Over a quarter of urban yuppies are Tories

The Conservatives enjoy the support of 27% of young urban professionals, compared with 17% and 16% for the LibDems and Labour respectively.

The Metro newspaper's poll of 5000 city-living professionals aged 18 to 44 years, found a majority of them believe that "the country had gone downhil|" in the last five years.

Not surprisingly they said the most important policy issue was tackling crime, and that they want more prisons. Tackling environmental problems was also a priority for them.

If the Party can trump Labour on the "nitty-gritty" issues, as well as fashionable ones like the environment, the growing class of urban yuppies could provide a foothold into Labour's citadels.

Deputy Editor

Comments

[Richard]

That's a large number of don't knows.

Perhaps they're all flocking to UKIP ;)

[Sean Fear]

Is this a proper poll, or a self-selecting one?

I would have hoped we'd have the support of rather more than 27% of yuppies.

[Conservative Homer]

Isnt 'yuppy' in a political sense at least, just a kinder term for 'Champagne Socialist' Thats what i always thought anyway, and would explain why only a quarter of them vote for us.

or is it purely a socio-economic grouping?

[Adam]

Those aren't urban yuppies we're talking about - it's London yuppies. I doubt the Metro sampled anyone from Manchester or Leeds.

[Andrew Woodman]

The other 40% probably think voting is for wimps.

Now where are those Gordon Gekko braces!!

[Mark Wadsworth]

What percentage of urban Tories are yuppies?
What percentage of Tory yuppies are urban?

[Sally Roberts]

Good news - but of course we have to remember that these "yuppies" are in the main fair weather friends! After all, they are the ones who thought that Tony Blair was the best thing since sliced bread back in 1997! Perhaps we should not get TOO excited about them?

[Londoner]

Sally
Sorry to disappoint you, but you don't win elections purely on the loyalty vote. You need the fair weather friends too, and it's up to us to ensure that there is fair weather enough of the time to win the majority of elections.

There is a large percentage of "don't knows" and probably "won't votes" but this poll supports my impression that the younger London professionals (forget "yuppies" - that was the 1980s) have been coming back to us for some time - it was already happening in 2005. It's actually rather important for it not to be seen as social death and/or the height of eccentricity to admit to your friends that you're going to vote Conservative. It also influences the media and other opinion formers because young London professionals mix with such people.

The environment is a key issue in this. Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of it, it helps make voting Tory more than just a vote for personal economic prosperity and tougher law and order. In other words, voting for the good guys as well as for the right ones.

I offer all these insights on the young, of course, from the firm perspective of advancing middle age. But when I was young it was fashionable to be a Tory in London, and there's a sniff that by 2009 this could be the case once again.

[London]

Also - it does not matter too much if this survey is just London. Where London leads politically, the country usually follows.

[Alex]

Isn't a 'yuppy' by definition urban?! I think it's a bit of an out-dated term anyway.

[Praguetory]

Exclude the don't knows (they probably won't bother voting) and this group's voting is almost identical to the May 2006 results.

[Gareth]

Those suggesting that these 'yuppies' (what a ghastly term) outside London are less likely to vote tory than those in London may well be mistaken. In Birmingham, in the last council elections, we won all 3 city centre polling districts in the Ladywod ward, where the 'yuppie' vote is concentrated. We also have a thriving City Branch, largely based on that demographic, which we formed 18 months ago.

[RobD]

Yuppie is an outdated term but if we are talking about young professionals in London then I am one of them and can confirm that for the first time in my life time it is possible to admit to being a Tory without being mocked.

I would say it is actually a bit higher than 27% in fact.

[eugene]

27 % is a poor figure...I would have thought we had about 60 % of them and the other part of the group split between Limp Dums (nimby's with a guilt complex about making some money), Lab (Champaign socialists with a guilt complex about making some money)and the 'not interested'.

[Oberon Houston]

Well it is interesting that if you are ABC1 and graduated from a degree course, then that means that practically anyone under the age of 30 will not have lived their working life under anything but a Labour Government. There is a growing generation of professional men and women that should be a massive target for the Conservative’s. By championing the hard working and socially responsible aspiring young middle-class we can appeal to a vast and expanding section of the electorate. Labour, on the other hand have a PM in waiting, Gordon Brown exploded after Major was re-elected that “Basildon Man was selfish”, he never really liked the English-Middle class, but after that defeat he was told on a train once that Labour would never be elected unless they stopped preaching socialism and started addressing the key middle-class issues of “schools, health and tax”. Who gave him this advice?… Michael Howard.

Brown despises the middle-class English, but has buried these dark feelings deep for the sake power, but the secret cannot be hidden forever. Once voters work this out, as they are starting to now, we just need to be ready to welcome them with open arms.

[Ash Faulkner]

"Also - it does not matter too much if this survey is just London. Where London leads politically, the country usually follows."

Ken. Livingstone.

[Oberon Houston]

... the South East follows ...

[Mark Wadsworth]

Oberon "Brown despises the middle-class English", understatement of the year, he hates us all, English or Scottish, poor or rich, hardworking or lazy, lucky or unlucky he hates his fellow MPs, the press, he hates men women and children. I struggle to find any half-way identifiable group that he actually likes.

[Londoner]

Yes, Ash, Ken Livingstone is a case in point in some respects. He was first elected as an independent because Labour-voting Londoners had already seen through Labour spin by 2000 (the first ever electoral set-back for Blair). Other cities/towns followed by electing a number of independent mayors. Then, last time in London in 2004, the Tory vote went up considerably and we won the majority of votes in the GLA elections at the same time as Ken was re-elected.

But you are right that KL is a huge embarrassment. That is why it will be unforgivable if Cameron and friends do not have a cunning plan that we do not yet know of to announce a knock-out Conservative majoral candidate some time fairly soon. Please God, I do not want to have to learn to forgive Cameron if he does not have this.