Women prefer Julia, but older male voters like Tony
Women voters may prefer Julia Gillard as Prime Minister over Tony Abbott, but men, especially older voters, prefer Mr Abbott.
Analysis for the Sunday Age by Roy Morgan Research undertaken last week, shows that amongst men over 65, only 35% approve of Ms Gillard, while 58% disapprove and 7% are undecided.
It’s almost the opposite for their attitudes towards Mr Abbott: 57% approve of him, and only 31% disapprove.
The figures also show Mr Abbott ahead as preferred Prime Minister among older men, highlighting a significant trend that has not yet received much attention. Voters over 45 years strongly favour Abbott.
Roy Morgan research has created a ‘grey worm’ to track attitudes, similar to the pink and blue worms used in the Leaders’ debate.
In analysing the figures, Josh Gordon from the Sunday Age said there could be “a strong element of conservatism at play. Call it sexism if you like”.
Roy Morgan spokesman, Marcus Tarrant, says that “older men are more likely to have conservative views, particularly about women and their place in society.
“A lot of those feelings simply do not exist in younger males, who are far more likely to regard women as complete equals.”
Essential Media Communications director, Tony Douglas, said that the Coalition had always performed well among older voters, so it was little surprise that they had not warmed to Ms Gillard.
“Over the age of 65, the Liberal and National Parties have a 13 point lead over the Labor Party and the Greens in terms of which party people identify with.”
