Elderly voters will decide who wins the marginal Angus constituency in the general election on May 6, a new report has claimed.
The constituency is one of 46 marginal seats in the UK where the so-called “grey vote” will be crucial to determining the winner.
Over half of the population in SNP-held Angus (50.7%) is over the age of 55, according to research commissioned by Age Scotland, the new charity created by the amalgamation of Age Concern Scotland and Help The Aged Scotland.
There are three other pivotal marginal seats in Scotland where over half the population is over 55 Dumfries and Galloway, held by Labour; Clydesdale and Tweeddale (Conservative); and East Dunbartonshire (Liberal Democrats).
It is estimated that in 15 years 44 of Scotland’s 59 seats will have a majority of older voters.
People over the age of 55 are also far more likely to vote in an election than younger members of the electorate, giving senior voters even greater power.
Age Scotland chief executive David Manion said, “An ageing society presents tremendous opportunities that should rightly be celebrated, yet at the same time we have a big challenge ahead to improve the ageing experience for people now and for generations to come.
“Alongside climate change, population ageing is the greatest global transition we will face this century.
“The needs of older people continue to be ignored when it comes to building communities and providing services, despite the huge demographic shift we are seeing, so the success of any party in this election will clearly depend on their commitment to address the problems identified by older people, who are more likely to vote than any other age group.
“Older people are fed up with promises and platitudes now more than ever before they want action from their local candidates on the issues that matter to them.”
Elsewhere in Courier country, older voters also make up nearly half of the electorate.
In SNP-held Dundee East, 48.6% of voters are over 55 compared to 44% of the electorate in Labour-held Dundee West.
Nearly half of all voters in SNP-held Perth and North Perthshire are over 55 (49.5%), while the figure is marginally lower in neighbouring constituency Ochil and South Perthshire (47.9%), which is held by Labour.
Fife North East (Liberal Democrat) has the highest proportion of elderly voters in Fife (48.2%), followed by Labour-held Glenrothes (45.7%) and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (42.2%) while in Lib Dem-held Dunfermline and West Fife the figure is 42%.
Dundee deputy lord provost and former advocacy officer for Age Concern Scotland Ian Borthwick said every party must acknowledge the importance of elderly voters.
“If political parties are not aware of the power of older voters then they should be,” said Mr Borthwick.
“Previous surveys have shown that the peak age for voting in elections is over 60, where 79% of people vote, so parties must take notice of them.
“The main issues in this election that affect pensioners are pensions, winter heating costs and cost of living.
“When inflation rises it is people on fixed incomes that suffer most because a higher percentage of their income has to be spent on things like food.”
Mr Borthwick added that the UK’s ageing population would make these issues increasing important in the coming years.
“It is important that politicians at all levels take heed of these issues and act accordingly,” he said.