Social Factors: Region

Question 1

Region voting

Labour and Conservatives

Answer 1

There is a voting bias among regions

Conservative:
- Dominant in South England - especially rural and suburban areas. Slightly less in the England Midlines.

Labour:
- Strong local roots in Northern England.
- Previously, Wales wasn’t dominated by one party but Labour began to lead after 2015.
- Scotland moved from a Labour stronghold (2000) to be dominated by the SNP (2017) - became a three party contest.

Question 2

Region Voting

Liberal Democrats, N.I and the SNP

Answer 2

• Liberal Democrats = little support outside of London and South England.
• Northern Ireland = Own culture and parties means that major English parties don’t compete there.
• SNP = dominates in Scotland after Labour had a stronghold before 2017.

Question 3

Region voting in 2015 general elections

Answer 3

+ N. England = 30.7% (C), 43% (L), 6.4% (Lib Dems)
+ S. England = 45.7% (C), 25.5% (L), 9.9% (Lib Dems)
+ London = 34.9% (C), 43.7% (L), 7.7% (Lib Dems)
+ Scotland = 14.9% (C), 24.3% (L), 50.0 (SNP)

Question 4

Region voting in 2017 general elections

Answer 4

+ N. England = 37% (C), 53% (L), 5% (Lib Dems)
+ S. England = 54% (C), 29% (L), 11% (Lib Dems)
+ London = 33% (C), 55% (L), 9% (Lib Dems)
+ Scotland = 29% (C), 27% (L), 37% (SNP).

Question 5

Brexit - voting in 2019

Answer 5

• The pro-Brexit Conservatives performed better in leave areas compared to remain areas.
• Labour, while performing poorly overall in 2019, did far worse in Leave-voting constituencies.
• Liberal Democrats, who voted to ‘Stop Brexit’, performed better in remain constituencies in Leave constituencies.

Question 6

Issues of regional voting

Answer 6

• Regional variations are real - but it traces back to economic influences = wealth, income and prosperity aren’t evenly distributed in the UK.
• More depressed and declining areas in Northern England, Wales and Scotland (SNP takes advantage of this) compared to the wealthy South England.