Voting behaviour and the media ; 1997 gen elec

Question 1

gen elec results

Answer 1

labour gains 145 seats = 418 seats

conservatives lose 178 seats = 165 seats

Question 2

Sig of age in voting for labour?

Answer 2

nearly 50% of 18-34 yr olds voted lab

- but this has been a long term trend, just slightly enhanced by New labours inclusivity and successful campaign

Question 3

sig. of ethnicity in labours success in 1997 ?

Answer 3

82% black voters voted labour
- generally a long term trend so can be argued to be less sig than other factors such as weak opponent and radical change to labour policies through new labour.

Question 4

sig. of region for labour in 1997 gen elec ?

Answer 4

increase across majority of regions in terms of votes , however major increase in London , predominantly conservative , by 12% while cons lost vote share of 14%

Question 5

Who was Blairs press secretary and why important?

Answer 5

Alastair campbell- disciplined campaign successfully presenting tony blair as young, inspiring and optimistic

Question 6

was the press important to blair’s success in 1997?

Answer 6

Sun - good relations with Rupert Murdoch meant that Labour was presented to 4 million readers in good light however lab. already had a lead in the opinion polls Gathered by the BBC swith 47% lead in vote share, s o the Sun only reinforced labours lead over cons.

Question 7

How well did Labour do in the 1997 elec with class AB voters ?

Answer 7

Lab. did not gain a lead in AB class even though it’s share did increase to 31% but cons continue to keep lead with 41%.