Study Reform supporters get more likes on dating apps than Tories

Reform voters enjoy more success on dating apps than Conservative voters, according to a study by university researchers.

And the analysis carried out by the University of Southampton and Harvard University found that voters were unlikely to swipe right (‘like’) a profile of someone from the other side of the political spectrum.

But the researchers did find that those on the centre-right were more likely to choose someone from their political right, rather than the centre-left.

Overall, the study showed that Labour, Green and Lib Dem voters had a better chance of getting a match than Reform and Conservative voters, which the researchers suggested was because people who use dating apps tend to be younger and therefore more socially liberal.

Dr Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte, lead author of the study, from the University of Southampton, said the results were another example of the political polarisation of society.

He said: “Voters from the two main parties are very unlikely to want to date someone from the other party.

“Conservative voters were much happier to match with a Reform UK voter than someone who voted Labour.

“This isn’t about falling in love with the radical right, it’s about Conservative voters being more comfortable dating someone they disagree with on some things than dating someone from the opposite ideological camp altogether.

“That’s a striking illustration of just how polarised our societies have become.”

The study, published in the Journal of Politics, asked 2,000 people in Britain and Spain aged between 18 and 40 – the demographic which makes up 85% of Tinder users – to look at 20,000 fictitious dating profiles on an online app.

The profiles were AI-generated variations of attractive men and women’s faces and their bios contained information including their occupation, hobbies, interests, and schooling, and some included an indication of who they voted for.

Dr Alberto Lopez Ortega, a co-author on the paper from Harvard University, said: “While Reform voters had a below average favourability on dating apps, they are four points more likely to enjoy success on the dating market than Conservative supporters.

“This suggests that dating a Reform UK voter is not ‘beyond the pale’ and support for the radical right has become more normalised.

“That said, we found expressing support for either party is likely to be a ‘red flag’ for more left-wing dating app users.”

Published: 19/05/2025 by Radio NewsHub