Middle aged outnumbered younger voters

Research carried out by the Resolution Foundation has found that the number of votes cast by ‘baby boomers’ in the 2015 general election significantly outnumbered those cast by younger ‘millennial’ voters.

The analysis suggested 10.6 million voters aged 50-69 voted (66 per cent of this age group) in the election, but only 6.4 million Britons aged 16-24 took part (46 per cent of the 16-24 age group).

The findings display a trend in the generational turnout gap which has continued to widen.

Part of the reason for the burgeoning generational gap is due to an increasing number of older voters.

However, the Foundation warned that more must be done to narrow the gap which has increased in size over the decades. It cited data from 1964 where there was just a three per cent difference in the turn out between 66-80-year-olds and those aged 21-35.

Laura Gardiner, senior research analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: "This poor turnout among young people is a deep-rooted problem dating back to the mid-90s when young generation X-ers started turning away from the polling booth.

"This generational divide in turnout matters for our democracy but also has profound implications for policy if politicians feel they only need to target the votes of older generations to win power."