Section 3: Voting Behaviour Flashcards
This essay will look at
age, social class and the media
Age (old) explain
This means the older a voter is, the more likely they are to vote for the Conservative Party.
Age (old) example
For example, 67% of voters aged 70+ cast their vote for the Conservatives at the 2019 election, whilst only 14% of that age group voted Labour. YouGov estimates that the chance of someone voting Conservative in 2019 increased by around nine points with every 10 years of age.
Age (young) explain
This means that the younger a voter is, the more likely they are to vote for the Labour Party.
Age (young) example
For example, evidence shows that 56% of the youngest cohort of voters (aged 18-24) voted Labour, and only 21% voted Conservative.
Social class (traditional) explain
factor that influences voting behaviour is Social Class. This means that, traditionally, people in higher Social Classes (Social Classes A and B) are more likely to vote for the Conservative Party whilst people in lower social classes (Social Classes D and E) are more likely to vote for the Labour Party.
Social class (traditional) example
For example, at the 2010 election (won by the Conservatives) AB voters were more likely to vote Conservative than Labour (37% to 28%) and DE voters were more likely to vote Labour than Conservative (48% to 25%).
Social class (current) explain
This means that, despite evidence suggesting that there was traditionally a pattern of class-based voting, Social Class has become an insignificant voting behaviour factor.
Social class (current) example
For example, at the 2019 election (which the Conservatives won) DE voters were significantly more likely to vote Conservative than Labour. 47% of DE voters supported the Conservatives party, and only 34% voted Labour.
Media is influential (explain)
This means that the media a voter is exposed to may influence them into voting for a particular party.
Media is influential (example)
For example, the political party with the most amount of newspapers supporting them normally win the general election e.g. in 2019 the Conservatives had the biggest share of support from daily newspapers.
Media isn’t influential explain
This is because the vast majority of readers are aware of newspaper bias and therefore don’t let this affect their voting intentions.
Media isn’t influential example
For example, it could be argued that people choose their party first and then buy the newspaper that matches. i.e. you buy the Sun because you already vote Conservative and you know the Sun supports your choice.
Conclusion
Age is most influential
Social class isn’t influential anymore
Media is slightly influential
