How Motorway Man can swing the election

A motorway service station may not sound like a key election battleground, but according to psephologists, service stations – or rather, the people who regularly use them and live near them – hold the power to swing the outcome on 6 May.

At least, that’s the claim made by the BBC’s Newsnight programme, in an edition broadcast on 7th April. The reason, according to Experian’s Bruno Rost, is that

They tend to live in new housing, on the periphery of small provincial towns and cities, within easy access of the motorway networks.

They’ll have new cars, houses full of all the new gadgetry like Blu-ray and HD. They’re also driven by personality politics and the next new thing. They voted for Blair in 1997. In 2010 they’re inclined towards the new man on the block.

Apparently, these voters represent 15% of the vote in key marginals, which means they can easily swing the election.

So, what do you think? I’ve created a new poll on the main site asking which party you think will do a better job for MSA users. Please take a moment to vote, and add your comments to the debate!