4.1 factors affecting voting behaviour Flashcards
AGE - Millennials are 15 points less conservative than the national average which breaks the rule that
the older you get the more conservative you get
AGE -
Ipsos MORI (2017): 62% of voters at age 18-24 voted for Labour (27% voted for Tories whilst
69% of 65+ voters voted for Conservatives (19% voted for Labour)
AGE - YouGov (2019): the vote preference diverge at
the age of 33
AGE - in 2019 only 21% of 18-24yr old voters voted Cons and in 2024 it was reduced to just
5%
AGE - In 2019 only 14% of 70+ voters voted Labour and in 2024 this increased to
23%
AGE - YouGov described age as the
“biggest dividing line in British Politics”
GENDER - Blair’s babes”, “Browns Sugars”, “Labour Lovelies” are examples of how the media in particular focuses on the “physical attributes of female candidates”. This could be
said to be a major problem for female candidates.
GENDER - 2019 - Nearly all parties had clear policies to address gender with the Conservatives having a commitment to tackle issues relating to violence against women including
a commitment to appoint a violence against women commissioner.
GENDER - Traditionally, women were believed to favour the Conservatives - this changed under
Blair with Labour winning a larger share of the female vote under him.
GENDER - 1997 - Blair introduced all-women shortlists to increase
the number of women in parliament.
REGION - The North is most likely to vote Labour ie
Liverpool Walton with 87% vote share to Labour MP Dan Carden - last 4 GE’s Walton’s Labour vote share hasn’t dropped below 72%.
REGION - 2019 General Election - Conservatives broke down Labour’s so called “Red Wall” in Northern England where there were/are
traditional Labour strongholds - due to Brexit and perceptions of party leadership.
REGION - 2024 General Election - Seats that went to Reform UK were coastal due to their anti-immigrant rhetoric which
instilled fear in their voters, thus manipulating them to vote reform
CLASS - Class dealignment after 1970s , people no longer identify with a
particular social class and social mobility is promoted
CLASS - 2019 Red Wall: the North which is traditionally dominated by working class (C2,DE)
had voted for Conservatives
CLASS - 1997: Blair gained votes from class
AB and floating voters (33%)
CLASS - however, this can be argued that Blair’s centrist manifesto (New Labour) attracted AB votes due to
the party disunity in Conservatives on European issues
CLASS - Ipsos MORI: 59% of class AB voted for Labour in 1997 whereas only 40% voted for Labour in 2010; only 21% of class DE voted for Conservatives in 1997 but
41% voted for Conservatives in 2019
ETHNICITY - BAME voters are more likely to vote Labour- 2019 elections 20% of BAME voters voted for Conservative, but
64% BAME voters voted Labour
ETHNICITY - However, the proportion of BAME voters in classes C2 and DE is greater than the proportion of white people in those classes, so the preference
for Labour may not be based on ethnicity, but on social class
ETHNICITY - However, in the 2024 election BAME voter share in Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has decreased (compared with 2019) with Labour seeing the biggest loss of -18%. Whilst
the independent candidates and Greens saw the biggest growth, independents grew by 13% of the vote share.
EDUCATION - 2017 elections - 47% of voters with degrees voted labour/lib dem, 36% voted conservative , with no qualifications however
23% voted labour/libdem
53% voted conservative
