A political divide appears to be opening up between young women and young men – and no one is really sure why.

Polling suggests young men are more likely to vote on the right than their female counterparts, who increasingly tend to view the world through liberal eyes.

In a 2025 survey of more than 2,000 16-to-29-year-olds by Focaldata, for the John Smith Centre, 20% of young British women said they were left wing, compared with 13% of young men, although the majority of both identified as neither left or right.

At the 2024 general election, 12% of women aged 18 to 24 voted for Reform UK or the Conservatives, compared with 22% of men in that age group, polling from YouGov suggests.

Labour was the most popular choice among both sexes, with a slight bias towards women in the youngest age groups.

The Green Party polled particularly well with young women, gaining 23%, compared with 12% of 18 to 24-year-old men.

The Liberal Democrats did well among this age group, with 16% of the vote among both men and women.

The Conservative Party, by contrast, performed badly in this age group, with the majority of its support coming from the over-65s. Reform’s support last year also skewed towards older age groups.

British politics is more volatile than it has ever been, with the decline of traditional party loyalties and even uncertainty about what counts as “left” and right” any more.

But researchers have identified a clear trend, with young people feeling that the two-party Westminster system no longer delivers for them – and a gap between the sexes.

Dr Ceri Fowler, a fellow in comparative politics at Oxford University, said: “Young people are still more progressive in their attitudes compared to older generations, but when you break that down there is a divide where young men are more right wing and young women more left wing.

“And it isn’t a divide between the two main parties, it’s at the more extreme ends, so either for support by men for Reform, or women for the Greens.”

Lucy Thomas, a 19-year-old student in Glasgow, is one of those younger voters who plumped for Labour last year, but does not support them as much now.

“I grew up with the Conservatives in power and I wasn’t happy. When I’m voting I’m thinking about my local community, people around me, young people as well, I want there to be more opportunities for young people.”

She says no-one she knows is interested in Labour or the Tories, “they’re more interested in Jeremy Corbyn’s party, because Gaza is a big issue for young people”.

“Young men are turning towards Reform,” she adds, and although she does not support Nigel Farage’s party, “I think that what they are doing on social media is working and not a lot is being done to create a viable opposition [to it].”

Daze Aghaji, a 25-year-old environmental activist, says she voted Green in last year’s general election but has no strong party allegiance and is interested in the new left wing party being set up by Jeremy Corbyn.

“Women are leaning further to the left as we are feeling the ways the world isn’t functioning properly,” she says.

“Many [women] are looking for a new progressive future, they’re fighting to protect their freedoms, but a large amount of young men are holding on to tradition and that’s what drives the gender divide.

“Many young men are holding tightly to a traditional vision of masculinity, yet the world has shifted in ways that make living by that script increasingly impossible.”

Joseph Boam, a 22-year-old Reform UK councillor who was previously deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council, rejects the idea that Reform is a boys’ club.

“We have lots of female supporters, which didn’t surprise me,” says the former Tory supporter.

“My mum and grandma are big Reform supporters, they’re always watching GB News.”

He acknowledges the vital role social media plays for Reform.

“Reform’s smashing it on socials,” he says.

“You’ve got young councillors like me and others using social media to boost the party and get across what we are achieving at a local level, we’re reaching real local people where they’re actually watching and we’re saying all the right things – the truth.”

While Reform drew the majority of its support from older age groups at the last election, Nigel Farage’s personal brand online has proved a hit on youth-oriented platform TikTok, where he has more than a million followers.

The Reform leader has said society is trying to “feminise” young men in a way that made the views of self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate more appealing to them.

But at a lunch for political reporters in March, he stressed: “I’m not a Tate supporter. I’m identifying the truth, that young men feel that they’re not allowed to be blokes.”

Boam says young men like him would not normally relate to someone as old as the 61-year-old Farage, but he adds: “I’ve met him a few times now and he’s exactly the same behind closed doors as he is on camera.

“He’s like the bloke you’d chat to in the pub, just with fire in his belly and a love for his country. If I had to describe Nigel in one word it would be ‘genuine’.”

Reform knows it has to do more to attract female voters as well – although there are already signs the party’s gender gap is starting to narrow.

Last week it launched a Women for Reform campaign, fronted by its only female MP Sarah Pochin and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.

Luke Tryl, from pollsters More in Common, says: “While Reform still has a gender gap and its voters remain more male overall, this gender gap has narrowed since the general election, as the party’s vote share has expanded – with Gen X women in particular swinging toward Reform.

“Our data suggests that women, especially those over 45, who are among the most disillusioned with the status quo, could become a critical part of Reform’s emerging voter base.”

So what are the factors behind this apparent divide between right and left among young men and women?

Dr Fowler points out that more young women than men go on to higher education, where socially liberal attitudes are more prevalent. Polling from You Gov suggests university graduates are more likely to support left wing parties.

Researchers suspect social media plays a role in the gender divide, she adds, but if someone is “feeling disenfranchised with politics both on the left and the right, then if there are alternatives being offered to you on social media it’s easier to engage with that”.

Rosie Campbell, professor of politics at King’s College London, says the “gender generation gap is growing”.

“In the past, both men and women were becoming liberal on the issue of gender equality, but there is an increasing number of young men who are hostile to this, believing that feminism has gone too far, potentially drawing them to support populist, radical right parties who more often express support for traditional gender roles.”

But Mark Brooks, director of policy at the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, a think tank launched earlier this year, with a speech by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, argues that young men are being unfairly singled out, when in fact there is “a general drift away from the two main parties from young men and young women – right and left”.

“I’m concerned about the narrative which is that young men are drifting towards the right being seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy where young men are then considered a problem,” he says.

“One of the most recognised lessons on gender voting patterns coming from the [US] Presidential elections is that the Republicans recognised the plight and disillusionment that some American men, young and old, have. Whilst the Democrats did not recognise or address this at all.”

He adds: “We need more young men in work, more able to get skills to get into work, and more young men to feel like society is on their side.

“The political world should talk positively about young men.”