25 April 2003
Just one in five young voters bothered to show up at the polling booth in the 2001 general election, the first major study of first-time voters has shown.
Researchers found that only 21% of 18 and 19 year-olds entitled to vote for the first time in the last general election actually did so – only half of the 39% the Electoral Commission estimated had done so.
The study, commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council, will make depressing reading for the main political parties as they enter the final week of campaigning for the English local elections on May 1.
Politicians' perceived refusal to listen to voters' concerns or to keep pledges once elected, together with the failure of elections to bring about real change, were the main reasons cited by respondents for not exercising their right to vote.
Mark Weinstein, co-author of the study and a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, said the problem lay with the political parties rather than young people.
'Those charged with governing on their behalf are perceived as self-serving, unrepresentative and unresponsive,' he said. 'We have uncovered a deep antipathy to formal professional politics among first-time voters.'
But the study, published on April 22, offered the political parties one crumb of comfort: 47% said they were likely to take part in future local elections.
There is little expectation, however, that next week's elections will buck the trend of diminishing turnouts. There are 10,427 seats up for grabs on 308 English district, unitary and metropolitan councils.
The Tories are being resolutely cautious about predicting possible gains. Conservative Central Office is also keen to emphasise that these elections are being fought under the slogan of 'local issues, local action' and are not a test of Iain Duncan Smith's leadership.
The party will say publicly only that a net gain of 30 seats is 'within the realm of possibility'. A spokesman told Public Finance that gains in recent years meant the Tories were starting from a 'high base', which would make further progress difficult.
Labour's failure to field candidates in a third of seats also meant that some three-way races had now become head-to-head contests, which could benefit the Liberal Democrats. 'These elections remain a very difficult battleground for the party,' the spokesman added.
Target councils for the Tories include Labour-controlled Basildon and Worcestershire, and Liberal Democrat-run Harrogate and Poole.
PFapr2003
