Voting Behaviour & The Media AO1

Question 1

What percentage of people believed it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU according to Statista?

Answer 1

49% of people believed it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU.

Question 2

What did the 2015 general election polls show?

Answer 2

The polls showed a draw between Labour and Conservatives, but the actual result was a Conservative majority.

Question 3

How much do MPs earn per hour for surveys?

Answer 3

MPs earn up to £350 per hour to take surveys for polling companies and for BBC research.

Question 4

What did the 1997 Observer poll predict about Michael Portillo?

Answer 4

The poll showed Michael Portillo would lose his safe seat to Twigg, and he did, possibly due to undecided voters switching to vote for Twigg.

Question 5

What percentage of people said Sunak was doing badly as PM in June 2024?

Answer 5

72% said Sunak was doing badly as PM according to a YouGov survey.

Question 6

What was Johnson’s stance on Partygate in 2022?

Answer 6

Johnson tried to convince the public that Partygate was done under strict COVID rules.

Question 7

Which constituencies does Labour often win?

Answer 7

Labour often wins London and red wall constituencies.

Question 8

Where do Conservatives often dominate votes?

Answer 8

Conservatives often dominate votes in the South East.

Question 9

How many seats changed hands in the 2015 election?

Answer 9

111 seats changed hands, and the SNP took 40 Labour seats in Scotland.

Question 10

What happened in the 2019 election regarding the Red Wall?

Answer 10

In 2019, Conservatives broke through the Red Wall.

Question 11

What did the polls predict correctly in 2019?

Answer 11

The polls correctly predicted a Conservative win.

Question 12

What is the typical sample size for opinion polls?

Answer 12

Opinion polls can have samples of 1000+ people.

Question 13

What was significant about the 1992 polls and why did this occur?

Answer 13

The polls were wrong, and Major won; reasons include the boomerang effect of polls, ‘shy Tories’, and interviewer bias.

Question 14

What were the Conservative and Labour memberships in 2022?

Answer 14

Conservative membership was 172,000 and Labour membership was 432,000.

Question 15

What was the voting percentage of Conservatives and Labour among different classes in 2017?

Answer 15

Conservatives won 46% of the AB (upper class) vote and Labour won 44% of the DE (lower-class) vote.

Question 16

What was the famous headline from The Sun in 1992?

Answer 16

‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’ after they released a headline on election day: ‘If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain please turn off the lights.’

Question 17

What was the membership change for Labour in 2023?

Answer 17

Labour was down 33,000 members from 2022.

Question 18

Which age group was most likely to vote Labour in 2019?

Answer 18

18-24s were most likely to vote Labour, with 51% voting Labour in 2019.

Question 19

Which age group was most likely to vote Conservative in 2019?

Answer 19

70+ were most likely to vote Conservative, with 66% voting Conservative in 2019.

Question 20

What was the turnout for 18-24s and 75+ in the 2019 election?

Answer 20

Turnout for 18-24s was below 60%, while for 75+ it was over 80%.

Question 21

What trend occurred from 1964 to 2015 regarding party identification?

Answer 21

People who felt they had very strong identification to a party decreased by 30%.

Question 22

Where did most Labour votes come from in 1997 (which class)?

Answer 22

Most Labour votes in 1997 were from the lower classes.

Question 23

What percentage of people got their news online in 2019?

Answer 23

49% of people got their news online in 2019.

Question 24

What was the newspaper partisanship for Labour in 1997?

Answer 24

61% of Labour newspaper partisanship was noted in 1997.

Question 25

What happened to broadsheet newspaper circulation from 2000 to 2015?

Answer 25

There was a decreasing circulation of broadsheet newspapers.

Question 26

What percentage of the vote did the two main parties receive in 1970?

Answer 26

88% went to the two main parties (Labour and Conservatives) in 1970.

Question 27

What was the turnout of different classes in the 2015 election?

Answer 27

AB= 75%, DE= 57%.

