Monday, November 03, 2008

Clever children vote Green as adults

I must admit this study, which I first heard this morning on Five Live, has put a smile on my face. In fact a Green Party supporter who lives in Thornton Heath told me today that she was not surprised to hear that clever children vote Green as adults. Her son (aged 10) has a Green party sticker in his bedroom and has been accepted into Wallington Grammar school with one of the highest scores in the entry exam.

The study by the Univeristy of Edinburgh and UK Medical Research Council essentially concludes that children with higher IQ's are more likely to vote Green than Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem in later life. They are least likely to vote UKIP and BNP.

What we need is an empath (Deanna Troi would be preferable) to seek out these potential Green voters and get them to join the party!
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3 comments:

Peter Cranie said...

This was a good spot! I've forwarded a press release on its to some local newspapers in our region, because it the kind of quirky story that does get improved recognition for us.

Mike said...

OK, so this GP voter may have an IQ of ~140, but I don't like the look of this story. The brighter amongst you may have realised that the figures in this study don't seem to add up. Since average intelligence is, by definition 100, it seems that the sample of children in the survey was already above average in intelligence.

This study may well prove to be yet another example of Bad Science.

Shasha Khan said...

Thanks for your comments. Mike, I am not surprised you have an IQ of 140. You may be right about the numbers but somehow we need to explain why the Green Party is top.

Having been asked by a local reporter, I suggested the following:

"I don't know how much you can read into this study!

When we run our street stalls in Croydon, for example during the Eco Expo, I have found that Croydon residents that did stop and chat to us have really thought through the issues. They tend to see passed the Punch and Judy, gesture style politics and are looking for genuine solutions to the problems we all face."

Standing up for what matters