Young men less rightwing than other age groups, study reveals

Thursday, June 18, 2026

A new study from the Institute for Public Policy Research finds that young men in the UK remain more progressive than older men and show only a gradual increase in rightwing party support, contradicting claims they are shifting sharply to the right. This suggests that political strategies targeting young men should consider their relatively moderate views and the larger leftward shift among young women.

A recent study analyzing British election data challenges the narrative that young men are increasingly gravitating toward rightwing politics. Conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the research draws on annual polling data from the British Election Study, which surveys approximately 30,000 individuals each year, to assess political attitudes across age and gender groups.

The study finds that age plays a more significant role than gender in shaping political views. Although men aged 18 to 25 tend to hold less progressive views than women of the same age, they remain more progressive and show lower support for rightwing parties than men in older age groups. The analysis indicates that the commonly held perception of young men as a core base for parties such as Reform UK may be overstated.

According to Dr. Chris Bick, lead author of the report, there is little evidence to support claims that young men are moving sharply toward rightwing politics. “They remain the most progressive cohort of men across a raft of issues,” he said, emphasizing that young men continue to represent a potential base for progressive politics. Bick also cautioned politicians against alienating young male voters by overly focusing on older demographics.

The political landscape has seen growing concern over the influence of online figures like Andrew Tate, who are associated with the “manosphere” and promote messages linked to aggression and misogyny aimed at young men. Some Labour MPs, alarmed by political disengagement among this group, have formed initiatives to counteract the impact of these so-called toxic influencers.

While polls have shown that rightwing populist parties tend to fare better among young men than young women, the IPPR data reveals that the shift among young men toward the right has been gradual and parallels increases seen in older age groups. Between 2022 and 2025, conservative party support among men aged 18 to 25 rose from roughly 18% to just under 30%. In comparison, support among older men increased from about 35% to over 50% during the same period.

Support for Reform UK specifically has increased by about five percentage points among young men since the last election, which is a smaller rise than that seen in older male and female cohorts. The study also indicates that young men remain comparatively progressive on issues such as immigration, race, women’s rights, and homosexuality, though they are less progressive than their female peers.

Dr. Bick noted that the gender gap in political attitudes among young voters is largely a result of young women shifting further to the left rather than young men moving to the right. He pointed out that younger women are especially likely to endorse policies promoting diversity in education and greater representation of same-sex families in children’s media, trends that are less pronounced among young men and older groups. Bick added that this divergence in political leanings between young men and women is more evident in the UK than in some other countries.