Generation Gap at the Ballot Box: How Older Voters Are Shaping Greece’s Political Future

A new poll by MRB for Open TV reveals a striking generational divide in Greek voting intentions, raising not only political questions but also deeper concerns about the country’s social cohesion.

While Greek politics has long been shaped by ideological shifts and party realignments, the latest data

Across the general population, the ruling center-right party New Democracy leads with 22.7%, followed by Course of Freedom—a populist, anti-establishment party—at 11.9%, and the center-left PASOK at 10.1%.

Other parties trail behind, with Greek Solution at 8.2%, the Communist Party (KKE) at 6.5%, and SYRIZA, once the dominant force on the left, registering just 4.2%. These figures alone offer a snapshot of Greece’s fragmented political landscape, but the real story lies beneath the surface—in the starkly different preferences expressed across age groups.

Among young voters aged 17 to 24, Course of Freedom comes out on top with 17%, followed by PASOK and the Communist Party. New Democracy, by contrast, secures just 6.8% in this group. The trend continues in the 25 to 34 age bracket, where Course of Freedom again leads, while New Democracy lags significantly.

However, this pattern reverses dramatically among older voters. In the 65 and over category, New Democracy dominates with a sweeping 38.2%, a figure that far outpaces any other party’s performance across all age groups.

This generational divergence is clear and consistent. The younger the voter, the more likely they are to support anti-establishment or non-traditional parties. The older the voter, the stronger the preference for New Democracy, with its message of stability and experience.

The data also shows that PASOK maintains a relatively even presence across age groups, though with notable dips in the 35–44 and 55–64 brackets. Greek Solution, a far-right party, finds its core support among middle-aged voters.

The idea that young people tend to vote for left-wing or progressive parties is not a uniquely Greek phenomenon, but it doesn’t tell the full story. The popularity of Course of Freedom—a party that explicitly rejects the traditional left-right divide—among the young suggests that their political choices are driven more by dissatisfaction with the system than by ideological loyalty. This complexity is echoed in the findings of political scientist Panagiotis Kousteni, who has studied youth voting trends in Greece from 1974 to 2023.

He notes that while the radical youth movements of the 1960s and 70s helped cement the idea of progressive youth politics, this pattern has fluctuated significantly in more recent decades, sometimes even reversing.

In this light, the current generational divide revealed by MRB’s polling is not the result of some timeless ideological inclination among the young. Rather, it reflects a specific moment in Greek politics, shaped by frustration with the government and political establishment more broadly. The rejection of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his administration by younger voters is not inevitable—it is circumstantial.

Yet despite the symbolic weight of youth discontent, its practical impact on elections remains limited. Professor Nikos Marantzidis of the University of Macedonia points out that younger voters carry less electoral weight for two reasons. First, Greece is an aging society, meaning older voters make up a larger share of the electorate. Second, younger people tend to participate less in elections. Many are politically disengaged or physically distant from their official places of residence—particularly those working in tourism—making it more difficult for them to vote. In polling, as in elections, the voices of older voters simply count for more.

This explains why New Democracy’s overwhelming support among voters aged 65 and older matters so much more than its low numbers among the youth. As long as the party maintains a strong lead with the country’s most politically active demographic, its hold on power remains firm.

But this dynamic raises deeper questions about the direction of Greek democracy. What does it mean for social cohesion when the political preferences of the old and young diverge so dramatically? Can a society sustain itself when the aspirations of younger generations are so clearly out of sync with the choices of those who hold political power? And if these younger voices do not find representation through the ballot box, might they seek it elsewhere—in the streets, through protest and direct action, rather than through the corridors of the political system?