Older Voters Can Be Persuaded To Switch

People over 50 can be persuaded to change their voting allegiances, according to a poll conducted by MORI for Saga Magazine, to be published next month.

MORI questioned readers immediately before and immediately after the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement. The results show that support for Labour grew by 5 points in the second poll compared with the first, suggesting that their voting habits were not set in stone.

The findings confirmed what an important voting body this group represents for all mainstream parties. Not only does it comprise more than four out of ten of the electorate, but older people are much more likely to record their votes than younger people.

At the last General Election, 29% of the electorate did not bother to vote. But only 7% of the 2006 Saga readers (all over 50) polled say they did not turn up at the voting booths.

Although the Chancellor's give-aways to pensioners tempted people to abandon the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to give Labour their 5 point surge in the second poll, the readership has a greater bias towards the Conservatives than the population as a whole.

The MORI survey also showed that the 2 million people who read the magazine every month have a much broader agenda of interests and issues of concern than otherwise might be supposed.

Asked to name the 10 major issues facing Britain, they included Europe, Education, The Economy and Pollution among their nominations.

The sample was taken at a time when the price of fuel was in the news, a few days before the deadline issued by the protesters, and there were fears of more protests and shortages. That was reflected in the fact that petrol prices were also among their 10 major concerns. The magazine's readers believed that the price of petrol and diesel should be cut and barely a quarter supported the Government's policy of freezing fuel duty.

Underscoring the fact that those who participated had a broad range of interests (other than merely pensions and welfare) was the fact that only a small minority said they would support a "grey" party representing pensioners' interests. More than half - 51% - were "very unlikely" or "certain" not to vote for such a party.

Finally, there was encouraging news for one of the three main leaders. Charles Kennedy was thought to be doing the best job in leading his party - 42% of respondents were satisfied with his efforts - although over a third (38%) did not express an opinion, suggesting there is still some way to go.

William Hague fared rather worse with 35% satisfied with him. But only 31% reckoned that Tony Blair was doing a good job. Indeed, double that figure - 62% - was dissatisfied with how he was performing as Prime Minister.

MORI interviewed 1,004 Saga Magazine readers by telephone between 3-7 November 2000 and a further 1,002 people between 10-16th November 2000. Data are weighted.

Saga Quarterly Political Polling

Pre-Budget Statement Poll 3-7 November 2000 Post-Budget Statement Poll 10-16 November 2000

Technical details

Saga Magazine has an ABC circulation of over 1 million. Monthly readership is estimated at 2 million. Subscriptions are available from Saga Publishing Ltd, Freepost CU250, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1BR at a cost of 16314.95 a year (12 issues).