Does marrying someone with different politics matter to parents

Connor IbbetsonData Journalist
August 27, 2019, 9:01 AM GMT+0

A third of Labour voters say they would be upset if their child married a Conservative – twice as many as in the reverse situation

Parents only want the best for their children, especially when it comes to choosing a partner. And it turns out that politics matters.

New YouGov data reveals that Labour supporters are more likely to be upset if their child married into the opposite end of the political spectrum than their Tory counterparts.

A third (34%) of those who identify themselves as Labour supporters say they would be upset to some extent if their child married a Conservative, with a tenth (11%) saying they would be very upset. Just over half (56%) said they would not be upset at all.

The percentage of Labour parents who would be upset by a Conservative son or daughter-in-law has risen six percentage points since January when 28% told YouGov they would be upset in the same situation.

This compares to 13% of Conservatives who say they would be upset to some extent if their child tied the knot with a Labour supporter, with 2% of Conservative parents saying such a marriage would leave them very upset.

There are similar divisions when it comes to Brexit. Nearly forty percent (39%) of parents who voted Remain in 2016 said they would be upset to some extent if their child married someone who had opted to leave the European Union with just under half (47%) saying it wouldn’t upset them.

On the flip-side, just over one-in-ten parents (11%) who backed the Leave campaign said they would be upset if their child went on to marry a Remainer, with the majority (78%) saying it wouldn’t upset them.