Voting Behaviour

Question 1

What are 5 long term VB factors?

Answer 1

Class, age, gender, region and ethnicity

Question 2

What are 6 short term VB factors?

Answer 2

party image, tactical voting, campaign/manifestos, party leader, valence and issue-based voting

Question 3

What were the results of the 1979 GE?

Answer 3

Turnout - 79%
Con 43.9% votes, 53% seats
Lab 36.9% voted, 42% seats
Thatcher won 43 seat majority

Question 4

Who were the leaders of the main parties in 1979?

Answer 4

Con - Margret Thatcher (339 seats)
Lab - James Callaghan (269 seats)

Question 5

How did age affect VB in 1979?

Answer 5

18-24: 42% Con, 41% Lab
Under 25s: 70.1% turnout
Unusual Con majority, arguably won more younger votes from Lab

Question 6

How did media affect VB in 1979?

Answer 6

Con - had photo opportunities, Saatchi&Saatchi created ‘Labour isn’t working’
Lab - ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ (The Sun)

Question 7

What were the results of 1992?

Answer 7

Turnout: 77.7%
Con: 336 seats, 41.9% votes
Lab: 271 seats, 34.4% votes
John Major won with 7.6% lead

Question 8

Who were the leader of the main parties in 1992

Answer 8

Con - John Major
Lab - Neil Kinnock
Con won with 7.6% lead

Question 9

How did age affect VB in 1992?

Answer 9

18-24: 38% Lab and 63% turnout
65+: 48% Con and 83% turnout
All age groups had Con majority except 18-24

Question 10

How did class affect VB in 1992?

Answer 10

AB: 56% Con and 83% turnout
DE: 49% Lab and 70% turnout
Electorate aligned with party due to class

Question 11

How did the media affect VB in 1992?

Answer 11

‘The last person to leave if Kinnock wins, turn out the lights’ (The Sun)
‘Its The Sun wot won it’
Overwhelmingly negative towards Lab
‘Meet John Major’ and soapbox incident gave him ‘honest John’ reputation

Question 12

How did valence affect VB in 1979?

Answer 12

Callaghan - Unions refused 5% payrise, Motion of No Confidence passed after Winter of Discontent with 311-310
5.9% unemployment rate Oct 1978

Question 13

How did the opinion polls affect VB in 1979?

Answer 13

Steady Con lead, from 3% - 13%, could have encouraged tactical voting from entrenched two party system

Question 14

How did valence affect VB in 1992?

Answer 14

WC let down by unemployment rates but Con had experience with economy compared to ‘high tax and spend’ Lab
2.5 million at start of 1992

Question 15

How did campaign affect VB in 1992?

Answer 15

NHS central theme, ‘Jennifers Ear’ from Lab and ‘Labour’s Tax Bombshell’ from Con (inc tax by £1000)
Con- stability and trust emerging from Cold War
Lab - explained all costs to avoid reputation

Question 16

How did opinion polls affect VB in 1992?

Answer 16

famously wrong, predicted 1-5% Lab lead, reality 7.6% Con lead. forgone conclusion and/ or ‘shy tories’

Question 17

How did party image/unity affect VB in 1992

Answer 17

Kinnock reformed party to be more centrist but Lab could not decide issue of electoral reform

Con had internal conflicts over EU but clearly opposed proportional systems

Question 18

What were the results of 1997 GE?

Answer 18

Turnout: 71.4%
Lab - 418 seats, 43.2% votes
Con - 165 seats, 30.7% votes
Lab 12.5% seats, landslide victory

Question 19

Who were the main leaders in 1997?

Answer 19

Tony Blair (Lab) - Won 12.5% lead
John Major (Con)

Question 20

How did class affect VB in 1997?

Answer 20

AB - 41% Con
DE - 59% Lab
Some impact but not significant