The youth vote only matters in a ‘handful of constituencies’, older people’s charity claims.

Research conducted by the International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK) has suggested only 11 constituencies would have had different results in the 2015 General Election had turnout rates of those between 18-34 matched that of the population over 65.

In the 2015 General election 78% of those over 65 turned out to vote, while only 43% of those between 18-24 and 54% between 25-34 turned out to vote.

Using data from Ipsos MORI and the ONS, the charity found 9 Conservative and 2 Liberal Democrat constituencies (including the seat of Nick Clegg, former deputy Prime Minister) would have swung to Labour, had the voting turnout of those between 18-34 matched that of the over-65’s and if these new voters reflected the national trend.

ILC-UK said this was partly because voters over 55 outnumber younger voters in 445 of the 573 constituencies in England and Wales and of these, 118 constituencies have over twice as many voters over 55 than younger voters.

The charity also found older voters were more homogenous in their voting preference in the 2015 election, with 47% voting Conservative, a 24-point lead over Labour. In contrast, Labour had a 16-point lead over the Conservatives amongst 18-24 year olds, but only a 6-point lead amongst 25-34 year olds.

‘Democracy isn’t something that stops when you leave the voting booth, it has enormous influence over our everyday lives,’ said Dean Hochlaf, assistant economist at the ILC-UK.

‘While attempts to get young people to vote are encouraging, we need to do more to stimulate active engagement in politics. An ageing society is going to put more pressure on Government resources and voters will be taking this into consideration when they cast their ballots.

‘The challenge for young people is how do they take their case to the rest of the electorate for policies that are going to benefit their generation and build a more inclusive society. This might not be the easiest task, but it will be impossible if young people continue to be left out of the political debate.’