Grey vote 'will decide election'

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Older voters in Wales will determine who forms the next Welsh Assembly Government, a charity claims.

Help the Aged in Wales has highlighted the fact that over-55s were almost twice as likely to vote as those aged 35-44 at the 2003 assembly elections.

Electoral Commission statistics also revealed they were three times as likely to vote as people aged 25-34.

Listening to older people and combating poverty were among the issues older voters want tackled, the charity said.

Not only are they interested in their own health but any government also has to be interested Prof Ceri Phillips on older voters

Iwan Rhys Roberts, of Help the Aged in Wales, said: "There's a saying that we advocate at Help the Aged: 'Nothing decided about us, without us'.

"We've got a population of older people who are more aware than ever of how powerful a lobby they are. And people are actually starting to stand up and say: 'If you want my vote, you are going to have to earn it."

He said the figures were a "wake-up call" to politicians and would-be politicians of Wales that older people were a political force to be reckoned with.

He added: "Ignore them at your peril."

Help the Aged in Wales has launched its The Agenda for Older People in Wales manifesto aimed at candidates for the 3 May elections.

It said consultations with older people across Wales found challenging home care charges and promoting independence and equality were areas they wanted addressed.

57% of over-65s voted in the 2003 assembly elections

Also important was to ensure the new commissioner for older people in Wales was adequately resourced to promote and protect the interests, dignity and rights of older people in Wales.

Professor Ceri Phillips, a health economist at Swansea University, said health would be a major issue, given that more was spent more on health per head of population in Wales than the rest of the UK.

He said: "50% of expenditure goes on people age 65 and over. Not only are they interested in their own health but any government also has to be interested."

Speaking of the "political hot potato" of free care for the elderly, Prof Phillips said it was hard to see how it could happen in Wales because of the way services were configured.