Young people reject Westminster politics

Monday, 7 March 2005 12:00 AM

Young people are more likely to vote in reality TV shows than cast their ballot at the next general election, according to a new poll.

The YouGov study for The Telegraph finds 46 per cent of first time voters have already voted for contestants in popular shows such as Big Brother and Pop Idol but less than four out of ten think they will vote for a political party at the next general election.

But, a majority of young people are interested in public issues.

Over seven out of ten (74 per cent) said they were "very" interested in public affairs but only 42 per cent said party politics was interesting.

More than half (57 per cent) said they were indifferent to party politics.

Higher taxes, the NHS and the environment were key issues among young voters.

And, there was a general level of uncertainty about the political system, with less than half able to answer what a "constituency" was.

The poll found little difference between the parties in terms of voter preference among 18- to 22-year-olds.

A third of respondents each opted for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

In terms of leadership, Tony Blair was the most popular man for Prime Minister with 21 per cent of support, the Conservatives' Michael Howard was next on 11 per cent, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrats' leader Charles Kennedy on ten and eight per cent respectively.

YouGov questioned 776 young people between March 3 and 4.

The poll comes after the Hansard Society found many voters wanted a bigger say in how the country was run, but many were sceptical that political participation through traditional means was the best way to do so.

A recent Electoral Commission survey also found young people were increasingly interested in politics despite refusing to align themselves with a party.

The commission said more young people were engaged with political issues than five years ago.

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