Is winning the smokers' vote the key to election victory?
UKIP's Nigel Farage may be fond of a cigarette and a pint but it won't necessarily win him any votes.
Smokers are 60 per cent less likely to vote in elections than non-smokers, a study claims
His fellow smokers are 60 per cent less likely to vote in elections than non-smokers, a study claims.
Research into the voting habits of 11,600 adults suggests smokers see themselves as marginalised by anti-smoking governments and, tending to be more rebellious than non-smokers, withhold their vote as a protest.
But what our research suggests is that this marginalisation may also extend beyond the interpersonal level to attitudes toward political systems and institutions
Karen Albright of the University of Colorado, which conducted the study, said smokers view leaders as “oppressors” because of tobacco taxes and smoking bans.
She said: “On one hand, the result is intuitive. We know from previous research that smokers are an increasingly marginalised population, involved in fewer organisations and activities and with less interpersonal trust than non-smokers.
“But what our research suggests is that this marginalisation may also extend beyond the interpersonal level to attitudes toward political systems and institutions.”
The study was conducted by the University of Colorado Cancer Centre for the specialist health journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.