4.1 Analysis of the national voting-behaviour patterns for these elections

Question 1

what was the result of the 1979 election?

Answer 1

339 seats= cons
269 seats= labour
11 seats= liberals
- a majority of 43 seats

Question 2

1979: what % of men and women voted conservative?

Answer 2

43% of men and 47% of women

Question 3

1979: how did each age group vote?

Answer 3

the conservatives lead with every age group

Question 4

1979: how did each class vote?

Answer 4

-AB and C1 (middle class) were more likely to vote cons than labour (59% vs 24%)
-working class was more likely to vote labour than conservative (DE class) (49% vs 34%)
-MT was able to attract the skilled working class (C2) as 41% voted for them and 41% voted for labour, whereas previously in 1974, labour led 49% to 26%

Question 5

1979 election turnout: how did class effect voting?

Answer 5

Middle class (A, B, C1) voters were more likely to vote conservative then labour (59% vs 24%)

Question 6

1979 election results: how did skilled worker voting change from 1974?

Answer 6

• 1974: labour led 49% to 26%
• 1979: 41% to 41%

Question 7

1997 election results: what was the outcome? Who formed government?

Answer 7

• the 1997 election results represented a landslide, a swing of over 10% of voters from conservative to labour.
• labour won a 43% share of the votes to the tories 31%, resulting in the largest majority in the commons since WW2
• the final seats were 418 for labour, 165 for the conservatives, 46 for Lib Dem and 27 for Scotland, wales and Northern Ireland
• the results represented a heavy defeat for the conservatives who lost over half of the 336 seats they had won in the 1992 election. The Lib Dem’s had a good election, more than doubling their seats in parliament from 20 to 46

Question 8

1997 election results: what was the percentage of votes for labour, conservative and Lib Dem’s based on region

Answer 8

• Scotland: labour=45%, conservative=18%, Lib Dem=13%
• Northern England: labour=61%, conservative=22%, Lib Dem=13%
• wales: labour=55%, conservative=20%, Lib Dem=12%
• East Midlands: labour=48%, conservative=35%, Lib Dem=13%
• South East: labour=32%, conservative=41%, Lib Dem=21%

Question 9

1997 election results: what was the impact on women in parliament?

Answer 9

The 1997 election marked a significant increase in the number of women elected to a parliament traditionally dominated by men. Out of the 659 seats, a record 120 women were elected, up from 60 in 1992. 101 of them were elected as labour MPS

Question 10

1997 election results: how did class impact voting?

Answer 10

• labour performed strongly among its traditional working class voter base- class C2 and DE.
• but prior to 1997, the middle class was significantly more likely to vote conservative than labour. However, in the 1997 election, the gap narrowed, and for the first time, labour was even on terms with the conservatives with voters of social class C1
  -AB: labour=31%, conservative=41%
  -C1: labour=37%, conservative=37% -C2: labour=50%, conservative=27%
  -DE: labour=59%, conservative=21%

Question 11

1997 election results: how did gender impact voting?

Answer 11

• historically the conservative had enjoyed higher levels of support among women and the Labour Party higher levels of support among men. This realisation made labour determined to do better among women and the party conducted research to find out why it was less popular among women than men. The findings suggested that women perceived the party as being dominated by men and out of touch with women’s concerns. So, as part of its bid to win power in 1997, labour made particular effort to appeal to women, it achieved some success, closing the gap by 1%
• men: labour=45%, conservative=31%, Lib Dem=17%
• women: labour=44%, conservative=32%, Lib Dem=18%

Question 12

1997 election results: how did age impact voting?

Answer 12

• labour had historically been more popular among younger
  Voters than among the electorate as a whole, while the conservatives had always captured a creature share of older people. This held true in 1997
  -18-24: labour=49%, conservative=27%
  -24-34: labour=49%, conservative=28%
  -35-44: labour=48%, conservative=28%
  -45-54: labour=41%, conservative=31%
  -55-64: labour=39%, conservative=26%
  -65+: labour=41%, conservative=36%

Question 13

1997 election results: how did ethnicity impact voting?

Answer 13

-white: lab=43%, cons=32%, Lib Dem=18%
-Asian: lab=66%, cons=22%, Lib Dem=9%
-black: lab=82%, cons=12%, Lib Dem=5%

Question 14

2017 election: what was the results?

Answer 14

• cons=318 seats
• lab= 262 seats
• SNP = 35
• LD= 12
• Green= 1

Question 15

2017 election: what was the turnout?

Answer 15

• turnout was up two points from 66.4% in 2015 to 68.7%

Question 16

2017 election: how did different ages vote?

Answer 16

• 18-19= 66% lab, 19% cons
• 40-49= 44% lab, 39% cons
• 60-69= 27% lab, 58% cons

Question 17

2017 election: what was the turnout by age?

Answer 17

• 18-19= 57%
• 30-39= 61%
• 50-59= 71%
• 70+= 84%

Question 18

2017 election: how did each class vote?

Answer 18

• AB= 46% cons, 38% lab
• C1= 41% cons, 43% lab
• DE= 41% cons, 44% lab

Question 19

2017 election: how did each gender vote?

Answer 19

• female= 43% cons, 43% lab
• male= 45% cons, 39% lab