Voting Behaviour and the Media Flashcards
What was the seat change and how many seats did the Conservatives win in the 1979 elections?
339 seats with a change of +62
Had a majority of 43
What was the seat change and how many seats did Labour win in the 1979 elections?
269 seats with a change of -50
Seat change and seat winnings for Labour in the 1997 election?
418 won with a change of +145
179 majority
Reasons for the Conservatives victory in the 1979 election?
Weakness of Labour government - lost a vote of no confidence and was regularly defeated in HoC
Callaghan unable to control trade unions who had been striking due to a 5% cap on an increase in wages
Country recovering from “Winter of discontent” where there were mass strikes
What happened in the 1979 election campaign?
Thatcher used publicity specialists Tim Bell and Gordon Reece in her camapign and took advantage of photo opportunities
Conservatives put pressure on Labour over “Winter of Discontent” and handling of economy
Callaghan higher in opinion polls due to political experience
1979 party policies
Both parties prioritised low inflation
Thatcher mentioned privatising recently nationalised industries and reducing trade union power but didn’t outline the extent she was to do so
Reasons for Labour’s win in 1997?
Major’s government unpopular with failings of last 5 years and won just 30% of the vote
Conservatives viewed as weak on economic policy due to ‘Black Wednesday’ in 1992
Conservative sexual and financial scandals
What happened in the 1997 election campaign?
Labour used public realtions experts to handle media and used focus groups to understand the opinion of the public
Labour targeted marginal seats - seats that have a small swing in order for a new party to win it
1997 party policies
‘New Labour’ moved away from traditional Labour policies of increasing taxes, nationalisation and strengthing trade unions
Tough on law and order
Blair emphasised his links to business
Labour labelled itself as ‘moderate’ -> appealed to middle England
Labour’s constitutional reform policies appealed to Lib Dem voters in constituencies where they had no chance of winning
2010 election result
Conservtive party largest party with 306 seats
Not enough majority so formed coalition with Lib Dems
Reasons for Conservative victory in 2010?
Followed 2008 financial crisis, allowed them to attack Gordon Brown
Brown = unpopular for not calling general election after taking over from Blair in 2007
Not clear win for tories - 29% of voters believed they would be best for managing the economy, Labour had 26%
What happened in the 2010 election campaign?
Tv debates with Cameron, Brown and Clegg - Clegg performed well receiving an increase in polls after first debate, Brown was worse
Tories targeted marginal seats and market-tested their policies with voters
Labour had a poor campaign
Brown called voter a ‘bigoted women’ who asked him about immigration
2010 party policies
All pledged to reduce budget deficit and making saving - tories wanted immediate cuts, Lib Dems + Labour wanted more gradual ones
Conservatives targeted Labours economic policy in government claiming they overspent in government and failed to regulate banking systems -> was popular with voters
How does partisanship influence voting?
Voters may vote for a party as they strongly identify with it
Been partisan dealignment in UK resulting in more swing voters
Disillusion and apathy can explain loss of party appeal for voters. Voters are disengaged and lack confidence in politicians to solve issues
Classed-based voting
Traditionally working class = Labour, middle class = Conservative
However, class dealignment taken place with fewer voters voting along class lines -> explained by rise in middle class, decline in trade union power, privatisation of industries and educational opportunities
Government competancy influencing voters
How voters perceive the ability of each party to run the country
Success of government’s economic policy, strong leadership and the competancy of the opposition are all factors i.e. John Major’s incompetancy was a reason for Labour’s victory
Voting based on age
Traditionally old people = Conservative (as they protect the interest of old people and old people don’t like major change) , young people = Labour (2017 Labour had 47% more of voter 18-19 than Conservatives)
Young people less likely to vote - 2017: 84% over 70 vote, 57% of 18-19 voted
Voting based on region
Voters in poorer areas (North and Wales) vote Labour
Voters in wealthier areas (South, bar London, and rural areas) vote Conservative
Voting based on ethnicity and gender
Ethnic minorities tend to vote Labour as they promote multi-cultural agenda (2017 65% of ethnic minorities voted Labour)
Traditioanlly women voted Conservative due to their emphasis on family, by 1997 most women supported New Labour -> in recent times gender is less significant
Voting based on age statistics (1979, 1997, 2010)
1979 - 18-24: 41% Labour, 42% Conservative
1997 - 49% voters aged 18-34 voted Labour
2010 - Over 65: 44% Conservative, 30% Labour
Social class voting stats (1979, 1997, 2010)
1979: 59% middle-class voted Conservative, 49% of unskilled working class voted Labour
1997: Labour won 59% of unskilled working class and 50% of skilled working class, Conservatives won 21% of unskilled and 27% of skilled
2010: Conservative narrowly won middle class with 39% and skilled working class, Labour narrowly won unskilled working class
Gender voting stats (1979,1997, 2010)
1979: 47% women Conservatives, 35% women Labour
1997: 44% women Labour, 49% men Labour, 31% Conservatives
2010: higher pecentages of men and women supported the Conservative party than any other party, Labour and Conservatives received similiar amounts of support from men and women
Role of social media in elections
Parties advertise on Instagram, Snapchat (2017 Labour made a Corbyn snap filter viewed 9m times), Facebook (2017 Conservatives spent £2m on Facebook ads, some attaced Corbyn), Twitter -
Politicians can communicate directly to voters on their social media accounts
Role of the internet
Over 82% of UK had interent access -> online media and online newspapers
MPs and politcial parties use internet to connect with voters -> these include websites outlining the work and activities MPs have done
