A clear rout: 39 of 47 voters backed lowering industrial electricity prices, leaving the sceptics a rump of eight. Margins this wide are rare on the platform, and there was no meaningful bloc of resistance in any group surveyed.
The generational pattern is the notable feature. Younger cohorts were still comfortably in favour — 79% among 25-34s, 69% among 35-44s, the softest reading of the night — but support hardened with age, hitting unanimity among the 6 over-55s and 4 over-65s who voted. If there is a live debate on this question, it lives among the under-45s, not their elders.
Gender told a similar if smaller story: men backed the cut more emphatically (86%) than women (70%), though both were decisively yes. The pattern echoes the wider industrial-strategy argument now playing out around Make UK's warnings of an £85bn hit — gas-linked wholesale pricing, green levies and Brexit trading friction all feature in the brief, and voters across every demographic slice seem persuaded that something in that mix needs fixing.
If ministers were looking for public licence to intervene on energy costs, this chamber gave it near-unanimously.
1 Opinion
Electrical security and cost is paramount for business. SMRs, storage and other options need to be implemented for energy independence and scalability for consumers and businesses, particularly to remain competitive for investment.