Intergenerational Centre
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Political parties and elections

Poll Position

How intergenerational voting intentions have changed since the 2019 General Election

Camron Aref-Adib
Camron Aref-Adib
Sophie Hale
Sophie Hale

The elections in 2017 and 2019 crystallised a trend that had been building over this century: age became the central fault line in British politics. But those were not normal elections: Brexit loomed large, an issue with distinctly age-divided views. This note investigates where we are now, picking out five big intergenerational shifts that have occurred since the last general election.

Key findings

  • There has been a substantial shift in the electorate’s priorities, from a highly age-divided issue, Brexit, to one where there is much more alignment across generations – the economy. In May 2023, more than half of each generation named the economy as their top issue.
  • Immigration remains a highly age-divided issue, but views have becoming more negative across all generations. For example, the share of silent generation voters who think the country should allow fewer immigrants has risen by 7 percentage points, the boomers by 4 percentage points, gen X by 2 percentage points and millennials by 4 percentage points.
  • Polling suggests a swing to Labour across all generations, but relatively disadvantaged younger voters – non-graduates and non-homeowners – kick this trend, having not become more likely to vote Labour, despite becoming less likely to vote Conservative.
  • Instead, non-graduates and non-homeowners millennials are reporting being less likely to vote, potentially widening the already substantial education and homeownership gaps in voter turnout among millennials (28 and 25 percentage points respectively in 2019). The share of non-graduate millennials reporting that they are likely to vote is down 12 percentage points on 2019.
  • As millennials on average are not reporting being more likely to vote, their share of the voting electorate may not go up, as many would have expected as the generation ages. Indeed, the baby boomers turnout advantage may even widen over younger generations at the next election.

Further reading

An intergenerational audit for the UK: 2024
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Molly Broome, Sophie Hale, Hannah Slaughter
Unsung Britain
The changing economic circumstances of the poorer half of Britain
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Mike Brewer, Molly Broome, Nye Cominetti, Adam Corlett, Charlie McCurdy, Louise Murphy, Cara Pacitti, Hannah Slaughter, James Smith, Lalitha Try
Old age tendencies
The impact of tax and benefit changes on intergenerational fairness ahead of the 2024 general election
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Molly Broome, Alex Clegg, Sophie Hale, Charlie McCurdy, Lalitha Try
Camron Aref-Adib
Camron Aref-Adib Researcher
Sophie Hale
Sophie Hale Principal Economist