SAGA — Doing things properly

GETTING THE OVER 50S’ VOTE

• Dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour is number one concern
• Cameron beats Brown on ability to deal with major issues
• Liberal Democrats are favourites for tackling climate change

A new survey of 13,000 over 50s shows the Conservative Party and David Cameron are best positioned to lead the UK. When questioned on which party they had most faith in to handle important topical issues, the Conservative Party was consistently favourite over the other political parties.

The Saga Populus panel, the largest research panel of over 50s in the UK, discovered the most crucial political matter for this age group was having a strong policy for dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour, with almost 9 out of ten (84%) highlighting it as important. Regardless of what party they supported, two fifths (40%) of older voters thought the Conservatives would be best at tackling this, four times as many (10%) as those who chose Labour.

Safely taking Britain out of the recession was also a major issue, with four fifths (80%) rating it as a top concern. Again, the Conservatives polled ahead of Labour with a third of people (31%) thinking they would tackle the problem best (vs. 16% chose Labour).

Important political concerns of the over 50s:

1. Dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour = 84%

2. Dealing with the current recession = 80%

3. Improving the National Health Service = 75%

4. Immigration and asylum = 68%

5. Taking good care of the post office network = 49%

Interestingly, the Conservatives also did better on issues normally aligned to a left wing agenda. A quarter of the over 50s (25%) thought the Conservative party would improve the National Health Service compared to just 20% who thought Labour would do so. A third (32%) also believes the Conservative Party is better placed to improve standards in schools (compared to just 14% for Labour).

The Liberal Democrats came top as the party with the best policies to deal with climate change, with a quarter (23%) of over 50s favouring them, followed by the Conservatives (12%). The Liberal Democrats polled in third position on most subjects, but on the issues of taking good care of the post office and immigration and asylum, they still came ahead of Labour (16% vs 8% and 10% vs 8%).

David Cameron was placed consistently ahead of Gordon Brown in terms of an ability to deal with certain key political matters, including the tackling the recession (31% vs 18%). He was only beaten on one issue - climate change – by Nick Clegg (Clegg 22% vs Cameron 15% and Brown 9%)

Emma Soames, editor at large, Saga Magazine, concluded: “This research makes very worrying reading for the Labour party and its supporters. The over 50s have made it clear that they believe the Conservative party is the one to watch and best placed to sort out the burning issues that threaten our quality of life and national stability. Regarding the political topics closest to the heart of the older generation, it’s not surprising to see that living in a safe society is the priority.”

-ENDS-

Editors notes:

The Saga Populus Panel is a monthly survey of over 50s opinion. The survey carried out in May 2009 received 13,018 responses.

For further press information please contact the Saga Press Office on: 01303 771529.