Politics.co.uk

Third of women wavering on party choice

Third of women wavering on party choice

Over a third of young women planning to vote at the general election are undecided on which party to opt for, according to a new poll.

Over a third (36 per cent) of women aged 25-34 and four out of ten (43 per cent) women aged 18-24 fall into the category of floating voter, the poll for Cosmopolitan found.

The poll also showed many young women were not planning to vote on May 5.

In the 18-24 year old category, 42 per cent said they were not going to bother to cast their ballot. In the northern city of Manchester, the figure was eight out of ten.

Of the 18-24 year olds intending to vote, a fifth (22 per cent) said they would support the Liberal Democrats, a fifth (20 per cent) said Labour and 13 per cent Conservative.

Among 25-34 year olds, Labour won 28 per cent of the vote, the Lib Dems 22 per cent and the Tories eight per cent.

Sam Baker, Cosmopolitan editor, said: “It’s never been more evident that young women hold the future of the country in their hands if they choose to use their vote – and that is a very big if.

“Our survey shows that politicians still have a job to do engaging with young women, particularly those aged 18 to 24 and those living in the North.

“Messrs Blair, Howard and Kennedy still have it all to play for.”

The women’s magazine interviewed 600 women in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and Kent.