4.1 voting behaviour and the media Flashcards by Elspeth Boot-Handford

1983 general election

outlying factors

falklands war, the cold war, the economy

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1983 general election

falklands war

victory increased favour of thatcher. Tories outscored labour by 19 points after victory
labour seen as weak
generated patriotism
michael foot spoke in favour of the military, but divisions within labour argued otherwise

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1983 general election

the economy

thatcher incredibly unpopular due to her monetarism policies
she lowered interest rates, so people didnt invest or borrow money.
low economic growth and unemployment were blamed on the labour government

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1983 general election

the cold war

uk was going to replace old (polaris) submarines with triden 3 bought from the US
michael foot spoke against this, making him more unpopular
arms race also escalating

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1983 general election

media biases

the sun, daily express, daily mail, daily telegraph, the times (C)
daily mirror (L)
Guardian (LD)

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1983 general election

party policy: conservatives

thatcherism, privatisation, free market economy, reducing trade union power, anti-socialism (arms race)

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1983 general election

party policy: labour

nuclear disarmament
nationalisation, strengthen workers rights, increase public spending, welfare + public services
progressive taxation discouraged higher tax bracket voters

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1983 general election

party policy: liberal democrats

pro europeanism
- cnetreism: free market economics, social liberalism, freedom + welfare state

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1983 general election

voting behaviour: conservatives won lots of…

labour dominant northern england

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1983 general election

voting behaviour: highest turnout (age and location)

turnout highest in people aged above 55.
turnout in leicestershire north west: 81.1%

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1983 general election

techniques used in campaigns: conservatives

sent out 1000 copies of labours programme to their supporters
membership of the EEC, nuclear deterrent, trade union reform, privatisation
urban areas targeted
defence, employment, economic prosperity

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1983 general election

techniques used in campaigns: labour

exposed tory documents including a claim from Foot’s leader Deputy Dennis Healy that Thatcher lied about unemployment trends
focused on areas that had been economically impacted by Thatcher

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1983 general election

techniques used in campgins: Liberal Democrats

openness to a coalition
grassroots campaigning

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1997 general election

wider political context: John major

small majority in 1992
cartoons of a grey uncharismatic man
lack of control of his party
described ministers as ‘bastards’
withdrew the whip from rebels
divided over thatcherism/one-nation
‘cash for questions’ affair in the 1990s where 2 conservative MPs, neil hamilton and timothy smith were accused of taking cash bribes from Ian Greer lobbyists to ask questions in parliament

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1997 general election

gender

women 44% labour vs 32% conservative
men 45% vs 31% conservativr
public sector women voted more for labour presumably because of what Thatcher did to the public sector

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1997 general election

age

1/2 of 18-44 year olds voted labour
82% of black voters voted labour
12 points ahead for 25-44 year olds
4 points ahead for 55-64 year olds.

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1997 general election

media

the sun - rupert murdoch backed labour
the times decreased conservative support
1992 labour defeat blamed on media bias

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1997 general election

opposition: cash for questions affair

2 conservative MPs accepeted payments for lobbying
- 1 resigned, Neil Hamilton and Ian Greer sought to clear their names in court prolonging the scandal
-

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1997 general election

oppostion: campaign and divisions

conservative divisions over EU relationship
‘going back to basics’ campaign
traditional family values

1997 general election

spin doctors

alaister campbell and other journalists ensured media stories conveyed a targeted message in favour of labour
labour managed the media and political stories much more effectively than conservtives

1997 general election

outcome

conservatives lost more than half their MPs
Labour won 418 seats
conservatives won 165 seats
Lib Dems won 46 seats
landslide victory, but the lowest turnout since 1935 (71%)

1997 general election

policy: labour pledge cards

cut class sizes to 30 for 5-7 year olds
fast track punishment for persistent young offenders
cut nhs waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first steo
no rise on income tax

1997 general election

policy: conservatives

reducing role of the state
didnt reflect uk valuest
tax allowance to encourage nuclear families - where a anon working partner could give tax free allowance to working spouse

2017 General Election

campaign techniques labour

improving the nhs mostly
although:
labour was totally divided. Especially over suspicions that corbyn was a secret brexiteer.
cabinet was very left wing, so his manifesto suited them well
corbyn seen as unelectable by the moderates

# Campaign techniques what were labour's approval ratings after Thereasa May took over

- when thereasa may became MP, corbyn's net approval ratings were -42 - a month after the elections, July 2017, Labour were a couple % points ahead of the conservative polls -

# campaign techniques 2017 campaign techniques 2017 conservatives - image - initially, then after campaigning?

- initially a strong leader in may - she was presented as a safe pair of hands for brexit - net satisfaction dropped when she started campaigning, it seemed highly controlled and she refused to join debates - she seemed to struggle to change the party's image, and was reluctant to engage with the public - 33.7% of conservative tweets related to EU and terrorism

# campaign techniques 2017 campaign techniques 2017 liberal democrats

campaigned most over staying in the EU

# campaign techniques 2017 campaign techniques 2017 green

protecting the environemnt

# campaign techniques 2017 campaign techniques 2017 UKIP

leaving the EU

# role of the media 2017 role of the media 2017 conservatives

thereasa may refused to take part in tv debates. Home secretary amber rudd once sent to speak on her behalf.

# role of the media 2017 role of the media 2017 labour

hostile towards corbyn - with the exception of the daily mirror - social media loved corbyn, because of young voters - attacks on corbyn from the sun actually boosted approval ratings - the guardian even proposed tactically anti-tory voting (lib dems/greens)

# outcome 2017 outcome 2017

- conservatives won 317 seats and 42.3% of the vote - labour won 262 seats and 40% of the vote - liberal democrats won 12 seats and 7.4% of the vote

# opinion polls 2017 opinion polls 2017 conservative

- showed conservatives winning comofrtably, which was incorrect - so, some conservative voters may have riskily voted for a smaller party or not at all.

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 age

- 66% of 18-19 year olds voted labour - 57% of 18-19 year olds - 84% of 70+ year olds

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 region

- conservatives gained lots of UKIP votes in the north east - followed expected lines though mostly - the SNP lost seats to conservatives and labour

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 employment

- conservatives 39 points ahead among retirees

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 class

- class not really a good indicator anymore - labour 4% behind among ABC1 voters - did best among DE voters - conservatives did best among C2 voters

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 gender

- women slightly leaning conservative, but not a major tell

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 ethnicity

- 65% of ethnic minority voters voted labour - this is part of a long-term trend

# voting behaviour 2017 voting behaviour 2017 education

support for conservatives decreased the more educated a voter was - low education qualifications - 22% led by conservatives (GCSE or equivalent) - high education qualifications (degree or equivalent) - 17% led labour

# impact of party policies on the outcome 2017 party policies conservatives

- means tested winter fuel payments - new grammar schools - bringing back fox hunting - removing free school meals - dementia tax

# impact of party policies on the outcome 2017 impact of party policies on the outcome conservatives

welathier pensioners who usually voted conservative reacted negatively to the dementia tax - because it meant someone suffering from alzheimer's caused a bigger need for social care and would therefore be disadvantaged when passing their home to their children

# 2017 party policies labour

- £250b infrastructure investment - 4 new bank holidays - minimum wage to £10 by 2020 - scrap student tuition fees - 50p tax rate for those earning over £123,00

# impact of party policies on the outcome impact of party policies on the outcome labour

public liked the policies, despite the medias negative coverage. - there was a slight concern over where the money would come from, but these fears were settled by labour releasing a costing document explaining lots of the policies would simply pay for themselves.