Nearly two-thirds of M.E.N. readers believe their vote won't make a difference

Nearly two-thirds of Manchester Evening News readers believe their vote won't make a difference. Around 3,000 people have taken part in the Greater Manchester General Election 2024 survey which was published on the M.E.N. website at the beginning of June.

The results reveal that immigration, the NHS and the economy are the most important issues that will influence how our readers will vote at this election. Shockingly, the survey also found that 57 per cent of our readers fear being a victim of crime in their daily lives.

A whopping three quarters of respondents said the NHS has declined in the past decade and 56 per cent feel that Brexit has made their life worse with just 12 per cent saying it is better. And alarmingly, 46.5 per cent said they do not have enough money to live on.

READ MORE: After 14 years of Tory rule, is Manchester any Greater?

However, despite thousands of readers expressing strong feelings about the state of the country, when asked whether they believe their vote will make a difference, around 64 per cent said 'no'. Just 35.4 per cent of our readers who took part answered affirmatively.

The most disillusioned group was 18 to 30 year olds of which 71 per cent said they do not believe their vote will make a difference. The majority of readers in each of Greater Manchester's 10 boroughs answered the question in the negative with nearly 70 per cent in Tameside saying that their vote won't make a difference, and while Bury was the most positive, nearly 51 per cent said the same.

Of those who told us Brexit has made no difference to their life, nearly 80 per cent said their vote at this election will not make a difference. Meanwhile, just 35 per cent of those who said Brexit has made their life better said they believe that their vote matters.

When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how happy they are compared to five years ago, with 10 being the most happy and 1 being the least happy, the most common answer was five. However, nearly 12 per cent of people said 1 while just 3 per cent of answers were above 8.

When it comes to transport, roads are the top priority for most of our readers. Nearly 60 per cent responded saying roads need to be improved the most, followed by trains on 14.2 per cent, buses on 11.8 per cent, the Metrolink on 7.1 per cent and cycling on 4.5 per cent.

Just 36.4 per cent agreed with National Service for young people with around 50 per cent saying they do not support it. Just over two-thirds of readers who responded to the survey said that the issue of mental health is not discussed enough by political leaders.

Nearly 72 per cent said they know who their current MP is, but just 53 per cent were aware that constituency boundaries are changing at this general election. In total, 2,957 readers had responded to our survey by the time these results were collated on Monday (July 1).

More than half of those who took part in the M.E.N. survey were aged 46 and above with over-60s making up the largest group of respondents. Responses have been received from all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester with more men taking part than women.