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

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

YouGov - November 6th, 2023

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