The Conservative party have seen a surge in support from young people under the leadership of David Cameron, in part due to their unrelenting pursuit welfare reforms, a new poll has shown.
An Ipsos Mori survey, published in The Guardian Tuesday, showed that before Cameron was elected as leader in 2005, only 10% of Tory supporters were born after 1980.
Now support from this group, named 'Generation Y' has increased to 20.5%, according to half a million interviews examined by the pollsters.
The authors of the report believe Conservative party's emphasis on individual responsibility and ending "something for nothing", including their controversial crackdown on welfare have attracted younger voters.
However the study, which analysed interviews taken over a 17 year period, shows that Labour still retains the lion's share of young people's support.
Bobby Duffy, who is heading Ipsos Mori's work on generational analysis, told The Guardian that many in the under-33 age group seemed to have a more individualised outlook.
"They believe people need to take greater personal responsibility rather than looking to the state – perhaps reflecting the fact that they have had less support themselves than other recent generations.
"The Conservative position on many aspects of policy therefore appeals more directly to this sense of stopping 'something for nothing'," Duffy said "Gen Y support is at a high for the Conservatives but Labour still do much better among this generation."
The Ipsos Mori findings came as a YouGov poll that found support for Boris Johnson is surging amongst young Tories.
While those who preferred David Cameron were fans of Thatcher, Prince William and Radio 4, supporters of BoJo preferred video games, used Facebook and Twitter and liked Jeremy Clarkson.
The poll found that 30% of voters would back the Conservatives at the next election if Mr Cameron is in charge, compared with 36% if the Mayor of London takes over.
YouGov boss Stephan Shakespeare, writing on Conservative Home, commented: "While Johnson wins back a significant group from Ukip, his main added value is his appeal to the nation's centre - to younger, liberal, less political voters, exactly the people the Tory modernisers have been aiming to attract."