Evaluate the view that class is the most important social factor in explaining voting behaviour. Flashcards Preview
Introduction - Themes
Class
Ethnicity
Age
Introduction - Argument
Traditionally class was the most important factor in explaining voting behavoir and it be used to understand the political direction of Labour and the Conservatives, however, it is second to age. Therefore, it is an important social factor, but not the most important
Social Class - Disagree - Point
There is no doubt that class is an important predictor of how someone is going to vote. There are long standing trends which illustrate this, and the policies of each party also show this
Social Class - Disagree - Examples
The AB class in 2017 voted 43% in favour of the Conservatives and the DE class voted 59% in favour of Labour
The Conservatives place much more emphasis on business and low tax, while the Labour Party highlight higher taxes and social welfare
Social Class - Agree - Examples
The 2019 general election reversed the trends - both the AB and DE social class voted in favour of the Conservatives with only a 4% difference in numbers
Boris Johnson’s hardline of ‘Get Brexit Done; appealed to Red Wall voters who for the most part voted to leave the EU
Social Class - Agree - Point
Class dealignment has become more pominent with the decline in the traditional working class - this has meant that social class has become a weaker factor
Ethnicity - Disagree - Point
There are strong trends that if you are a member of an ethnic minority, you are much more likely to vote Labour, a lot stronger than social class
Ethnicity - Disagree - Examples
In 2019, 64% of those belonging to an ethnic minority voted Labour compared to just 20% for the Conservatives
The Conservatives have a historic rhetoric of opposing immigration - this can be seen in Sunak’s recent Illegal Immigration Bill
Ethnicity - Agree - Point
Ethnicity and class are factors which are closely linked. This means that while ethnicity is an important factor explaining voting behaviour - it is not more important than class
Ethnicity - Agree - Examples
The proportion of ethnic minorities in the C2 and DE social classes is greater than the proportion of white people in these classes.
There has been a growth in ethnic minorities voting Conservative in recent years, with the percentage increasing 7% between 2010 and 2015
Age - Disagree - Point
Age never used to be a factor of particular concern as trends indicated that social class was a much stronger indicator of how a person would vote
Age - Disagree - Examples
In the 1979 general election, in the 18-24 age group the likelihood of voting Conservative or Labour was about the same - 42% and 41% respectively
Social class appears much more prevelant - in the 1987 general election, 53% of DE class voted Labour, while 57% of the AB class voted Conservative
Age - Agree - Examples
The trend is that for every 10 years old a person is, the likelihood to vote Conservative increases by 9 points. In 2019, Corbyn only won the 18-24 age group
In 2015, Ed Miliban pledged to scrap university fees and the Conservatives focused on pensions