Gays turn to the Tories
By politics.co.uk staff
The Tory party has overtaken Labour as the gay and lesbian party of choice, according to a new survey.
The data, released by the Outright consortium and conducted by Gaydar, the gay communicates most famous dating service, gives the Conservatives a commanding 12 per cent lead.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are neck and neck on 18 per cent.
But 30 per cent of the 1,800 gays and lesbians surveyed said they would vote Tory at the next general election.
To read a comment piece on the result click here.
The results will come as a slap in the face for Labour, which has maintained what is arguably the most pro-gay political agenda in British political history.
There was some explanation for the results in respondents’ answers to questions on other subjects.
Asked who was responsible for the recession – the subject on which most respondents thought the next general election would be decided – 71 per cent said it was the fault of the banks. But 52 per cent said it was the fault of the UK government – a cornerstone of the Conservatives approach to the crisis.
Gordon Brown does not appear to be any more popular among gays and lesbians than he is with the general population.
Fifty-nine per cent said he did not make a good prime minister, while only 23 per cent thought he did.
Interestingly, online monitoring firm Hitwise argues that gay internet users are more than twice as likely to visit political websites as the average UK internet user.
“Gay men visit a range of websites across the political spectrum, including official party homepages and independent blogs,” commented Robin Goad, research director for Hitwise UK.
“Gay men also consume more online media in general than the average UK internet user, and over index as visitors to newspaper websites, blogs and social networks.”
At the last General Election (May 2005), the gay and lesbian population voted as follows:
Labour Party – 33 per cent
I didn’t vote – 22 per cent
Tories – 21 per cent
Lib Dems – 17 per cent
