Lib Dems click with internet generation, website finds

Published on 19/04/2005 00:35

THE Liberal Democrats have emerged as the surprise choice of the "internet generation", according to the UK’s most- visited political website.

The results of a questionnaire on the Whoshouldyouvotefor.com site also suggest that Labour and the Conservatives have a long way to go if they are to win the elusive "young vote".

Whoshouldyouvotefor.com nly launched last Tuesday, but already more than 200,000 people have taken the test that asks their opinions on policy areas. The results, released last night, found that 43 per cent of respondents expressed views most closely aligned with the Liberal Democrats.

The poll will also be a boost for the smaller parties, with 18 per cent answering in line with Green Party policy and 17 per cent with UKIP.

Britain’s two main parties emerged as those whose policies appealed least to those taking the test, with 12 per cent of respondents aligned with the Tories and only 11 per cent to Labour.

Simon Hughes, the president of the Lib Dems, welcomed the results. He said: "This poll shows the huge amount of support the public has for Liberal Democrat policies across all issues."

In the survey, users are asked to say how much they agree or disagree with 23 statements on a range of issues, including Europe, defence, tax, employment, pensions, health, crime, education, immigration, transport and childcare.

They are also asked which result they expect to get, then the site tells them who their answers suggest they should vote for. Twenty-nine per cent of respondents said they expected to get Liberal Democrat, while 25 per cent said Labour and 24 per cent Conservative.

The results mean about 50 per cent of the users who were expecting to see a result for either Labour or the Conservatives are actually finding that one of the three smaller parties is more representative of their views.

Andrew Chapman, a director for Thoughtplay, the company that runs www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com said: "We’re doing this to try to get people thinking about the issues for this election, and it’s a much easier way to reach people than the political manifestos.

"However, although the site tells you who you should vote for, we are keen to stress that there are other issues also. Questions of the faith people have in a party, or the faith that they have in the party leader, are very important and voters will need to think of this, too.

"The fact we’ve had over 200,000 hits already is a good indicator that apathy is perhaps not as rife as people say it is."