Voting behaviour: dealignment Flashcards
what symbol did new labour use
Mondeo man
what is mondeo man
‘Mondeo man’ was a symbol for voters with a working class
background who had improved their situation and now had
become middle class. If Labour is the party of the working class, working class
people who become wealthier may start considering voting
Conservative instead.
That inspired Labour to move more to the centre.
voting behaviour pre 1980s
British society used to be divided
along strict social class lines.
Election support for political parties
followed those class divisions:
Middle class 🡪 vote Conservative
Working class 🡪 vote Labour
voting behaviour since the 1980s
Since the 1980s those class divisions have
become smaller:
The distinctions between the classes
became blurred
It became easier to move from one class
to the other
Class determines our lives less
This has impact on voting:
More working class votes for Conservatives (e.g.
Thatcher)
More middle class votes for Labour (e.g. Blair)
Class doesn’t determine voting as much
class dealignment
The link between social class and
voting has become less strong. Social class is no longer
the dominant voting behaviour factor
partisan dealignment
voters are becoming less loyal to
one particular party, but increasingly become ‘floating
voters’ switching parties
In 1955 96% of voters voted for Labour
or Conservatives, 4% for other parties
In 2015 67% of voters voted for Labour
or Conservatives, 33% for other parties
floating voters
Voters changed from strongly identifying with
one party all their live, loyal to one party, to making up their mind every election more
independently, switching between parties
what do the trends since 1980s means for voting behaviour
This all means voting behaviour is less predictable.
what is stability
Voters vote for the same party every election; no big shifts in election results
what is volatility
Voters are unpredictable, make up their minds every time, shift from one party to the next
example of the red wall breaking
Conservatives took rother valley in 2019 from labour for the first time since the constituency’s 102-year history
