Current Events > Demography is the new class warfare

(+) Yeah! (+)

But by demographics, I dont mean race

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/blog/why-demographers-are-the-new-class-warriors-in-british-politics/?mc_cid=54bad75ada&mc_eid=365fdacefa

New Resolution Foundation analysis from a forthcoming book, Brexit and the Brexit Model, shows that back in 1974, 40 per cent of voters supported Labour in almost every age group. Age was a political irrelevance. But by 2017 it had become a key driver of whether someone votes Labour a 30 year old was almost twice as likely to vote Labour as a 70 year old. 70 year olds were also twice as likely to vote Tory in 2017 as 30 year olds.

Crucially these stark age divisions in partisan preferences were not new in 2017. The age divide started emerging in the 1990s in the case of the Conservative Party and post-2001 for Labour. On this, if not much else, Jeremy Corbyn has doubled down on Tony Blairs legacy.

So if age divides are now taking centre stage in British politics, what have they replaced? The answer is class. Of course class still matters hugely but in the 70s working class voters were three times as likely to vote Labour as Conservative. Today they are as likely to vote Tory as Labour, the party founded to represent working people. This comes despite Labour clearly aiming to have an agenda that takes the side of workers over capital, from stronger employment rights to greater employee ownership.
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Why do you suppose pensioners tend to vote against their own interests?
I have no idea.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Why do you suppose pensioners tend to vote against their own interests?
I have no idea.

I do not think people are as myopically self-interested as many others do, although I do think people are selfish; two different concepts. Self-interest implies you're looking out for number 1, whereas selfishness just means you prioritize your own values over those of others. But your values might not be 'enrich myself and make my own life easy'
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