General elections are the most major events in British politics, and after six weeks of relentless campaigning and media coverage you could be forgiven for thinking that the elections and their final result will have touched the lives of the whole country.
But new YouGov data shows that more than a quarter of Britons (28%) say that the outcomes of general elections have little to no impact on their own lives personally. One in six people (17%) go further, saying that their impact more broadly is negligible.
Reform UK voters feel even more strongly on both levels; 22% don’t see an impact generally whilst 32% think there’s little or no impact on a personal basis.
With current polling indicating significant Tory losses, the party’s voters are more pessimistic than their Labour and Lib Dem counterparts. One in eight Tory voters (12%) say election outcomes don’t have much or any impact overall (compared to 6% of Labour and Lib Dem voters), and 25% of Conservatives say they have little personal impact (compared to 17% of Labour and 20% of Lib Dem voters).
Older people are more likely to say general elections don’t have much of an individual-level impact; one in five of those aged 18 to 24 (21%) feel this way compared to 36% of those aged 65 and over.
Local elections fare worse still, with fewer thinking the results of such elections have much of an impact overall; 49% think they have a great deal or fair amount of influence compared to 44% who believe they do not. On a personal impact level, these figures reverse, with 44% saying the outcomes of local elections make a noticeable impact on their own lives, while 50% say the difference is marginal at best.
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Photo: Getty
