Why Middle Aged Aren't Turning Conservative Anymore

It has been a standard feature, for generations, that people are progressive when they're younger, but become more covetous as they get older. This leads to many middle class, middle aged people finding the Conservatives more appealing and why older voters not only vote in greater numbers, but vote right-wing. But this trend is being bucked. What's the proof, and what's the reason?

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[gentleeventful]

I'm 75 years old and I've told my children that if I ever have any tendency towards voting conservative they are to take me to Switzerland immediately.

[TheIdlesurfer]

I'm middle aged. I'm 56. I'm a higher rate tax payer. I own my own house. So I should be Tory, especially here in Buckinghamshire where the Tory vote was weighed, rather than counted. But I just cannot vote for the party of Thatcher. I experienced her in my formative years. New Labour were good years (unless you're Iraqi), followed by the clown show of austerity, Brexit, Johnson, EU bating, Truss, COVID and 14 years of a mix of austerity and chaos. So as a middle aged, well to do professional, I watch one of my kids getting battered by student loans, despite my help, struggling to buy a house, and I can squarely blame the Tories. So I'm not voting for the tossers. Mind you, I never have and I never would have.

[Sam-lk]

Im 36, so a few years off middle age, but my work life has mainly been under a conservative government, a few years of labour from 16-20. I had more disposable income at 19 under labour than i have now. 19 years old, i wasn't at home, i left at 18, renting paying bills, low earner. But still managed to have a social life. At 36 still renting, an average earner, no social life, no prospect of home ownership. Less disposable income, in fact, none. Well if i want new basics like clothing and household stuff, after that, nothing. House prices are 10 times my income. Yet they happily let me rent for years but not get a mortgage. After experiencing cuts, nhs waiting times went from people actually moaning an appointment was to quick, to a huge waiting list, no dentists, filthy dirty streets, waste in our rivers and seas, life expectancy decline. I have become more left. Or perhaps the right have moved further right but more mainstream. I could never vote for a party (conservative) that made my life worse and my future without ownership or and assets. I could never vote Reform, a party who dont blame conservatives for the state of the country, but people coming over in boats with nothing. I feel my generation really got shafted in all directions. Unable to own property, low wage growth, and now AI taking over jobs, to increase unemployment. Time for UBI

[peterjohnson]

I'm 60 and hate the Tories as much as I did in the 1980s. Which is saying something.

[stevenmaslin]

I was convinced when I was younger that Thatcher was the Churchill of the day. I was told and believed that the unions had to be crushed, selling off council houses allowed more to own their homes, that the 80s boom (almost exclusively in London & the SE - where I live) was an economic miracle - for me the Tories made sense. But now I've seen the long term impacts of selling off public housing, privatisation, Brexit, Austerity - the country and generational changes that have all made this country worse off.

Any party that uses ideology exclusively to guide policy will fail. Pragmatism is what we need and I feel that's what we mostly have now.

[ffotograffydd]

I’m an older Gen-X and have never voted Tory. I grew up in Thatcher’s Britain and watched her destroy the livelihoods of all the adults around me. Since then the Tories have become even more nasty, and at the same time less competent.

[andyf]

they got it wrong, its not 'hard work' that pays off, it's having the right parents

[radicalbyte]

In The Netherlands it's education level which is a strong indicator. The higher the higher the chance of being left or center left.

[JohnR]

Half of us haven’t got the resources, the other half realise that the reason those don’t is because of the tories…

[ankaretwells]

I'm Gen X and have a Millennial brother and I had a far better chance at social mobility than he did. I had a student grant, he had a loan. I have a paid off mortgage, he is just now buying a flat. He's harder working than me and has better qualifications, but the deck was stacked against him and it's even worse for younger people.

[wayneford]

With our water bills going up to repair the system , we need to own what we pay for
not let it be turned into bonus for the rich.

[frogandspanner]

15:20 When I retired from University (and became a burden on USS) and took up school teaching I was really shocked by the commonly held view that there was no point in working hard at school as there was no benefit. This was a major switch from when I was at school, and my grandfather, who had to leave school age 14 to work in 1912, strongly espoused the favour of education.

In the '50s and '60s there _was_ a benefit from working hard - and I benefitted, but since Thatcherism shafterism was adopted it has become clear that, for success, hard work is neither _necessary_ nor _sufficient_ . One might as well be a dimwit footballer and earn millions for no effort, rather than put years into becoming a skilled tradesman. Celebrity is an attractive if improbable option for a 14-year-old.

We must change this.

[w-james]

They're now turning right wing in their 20's.

[HeliophobicRiverman]

Hard work doesn't lead to worthy rewards, it gets you a bunch of people clapping from their balcony.

[FakeSchrodingersCat]

The reason people are saying that the trend of becoming more conservative as you get older seems to be breaking down is 3 fold.

The first is that on social issues people don't actually get more conservative they tend to just stop updating their belief on specific topics in their mid 20s, since we have had 14 years of Tories stopping all progress on social issues and even pushing back, more older people then usual find themselves still on the progressive side of the status quo.

The second is that conservative does not actually mean what many seem to think it does. Conservative is actually a centrist position meaning to preserve and defend the status quo, it does not mean as the current Conservative party supporters seem to think returning to the status quo of 50-70 years ago, and it is certainly not picking a scapegoat demographic and blaming all problems on them.

The third is the reason people start feeling the need to defend the status quo as they age is that traditionally they become more secure financially as they get older. When you have a house, reasonable savings, a steady job and a family you are more likely to want things to stay exactly how they are rather then risk it all on the mere possibility that things will improve changes happen. But this is not applying as much because so many people are staying as insecure, when you can't afford a house, might be fired at any time and are making so little you have to use food banks, change of any kind is much more attractive.

[baldingatheist]

Probably because most middle aged people don't have any money

[theleftyboater]

Because those that grew up in the thatcher era saw the benefits of the last labour government. It’s not rocket science.

[rrstows]

I am 71 and have never been or voted for the Tories or any right wing, but i am worried that in the local elections in may reform will gain seats or even run some councils, labour has to fight back against the threat.

[CovidIslandDiscs]

Surprising that 60% of young Americans think hard work still pays. Would be interesting to see these data for Asian countries.

[asteriods]

as someone from gen z I don'tthink many of us will vote conservitive even if we get a home because we effectivly watched the conservativs destroy our future for 14 years of our early life