How Britain Voted in 2005

Public Sector

Profile of voters and how they voted in the 2005 election by age, gender, social class, housing tenure and region

 

See also : How Britain Voted in 1992, How Britain Voted in 1997, How Britain Voted in 2001, How Britain Voted in 2010, How Britain Voted 1974-2010 (overview), Voting by housing tenure 1983-2005, Voting Intention by religion 1992-2005, Voting by newspaper readership 1992-2010, MORI polls during the 2005 election

How Britain Voted in 2005

Base: "Absolutely certain to vote" (n = 10,986); total 'n' = 17,959 GB adults aged 18+

  Profile of Elect-
orate		 Profile of Voters Vote 2005   Change since 2001 Turnout
      Con Lab LD Other Lab
Lead		 Con Lab LD Swing 2005 Change
  % % % % % % % % % % % % %
All 100 100 33 36 23 8 3 0 -6 +4 3.0 61 +2
                           
Gender                          
Men 48 49 34 34 22 10 * +2 -8 +4 5.0 62 +1
Women 52 51 32 38 23 7 6 -1 -4 +4 1.5 61 +3
Gender gap     +2 -4 -1 +3 -2 -1 0 -1 -1.0    
                           
Age                          
18-24 11 7 28 38 26 8 10 +1 -3 +2 2.0 37 -2
25-34 17 14 25 38 27 10 13 +1 -13 +8 7.0 49 +3
35-44 20 20 27 41 23 9 14 -1 -4 +4 1.5 61 +2
45-54 16 17 31 35 25 9 4 -1 -6 +5 2.5 65 0
55-64 15 17 39 31 22 8 -8 0 -6 +5 3.0 71 +2
65+ 21 25 41 35 18 6 -6 +1 -4 +1 2.5 75 +5
Age gap     -13 -3 +8 -2 -16 -13 +2 +7 -11.0    
                           
Social class                          
AB 24 28 37 28 29 6 -9 -2 -2 +4 0.0 71 +3
C1 29 30 37 32 23 8 -5 +1 -6 +3 3.5 62 +2
C2 21 20 33 40 19 8 7 +4 -9 +4 6.5 58 +2
DE 25 23 25 48 18 9 23 +1 -7 +5 4.0 54 +1
Class gap     +12 -20 +11 -3 32 +13 -25 -1 -12.0    
                           
Housing tenure                          
Owned 32 37 44 29 20 7 -15 +1 -3 +1 2.0 71 +3
Mortgaged 40 40 31 36 25 8 5 0 -6 +5 3.0 60 +1
Social renter 18 15 16 55 19 10 39 -2 -5 +5 1.5 51 -1
Private renter 9 7 27 36 28 9 9 -1 -4 +3 1.5 51 +5
                           
Postal voters 99 99 34 38 22 6 4   n/a     73 n/a
                           
2001 Vote (reported)@                          
Con 20 26 90 2 6 2 -88 -10 +2 +6 -6.0 80 -20
Lab 37 43 8 72 15 5 64 +8 -28 +15 18.0 71 -29
Lib Dem 12 14 12 6 78 4 -6 +12 +6 -22 3.0 75 -25
                           
Region                          
East Midlands 7 8 37 39 18 6 2 0 -6 +3 3.0 63 +2
Eastern 9 10 43 30 22 5 -13 +1 -7 +5 4.0 64 +2
Greater London 13 11 32 39 22 7 7 +2 -8 +5 5.0 58 +3
North East 4 4 20 53 23 4 33 -1 -6 +6 2.5 57 +1
North West 12 11 29 45 21 5 16 0 -6 +4 3.0 57 +1
Scotland 9 9 16 40 23 21 24 0 -4 +7 2.0 61 +3
South East 14 15 45 24 25 6 -21 +2 -5 +1 3.5 64 +2
South West 9 10 39 23 33 5 -16 0 -3 +2 1.5 67 +2
Wales 5 5 21 43 18 18 22 0 -6 +4 3.0 62 0
West Midlands 9 9 35 39 19 7 4 0 -6 +4 3.0 61 +3
Yorks & Humber 9 8 29 44 21 6 15 -1 -5 +4 2.0 59 +2
                           
Men by age                          
18-24 6 4 33 34 25 8 1 +4 -4 -1 4.0 39 -4
25-34 9 7 29 33 27 11 4 +5 -19 +8 12.0 49 +2
35-54 18 19 31 36 22 11 5 +2 -7 +3 4.5 64 0
55+ 16 19 40 33 20 7 -7 +1 -6 +4 3.5 74 +1
Women by age                          
18-24 6 3 22 43 26 9 21 -2 -2 +3 0.0 35 -1
25-34 9 7 21 43 28 8 22 -4 -6 +9 1.0 48 +2
35-54 18 18 27 40 25 8 13 -4 -3 +5 -0.5 61 +1
55+ 19 23 41 34 20 5 -7 +1 -4 +2 2.5 73 +6
Men by class                          
AB 12 14 37 27 28 8 -10 -1 -4 +3 1.5 70 +2
C1 14 15 39 29 22 10 -10 +3 -9 +8 6.0 63 +1
C2 11 10 32 39 18 11 7 +4 -10 +5 7.0 57 +1
DE 11 9 24 47 17 12 23 +1 -8 +3 4.5 55 -1
Women by class                          
AB 12 14 36 29 29 6 -7 -5 +1 +3 -3.0 71 +3
C1 15 15 34 35 23 8 1 -3 -2 +3 -0.5 61 +2
C2 10 10 34 40 20 6 6 +4 -8 +3 6.0 58 +2
DE 15 13 25 49 18 8 24 0 -7 +5 3.5 54 +4

*Smaller base — not asked on every survey Source: MORI surveys for the Observer, Financial Times, Sun, Evening Standard and Sunday Mirror

@Change figures assume report of 2001 vote is accurate

An asterisk denotes a figure of less than one percent but not zero.

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