voting behaviour Flashcards
traditionally how does class AB vote
right wing
conservatives
traditionally how does class DE vote
left wing
favoured Labour
traditionally how does class C1 or C2 vote
unpredictable
swing/ floating voter
Why was class strongly linked with voting trends?
voting was a part of a persons identity
lab and cons developed strong roots within communities so there was a strong culture of voting for YOUR party
personal reasons- which party was perceived to be able to help your class?
partisan/class dealignment
decline in the number of people voting according to their social class
when did partisan dealignment begin?
1970’s
example of partisan dealignment (1987)
42% of c2 voters supported cons and only 35% for labour
percent of population who are AB
22.17%
percent of population who are DE
26.05%
percent of population who are C1
30.84%
percent of population who are C2
20.94%
what evidence is there that voting on the basis of class has declined?
(labour GE results for DE)
percentage of DE voting for labour dropping massively in recent years
1964- 64%
2019- 39%
what evidence is there that voting on the basis of class has declined?
(cons GE results for AB)
AB voters voting for conservatives are dropping
1964- 78%
2019- 45%
does social class still matter in UK elections?
(yes)
taxation and benefits
(de vote labour bc of this)
north/south UK divide
does social class still matter in UK elections?
(no)
social groups fluctuate as there is greater access to university .
for a party to be successful they must appeal to many classes not just one
major issues such as BREXIT and IMMIGRATION cross party lines
only 39% of DE voted labour in 2019 and there has been a huge decline since 1964
when is the labour to conservative crossover age
39
does gender affect voting behaviour?
(yes)
tailored strategies towards women
- Labour 2017 pledge to conduct gender impact assessment
- Gordon Brown cultivating soft news and appearing on women’s magazines
- Pledge to increase female MP’s (Tony Blair)
1970’s ‘housewives party’
conservatives
in order to get women to vote cons they pledges to:
- keep prices low to allow mothers to run a household effectively
- Thatcher emphasised this
does gender affect how a person votes?
(no)
too large of a social group to make effective explanations
simply looking at gender as an issue hides other vast social differences
does region affect how a person votes? (yes)
scotland is heavily SNP
north of england is LABOUR
south of england is CONS
does region affect how a person votes? (no)
in 2019 general election- a number of traditional labour seats in north england voted for CONSERVATIVES due to BREXIT
2019 GE
percentage of votes for CONS in SOUTHEAST of england
54.2% conservatives
2019 GE
percentage of votes for LABOUR in SOUTHEAST of england
22.1% labour
2019 GE
percentage of votes in LONDON for cons and labour
cons- 32%
labour- 48.1%
2019 GE
percentage of voters in SCOTLAND that when towards SNP, CONS, and LABOUR
SNP- 45%
CONS- 25.1%
LABOUR- 18.6%
why is region still considered an important aspect in voting behaviour?
it is a long term pattern
- safe seats
e.g labour campagins less in SE england as most areas are safe seats
(wasted money)
more likely to go campagin in marginal areas
