YOUNG voters are more concerned with the NHS than legalising drugs and want the Coldplay singer Chris Martin to be prime minister, a poll of music fans has found.

The Populus survey conducted for NME gave the Liberal Democrats 37 per cent of support among 18-24-year olds, compared with 26 per cent for Labour and 17 per cent for the Conservatives.

Asked to choose their three most salient issues in the campaign, drugs policy was of interest to just 5 per cent and even the Iraq war was well down the list with 16 per cent interest. The NHS was the most important issue, on 57 per cent, matching the results from older age groups.

Education came second on 51 per cent, followed by crime on 36 per cent. A separate MTV poll of voters under 24 found that 76 per cent said that they knew someone under the age of 18 who had been the victim of street crime. International poverty was the top issue for 24 per cent of young voters.

More than 80 per cent of NME readers were dissatisfied with the Labour Government and a more popular candidate for prime minister was Martin, who is campaigning for debt relief in Africa. Bono, Morrissey and Thom Yorke of Radiohead were other popular candidates for the top job.

There was food for thought for Michael Howard when the respondents were asked to compare the party leaders with a band.

The Tory leader was identified with the Seventies glam-rock era band The Darkness, and Tony Blair with Oasis. Both Mr Blair and Oasis were catapulted to fame in 1994 and revealed their mutual admiration in a Downing Street meeting in 1997. Noel Gallagher is the only rock star to endorse Mr Blair in this campaign and his band is also seeking a spring comeback after a period of disappointing their fans.

Charles Kennedy was compared to Keane, the comfy, middle-class trio. Mr Kennedy, a David Bowie fan, will be pleased with the comparison, although critics say that the guitar-free Keane lack traditional rock thrills.

• Populus conducted an online survey among 460 NME readers between April 11 and April 17. The MTV poll was carried out by Ipsos Observer, with 744 nationally representative adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

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