Britain Backs Regional Assemblies by a Whisker

Britain split almost down the middle on whether to create regional assemblies for the north, South West and East, with Do you want regional devolution? scraping home on the back of strong support from under-35s while over-55s voted it down. The generational fault line ran through several other results, exposing a country that thinks very differently depending on how close it is to retirement.

The verdicts

If an AI data centre opened near you, would you support it for the jobs and economic reasons? also ended in a near dead-heat, with the young recoiling while every older group leaned narrowly in favour. Should the UK Gov buy an index linked fund at birth for each person? saw young and middle-aged voters back the long-term baby-bond idea that those nearing retirement would never see, carrying the day by a clear margin.

On welfare, Should the Country have a National Care Service and funding be general taxation? produced a strong two-to-one mandate for a tax-funded national service, though it split sharply by gender in ways that defied expectations. Voters overwhelmingly backed Should the government introduce a Value for Money framework requiring pension schemes to publish performance ratings?, showing rare consensus on pensions with support close to six to one.

Younger voters embraced green home upgrades on instinct in Should the government create policy conditions to help households cut energy bills using heat pumps, solar panels, batteries and time-of-use tariffs?, yet the result masked a striking gender gulf. Should the UK offer meningitis B vaccine to all 15-year-olds? sailed through with three in four in favour, though parents of teenagers split evenly.

Scepticism carried Andy Burnham is your next prime minister. Will it be same old?, with two in three reckoning his radical change would look a lot like the last lot. Housing votes were more divided: Should the new Prime Minister immediately confirm Strategic Partnership bids and top up social housing funding? squeaked through narrowly, while Should the government limit repeated judicial reviews and set court timetables to speed up major housing and infrastructure projects? won by four in five in an exasperated call to get on with it. Should the government redirect major housing investment to expand council-owned homes? passed with three in five in favour, again hiding an almost mirror-image gender split.

On immigration, Should Lewisham Council ban cooperation with the Home Office on immigration raids? ran into a wall, rejected by nearly four to one.

Voting continues today.

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