Impact brief

Apolitical Centrists

These are by far the least politically engaged of all voter groups. They don’t follow the news closely and don’t support any particular party.

Publishing date:

5 June 2024

< Dividing Lines: A Classification of British Voters

Apolitical Centrists

The Apolitical Centrists are by far the least politically engaged of all voter groups. They don’t follow the news closely and don’t support any particular party.

Political views

Aside from their disinterest in politics, the distinguishing characteristic of Apolitical Centrists is that they are disinclined to back change. They are disinclined to support or oppose arguments that there is too much inequality or that the power of big business should be curbed, while they tend to believe current levels of welfare are about right.

Equally, they tend to express support for status quo on social issues, such as equal rights for women or ethnic minorities. They don’t feel strongly about law and order or requiring citizens to follow a particular moral code or set of social norms. They are divided on immigration with many not commenting at all. Only about half recall voting in the EU referendum while, of those who did, voted more to Remain than Leave.

Characteristics

This group is relatively young, with an average (median) age of 41. They are more likely to be on a low income. People of Asian ethnicity are disproportionately represented among them, while three in five (60%) in this group are women.