Question 28

How have Labour's ties with trade unions affected their support?

Answer 28

Labour has always worked closely with trade unions and earned the loyalty of the working-class.

Question 29

What was the vote share, of the classes, for Labour and Conservatives in 2017?

Answer 29

Labour got around 40% of ABC1 and C2DE votes, while Conservatives got 44%.

Question 30

What was the education level of Conservative voters in 2017?

Answer 30

55% of people with GCSE or below education voted Conservative.

Question 31

What was the education level of Labour voters in 2017?

Answer 31

49% of degree or above voters voted for Labour.

Question 32

What is the majority of print media's political alignment?

Answer 32

The majority of print media is Tory, e.g., The Daily Mail.

Question 33

What is sensationalism in politics?

Answer 33

Sensationalism creates a crisis over policies, making them more well-known and leading to cynicism for politics.

Question 34

What issue arises from the lack of regulation on misinformation?

Answer 34

It leads to echo chambers and 'fake' news.

Question 35

What ensures media impartiality and accessibility?

Answer 35

Pluralism and OFCOM ensure media is impartial and accessible.

Question 36

What has Twitter been known to reveal?

Answer 36

Twitter has been known to reveal inauthentic messages.

Question 37

What did the 1979 Conservative manifesto address?

Answer 37

It accounted for the need for moderacy in the previously Labour voter base and reintroduced mild privatisation.

Question 38

What were the key policies in the 1997 Labour manifesto?

Answer 38

The 1997 Labour manifesto had centre-left policies, including reasonable tax and rewriting Clause IV from common ownership.

Question 39

When did Blair's popularity peak? (in campaign or in government)

Answer 39

Blair's popularity peaked in government, not during the campaign.

Question 40

What was the criticism of the 2019 Labour manifesto?

Answer 40

The manifesto was considered too radical and expensive, including the abolition of tuition fees when government debt was already high.

Question 41

What was the focus of the 2019 Tory manifesto?

Answer 41

The 2019 Tory manifesto was simple: Get Brexit Done with an EU deal, NHS funding, and points-based immigration.

Question 42

What campaign did Conservatives hire Saatchi and Saatchi for?

Answer 42

They were hired to advertise 'Labour isn't working' about Callaghan's Winter of Discontent and mass strikes over the cap of public sector workers' pay.

Question 43

How were the Conservatives and Labour portrayed in 1997?

Answer 43

The Conservatives were presented as divided over the EU, and Major was seen as incompetent, while Labour was viewed as the moderate 3rd Way party led by a young and charismatic Blair.

Question 44

What was Labour's seat count in 2019?

Answer 44

Labour won 202 seats in 2019, the lowest since 1935, for failing to maintain a solid stance on Brexit.

Question 45

What was print media's role in the 2019 election?

Answer 45

The Telegraph and The Sun attacked Labour in 2019 and sold roughly 1 million copies in the run-up to the election.

Question 46

What divisions existed within Labour?

Answer 46

Labour had a division between Blairites and Corbynites.

Question 47

What was the significance of the rise of SNP and UKIP in 2015?

Answer 47

The rise of SNP and UKIP showed the favor of smaller issue parties.

Question 48

What criticism has Starmer faced from Labour voters?

Answer 48

Starmer has aligned himself with the Conservatives on issues like crime and has been criticized by Labour voters/MPs for his stance on strikes in Yemen.

Question 49

What has been the Conservative stance on business since 2010?

Answer 49

Conservatives remain pro-business and support private enterprise, implementing tax cuts and austerity measures.

Question 50

What was the combined vote share for both main parties in 2017?

Answer 50

Both main parties saw a rise in vote share to 84% combined.

Question 51

What has been the historical context of UK PMs?

Answer 51

The UK has only ever had a Labour or Conservative PM.

Question 52

What happened with Labour backbenchers in 2003?

Answer 52

Labour backbenchers rebelled against Blair over the Iraq war.