One-quarter of registered individuals who work in the construction industry did not vote during last week's general election, according to new research by www.constructaquote.com.

The majority of these tradespeople said a lack of knowledge surrounding party policies was behind their decision not to take to the ballot. An estimated 66.1% of the whole British electorate voted during the UK general election.

The team at www.constructaquote.com polled a total of 2,159 individuals working across a range of industries within the construction sector.

Participants were initially asked if they had voted, either at a polling station or by postal vote. While 76% said they did vote - a higher percentage than the estimated 66% of the entire British electorate who voted - almost one quarter (24%) revealed that they had not managed to cast their vote before the 10pm deadline.

Of the construction workers that did vote last Thursday, 78% revealed that one of the main motivations for doing so was in order to try and improve the state of the construction industry; particularly due to recent claims that growth in construction and manufacturing has halted.

When relevant respondents were then given a list of potential answers and asked to pick the reasons why they didn't vote, the most common five answers were revealed as follows:

  1. A lack of knowledge surrounding political parties and their policies - 62%
  2. I aimed to vote but couldn’t find the time - 36%
  3. I had something better to do than vote - 24%
  4. I didn't feel any of the parties had policies that would benefit me personally -17%
  5. I only registered to vote to improve my credit score - 8%

Lyndon Wood, CEO and creator of constructaquote.com, said: "In an industry such as construction, where the political party in charge of the country will have such a huge impact on how people are treated, both in terms of wages and health and safety standards, the fact that so many registered individuals didn't vote is extremely disappointing."

"I understand that for some people there may have been circumstances out of their control that prevented them from voting last week. However, those who didn't take the time to read up on party manifestos or watch any of the extensive media coverage in the lead up to the election don't really have an excuse. If you don't vote and have your say on how you want this country run, then you really have no right to express your opinion on anything political."