1997 voting behavior case study Flashcards
Election results
Landslide Labour victory under Tony Blair against Conservatives who had been in power for 18 years
Class
Won a significant amount of middle class voters across the country, including Tory heartlands of the South East. Gained 19% of the C1 vote. Was able to do so due to party policy shifting to the centre
Issue voting
Blair gave off increasingly tough signals of law and order, an issue that mattered to voters after rising crime rates in the early 90s, ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’
Blair’s public perception
Blair was popular across the country, seen as strong, competent and charismatic; with a clear vision and control over the party.
Major’s public perception
Seen as a weak, boring leader presiding over a party divided over Europe and tainted by ‘sleaze’ and the cash for questions scandal.
Turnout
Turnout was relatively low at 71%, meaning that under 31% of the registered electorate actually voted Labour, which doesn’t suggest a mass popular movement for Labour.
Conservatives their worst election result in over a century, winning only 30.7%
Economic background and perceived economic competence
-3 million unemployed and the disaster of ‘Black Wednesday’, where the UK was forced to withdraw from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 1992.
-Opinion polls showed Labour ahead of the Conservatives from that point onward, Conservatives lost their reputation as competent managers of the economy, while Labour were seen as such.
Media
Crucially, Labour won the endorsement of the greater part of the press, including The Sun and The Times. The message was that New Labour was a moderate party with interests of ‘middle England’ at heart.
‘The Sun Backs Blair’
New Labour policies rational choice
Blair drove forward the policy of modernisation and abandoned traditional party policies such as nationalization, tax increases and strengthening of Trade Union powers. Encouraged middle-class vote
