US realises power of 'granny vote'
Full coverage of the US elections
In the US it has been pointed out that the ecstatic youthful army following Barack Obama may be less crucial to the outcome of the election than a constituency of what is coming to be known as "active grannies". (Alas, patronising ageism is as rampant over there as it is over here.) Suddenly somebody seems to have noticed not only that the over-60 population has hugely increased, but that the lifestyles of these people are very different from what might have been expected a generation ago.
Older voters are a force to be reckoned with
They are not just more active in a physical sense, being healthier and more prosperous than their parents were likely to have been, but they are more likely still to be working. In other words, this generation of older people (or "seniors" as Americans call them) do not regard themselves as retired bystanders. They are fully engaged in their society and – most significantly – far more likely to vote than their more distracted (or mercurial) children.
And everything that is being said about them in the US applies here in spades. It is the over-60s who make up the vast majority of participants in all forms of social or voluntary activities – including political parties. This is partly because they have the time and energy – not being weighed down by the responsibilties of raising children and full-time careers – but also because they tend to see community service as a natural part of adult life. They are the mainstay of hospital and hospice volunteer programmes as well as being the faithful envelope-stuffers of party constituency organisations (of both Left and Right).
So answer this: why is every major British political party trying so hard to look "young" and cool? Why are they running against the demographic tide by transforming themselves into youth cults when the section of the electorate most likely to take an interest in what they say and to act on it, is likely to be in late middle age or over?
Of course it is true that "grannies" by definition tend to have children and grandchildren and so are concerned about issues such as education and childcare. But which of the main parties is devoting much high-profile discussion time to the problems of collapsing pensions, elderly care, the burden of council tax on the retired, or the penalising of those who have saved for their old age?
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