportions for age, gender and region. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.”

The results of the research can be found here.