Voting Behaviour & Media

Question 1

What are the arguments for social class remaining the main determinant of voting behaviour in UK?

Answer 1

• people vote for parties according to their class

- different turnout between classes

Question 2

What are the arguments against social class remaining the main determinant of voting behaviour in UK?

Answer 2

• age
• region
• media

Question 3

What are the voting statistics for the middle class (AB/C1) in 1979 and 2017?

Answer 3

• 1979, 59% Conservative

- 2017, 47% Conservative

Question 4

What are the voting statistics for the semi/unskilled working class (DE) in 1979 and 2017?

Answer 4

• 1979, 59% Labour

- 2017, 38% Labour

Question 5

Why do middle class vote Conservative?

Answer 5

• they have more money and property

- Conservatives have lower tax policies

Question 6

Why do working class vote Labour?

Answer 6

• involved in trade unions and want be social care

- tax rich more which creates more for them

Question 7

What was the turnout for the middle class (AB/C1) in 2017?

Answer 7

• 2017, 69%

Question 8

What was the turnout for the semi/unskilled working class (DE) in 2017?

Answer 8

• 2017, 53%

Question 9

Why do middle class turnout more?

Answer 9

- many of middle class are older people who are the most likely to vote because they have a strong sense of civic duty
-

Question 10

Why do working class turnout less?

Answer 10

• there is a growing sense of apathy that people feel there isn’t any point voting as they aren’t going to make a difference
• people in DE class, tend to use social media, which has encouraged slacktivism

Question 11

what were the voting statistics for 18-24 year olds in 2017?

Answer 11

62% voted Labour

Question 12

what were the voting statistics for 65+ year olds in 2017?

Answer 12

61% voted Conservative

Question 13

why do young vote labour?

Answer 13

• tend to align more to their policies
• lower tuition fees + better social care
• also utilise social media more+better

Question 14

why do old vote Conservative?

Answer 14

• older people tend to have more money and property
• this is because they have worked longer and have received inheritance
• conservatives have lower tax policies

Question 15

What is the regional divide that divides voting in England called?

Answer 15

north - south divide

Question 16

In 2015, which seats in the south weren’t conservative?

Answer 16

London and a few other constituencies

Question 17

In 2015, which seats in the north weren’t labour?

Answer 17

Yorkshire and Berwickshire

Question 18

What does the region voting show is the key to winning elections?

Answer 18

winning swing seats in the opposite area

Question 19

why do south vote Conservatives ?

Answer 19

they are richer - 2/3 of wealth of England in South East

Question 20

why do north vote Labour?

Answer 20

there a lot of heavy industries in north so a lot of works and trade unions

Question 21

how does the media persuade the public? (e.g. 1983)

Answer 21

• 1983 Thatcher shown as professional + popular, Michael Foot as unpopular

Question 22

what are newspapers a useful relfection of?

Answer 22

a reflection of public opinion - the winning party at each recent election was backed by the majority of the press

Question 23

In 2010 + 2015, which was the only major paper to back Labour?

Answer 23

Daily mirror

Question 24

What percentage of respondents said TV was the most influential source in the run-up the 2015 election?

Answer 24

62%

Question 25

how many views did the first live TV debate get in 2010?

Answer 25

9.6M views

Question 26

what has meant that focus on party leaders has increased?

Answer 26

de-alignment and media

Question 27

how can leaders be accessible to the public ?

Answer 27

being telegenic and likeable

Question 28

why do party leaders need to be trustworthy ?

Answer 28

voters need to believe what they say

Question 29

what did gordon brown do in 2010?

Answer 29

called a woman ‘bigoted’

Question 30

what is associated with leadership appeal?

Answer 30

how voters see the parties

Question 31

in the 1990s how were the conservatives portrayed

Answer 31

the nasty party of the rich

Question 32

what did David Cameron do the try and change the image of the Conservatives ?

Answer 32

from 2005 he moved to change the image.

more sympathy with minorities & under-privileged

Question 33

Was David Cameron successful in changing the image of the Conservatives ?

Answer 33

to a extent.

2010 saw a 5% swing to the tories

Question 34

what % of people said leadership had an impact in shaping their views?

Answer 34

38%

Question 35

what is it important to do at TV debates?

Answer 35

address key questions and impress public

Question 36

what shows TV debates are not wholly influential?

Answer 36

whilst Nick Clegg received an initial surge in the polls , as elections drew closer, dipped in polls again

Question 37

how have newspaper sales decreased?

Answer 37

2015 sales 28% lower than in 2010

Question 38

do newspapers always get it right?

Answer 38

No. 2017 papers backed tory landslide - sun “blue murder”

Question 39

why are newspapers less important?

Answer 39

decreasing readership and they are heavily partisan

Question 40

in which election did social media play its biggest role?

Answer 40

2017 election

Question 41

who did Corbyn do an interview with? how many views?

Answer 41

JME and 350K views

Question 42

which artists urged fans to vote Labour?

Answer 42

AJ tracey, novelist and stomzy

Question 43

what % of vote did labour get for 18-24 y/o in 2017?

Answer 43

over 60%

Question 44

how often did Theresa use FB ?

Answer 44

failed to use twitter or FB once to encourage young people to register to vote

Question 45

what does increasing use of social media lead to?

Answer 45

increasing slacktivism

Question 46

in 2014 Scottish referendum what % of tweets were supportive of yes campaign compared to actual result?

Answer 46

• 80% of tweets supportive of yes

- 45% people voted yes