Voting Behaviour and the Media Flashcards
Class based voting - until 1970s
Labour - mostly working class
Conservative - mostly middle and upper class
LibDems - middle class
AB class
AB class - upper class and upper middle
from A - aristocracy to judges, company executives
to B - other professionals e.g. doctors, lawyers, teachers
C1 and C2 class
C1 - lower middle class e.g. secretaries, general office workers, sales people
C2 - skilled working class e.g. plumbers, electricians, builders, mechanics etc
DE class
unskilled working class e.g. factory workers, manual labourers, farm workers, cleaners and the unemployed
What is the name given to the the less distinct identification with class?
class dealignment
Why has there been class dealignment?
social mobility which means people born into working class families now more likely to get an education and go to university therefore getting better paid jobs and become middle class
What has been the result of class dealignment?
partisan dealignment
people are less likely to be expected to vote in a certain way
Give an example of a group in society who hold radically left views.
‘Champagne socialists’ Hampstead chatterati’
living in Hampstead/Camden
radical left wing views
educated
people with a social conscious
Name given to working class east end Londoners moving to Essex and Kent - what is their voting behaviour?
Essex man / Essex woman
C2 voters
started to vote Tory
many worked in trade/became self made business owners
What was the link between class and voting in 2019?
class is less important than it used to be
due to Brexit and corbyn factor
Political disillusion meaning
the feeling that all parties are all the same and that no matter who you vote for there will be no significant change
How have the nature of politicians changed?
- more likely to come from political backgrounds and paths
- never really worked outside of politics
- criticised for living in a ‘political bubble’ where they don’t know what the real world is
- most come from Russell Group universities
- previously there were more characters in politics and politicians went into politics after having a prior career
How does the changing nature of politicians affect voting?
- general public less appealed by their prestige and ignorance
- criticised for not having a sense for what the real world is like
How does governing competency affect voting choice?
- voters as consumers look at what parties actually have to offer
- voters can then pass judgement on the competency of a government
How far does gender affect voting?
- traditionally women were more likely to vote Tory and men were more likely to vote Labour because they went into the workplace
- no longer the case as there is not much of a gender gap in how they vote (women slightly more likely to vote Labour)
How far does age affect voting?
obvious generational gap between millennials and gen z
Older Voters
- more assets, probably paid off mortgage, triple lock pension so more likely to vote Conservative
- the older someone is the more conservative they get as they are nostalgic of the past and favour tradition
What is triple lock pension?
triple lock pension protects the income that retirees receive through the state pension from inflation
Younger Voters
- more likely to be educated and therefore more likely to vote Labour
- social media creating polarisation, adopting radical views and desiring change
- live in a more multicultural society open to other views/opinions through the media
How does newspaper readership affect voting?
- newspaper readership tend to reinforce readers’ biases rather than influence voters to vote a certain way
- people who read newspapers tend to be older and more likely to vote
Left wing newspapers
Mirror
Independent
Guardian
Right wing newspapers
Telegraph
Daily Mail
The Sun
The Times
How are ethnic minorities expected to vote?
overwhelmingly vote Labour
Ethnicity in Brexit referendum
large number of asian voters voted LEAVE
What effect does ethnicity have on voting behaviour?
ethnicity more so counts on a micro level than macro
largely depends on specific and independent issues
Conservatives in the 1979 General Election
Conservative won a 43 seat majority
Labour in the 1979 General Election
Labour lost 62 seats
Role of smaller parties in the 1979 General Election
Commons dominated by two major parties
little representation of smaller parties
Who became prime minister after 1979 General Election? What is the significance of their role?
Margaret Thatcher - first female PM
What did the 1979 General Election mark the beginning of?
18 consecutive years of Conservative government
What was the turnout for the 1979 General Election?
76%
How did Thatcher tempt more women to vote Tory in the 1979 General Election?
her attempt to become the ‘housewives friend’ with focusing on food prices
C2 voters in 1979 General Election
Conservatives managed to win 41% of C2 votes
(up from 21%in 1974)
