Voting behaviour Flashcards
What are the long term factors that affect voting behaviour?
class
age
ethnicity
gender
region
What are the short term factors that affect voting behaviour?
Election campaign
policies
debate
party leadership
Geographically, where do the Conservatives get the most support?
The Conservatives continue to do well in areas that are predominantly white, rural or suburban, while making gains across Northern England. This was shown in 2019 as, despite support still coming from industrial areas, Labour lost votes to the Conservative in the so called ‘red wall of old industrial towns in the North of England
Geographically, where do Labour get the most support?
Since 2005, Labour Party support has contracted to Metropolitan areas in south Wales, the industrial north and London
How do Scottish voters tend to vote?
Labour has lost its dominance in Scotland after concentrating on winning seats in England, while 2017 saw the establishment of the Conservative party as the main opposition in Scotland. Since 2015, there has been SNP dominance, due to:
-impact of devolution and Brexit
-They have very different concerns and priorities to the rest of the UK
-opposition to London-centered and New Right policies
How is voting behaviour changing in the South East of England?
traditional party politics is becoming far more divided, with votes for niche parties reducing support for all three traditional parties
Why have industrial towns been leaning towards voting Conservative?
Brexit has become more of an issue in people’s minds. Here, there are high levels of unemployment, poverty and urban decay and ethnic diversity, This causes for a greater focus on nationalistic and anti-EU feelings
How do Wales tend to vote?
There is a heavy Labour bias, but with strong levels of support for the Conservatives in more rural areas
The far west is more likely to vote nationalist
How did class affect voting up until the 1980s?
Class determined how people would vote- known as class voting
Classes A, B and C1 would usually be described as middle class and tended to vote Conservative. Classes C2, D and E would be considered the working class and tended to vote Labour.
What did class base voting reflect?
Each party had a set of core voters from a distinct social class, reflecting that economic factors, such as employment and inflation were the top of many people’s priority.
Since the 1970s, what has the main issues on people’s minds turned to and why?
Since the 1970s, economic reforms, bought on by the shift from an industrial to a service-based economy, and changing attitudes in a more socially liberal society, have resulted in the decline in the importance of economic issues and greater concern about social issues, including:
-immigration
-civil and human rights
-attitudes to sexuality
-nationalism and the UK’s position in the world
These issues don’t always fit on the left right spectrum
What has the increase on the focus of social issues (rather than economic issues) since the 1970s led to?
class dealignment and partisan dealignment with voters less likely to be loyal to one party and taking into consideration multiple issues before they cast their vote
What has partisan dealignment led to the increase of?
floating (swing) voters
What was the overall impression of the outcome from the 2019 election- how did class affect this?
It was not the case of the Conservatives gaining many votes from 2017, but of Labour losing a lot of votes and support turning to alternative parties. Labour lost rather than Conservatives won.
Class was not a major dividing line, with the exception of the DE class being slightly more supportive of Labour
Instead of class, what now seems to be the dominant factors?
Age and education
How does education affect voter choice?
the Conservative lost to Labour by 5% among those with degrees, but did far better among those with qualifications up to the level of GCSEs and A-Levels, while Conservative won an outright majority among those with no formal qualifications
What does level of education affecting voting choice tell us about class based voting?
If we assume the traditional link between education and class exists, this suggests that the old economic class alignments no longer apply in a modern political system.
What are the arguments that the class system still matters in the UK?
-Issues of tax and benefits remain a key distinction between the two main parties
-Many voters still identify with a party based on their perceived class
-Geographic voting trends still reflect the relative wealth and class make-up of a region
-Class inequality and a lack of social mobility remain major concerns for many voters
