Urban Indians prioritise hard work as the most important attribute of an ideal political candidate

Results of a new YouGov Survey that asked respondents about the qualities a political candidate should possess show that half of urban Indians (50%) think he should be ‘hard working’. ‘Formally educated’ and a ‘good communicator’ are the next best qualities, considered by 45% and 35%, respectively.

Following this, around three in ten expect their ideal candidate to be humble (29%), and ambitious (28%), followed by around a quarter who believe competence (23% each) is a vital quality of a politician.

Being young (18%), having empathy (17%) and being a family man (12%) are much lower in importance, however, being from a political background seems to be the least important quality (at 8%), according to urban Indians.

Viewing the data by generation reveals interesting differences. GenZ prioritise humbleness (34%), along with education (46%) and hard work (44%) as their top three qualities. They also emphasize on family values more than the other generations and consider being a family man an important value in their ideal candidate (at 17%). On the other hand, members of GenX consider competence of the candidate more important than others (at 30%), notably more than GenZ- for whom this is one of the lowest considerations (13%).

While the genders are aligned on most of the considerations, women are more likely than men to value empathy as an important attribute in their ideal candidate (20% vs 14%).

A look by different regions in the country reveals that good communication is a higher priority among residents of north India (at 40%) as compared to residents of other regions. Similarly, being young and educated is more important to people of West India than the other regions (24% and 52%, respectively).

Methodology

**Data based on responses collected of around 1002 urban Indian adults aged 18+ in October 2023