2019 voting behavior case study

Question 1

Election results

Answer 1

Landslide victory for the Conservative party under Boris Johnson against Labour under Jeremy Corbyn

Question 2

Issue Voting

Answer 2

-Brexit was the key issue of the party
-Conservatives led with the slogan ‘Get Brexit Done’, whilst Labour supported a second referendum on Brexit

Question 3

‘Red Wall’

Answer 3

Traditionally Labour strongholds in the North of England which had unexpectedly switched to Conservative in 2019

Question 4

Brexit referendum statistics

Answer 4

74% of Leave voters voted for the Tories (including many in the Red Wall who had never done so before), whilst 49% of Remain voters voted Labour

Question 5

Competence

Answer 5

Labour was seen as too radical and not to be trusted with the economy due to its very left wing manifesto that included major spending pledges and 6 big nationalizations

Question 6

Leadership

Answer 6

Corbyn was seen as an unpopular leader, the fact that he took no position on Brexit was seen as weak, whilst the narrative in the media was that he allowed antisemitism to grow in the Labour Party

Question 7

Campaign

Answer 7

Little impact on the result of election
Conservatives started with a dominant lead in the polls and it remained relatively steady throughout
Narrative was controlled by Conservatives, focusing almost exclusively on Brexit, while Labour unsuccessfully attempted to move it towards economic proposals.

Question 8

Age

Answer 8

Tories won 57% of the vote among over-60s and 67% among over-70s

Question 9

Education

Answer 9

Plurality of those with a degree or higher voted Labour, while the majority of those whose highest level of education was GCSE or lower voted Conservative