Voting Behaviour Essay

Question 1

What is background information for voting behaviour.

Answer 1

• General Elections happen every 5 years
• The Prime Minister can call early elections for things such as a minority government

Question 2

What is your knowledge for age.

Answer 2

• Older people vote for Conservative and younger people vote for Labour

Question 3

What is your analysis for age.

Answer 3

• This is because older people have more individualist and conservative views while younger people have more collectivist and liberal views
• The election focus can effect a person voting intention

Question 4

What is your evaluation for age.

Answer 4

The most important factor as the youths grow up with these issues and new mindsets while older people can be less comfortable with change.

Question 5

What is your knowledge for social class.

Answer 5

• Every post war GE prior to 2017 have seen middle class (ABC1) vote Conservative while working class (C2DE) vote Labour
• Class dealignment is happening as social class based voting is declining

Question 6

What is your analysis for social class.

Answer 6

• Conservatives are more right wing and individualist while Labour are more left wing and collectivist
• the working class were against immigration during Brexit
• Conservatives were believed to have handled the country poorly and Labour have also become more centrist with Kier Starmer

Question 7

What is your evaluation for social class.

Answer 7

Previously the most important but the parties wider appeals are declining this.

Question 8

What is your knowledge for media.

Answer 8

• There is a clear link with newspaper endorsement and voting behaviours of newspaper readers
• The Sun is the largest newspaper in the UK and they always back to election winners
• In the last 11 GE’s, newspaper endorsement has been directly linked to the winner of the election

Question 9

What is your analysis for media.

Answer 9

• Newspaper readers will choose to read what support their already existing views
• The Sun knows the views and voting intentions of readers and so replicates this to increase their readership and therefore supporting the winner because of voting intention polls

Question 10

What is your evaluation for media.

Answer 10

Newspaper readership is continually decreasing and it is instead social media that is now more influential.

Question 10

What is your knowledge for geographical location.

Answer 10

• At successive GE’s, Wales and Northern England have voted for Labour while Southern England have voted Conservative
• English and Welsh cities vote Labour while rural areas vote Conservative
• Scots have voted for Labour in 15 of 18 GE’s, the other three being SNP during 2015/17/19

Question 10

What is your analysis for geographical location.

Answer 10

• There are collectivist views in Wales and Northern England which means Labour would benefit them best which is then the same for Southern England and Conservative
• The age in cities is lower due to students attending university, etc… and there are also more BAME individuals populated there
• There was an independence focus in the 2013/17/19 elections which gained SNP support but now it is lost again especially with Nicola Sturgeon resigning and her police investigation

Question 11

What is your evaluation for geographical location.

Answer 11

This links to other factors (age, ethnicity and social class) and so cannot be significant.

Question 12

What are the factors for voting behaviour.

Answer 12

1. Age
2. Social class
3. Media
4. Geographical Location

Question 13

What points could be talked about in age.

Answer 13

1. Older vs younger voting
2. Last 10 GE’s
3. Older vs younger views
4. Election focus
5. 2024 GE
6. Most important

Question 14

What points could be talked about in social class.

Answer 14

1. Post war GE’s
2. Party views
3. Class dealignment
4. 2017 election
5. Brexit
6. 2024 election
7. Conservative and Labour appeal
8. Decline

Question 14

What points could be talked about in media.

Answer 14

1. Clear link
2. Mail L, Mirror C
3. The Sun
4. Last 11 Ge’s
5. Reader choice
6. Reader polls
7. Readership decreasing

Question 15

What points could be talked about in geographical location.

Answer 15

1. W/NE vs SE
2. Collectivist so Labour
3. E/W cities vs rural
4. Identity in cities
5. Scots
6. Independence
7. Other factors

Question 16

What are your key words for age.

Answer 16

1. Older, younger
2. 18-24
3. Individualist and conservative, collectivist and liberal
4. 2024, immigration
5. Change

Question 17

What are your key words for social class.

Answer 17

1. Post war, 2017
2. Right wing and individualist, left wing and collectivist
3. Class dealignment
4. 2017/19
5. Brexit, immigration
6. 2024
7. Poor handling, centrist
8. Decline

Question 17

What are your key words for media.

Answer 17

1. Endorsement, voting
2. Mail, Mirror
3. Sun
4. Endorsement wins
5. Supports views
6. Replicates views and voting intentions
7. Readership deacreasing

Question 18

What are your key words for geographical location.

Answer 18

1. Successive
2. Labour benefits collectivist
3. Cities, rural
4. University, BAME
5. Independence, investigation
6. Other factors

Question 19

What are examples for age.

Answer 19

• In the last 10 GE’s, 18-24 year olds voted for Labour
• In the 2024 GE, older people voted for Conservative who were against immigration while younger people voted for Labour who were supportive of immigration

Question 20

What are examples for social class.

Answer 20

• In the 2017 and 2019 GE’s the Conservatives won more C2DE votes than Labour for the first time ever
• In the 2024 GE Labour won more ABC1 votes than the Conservatives for the first time ever

Question 21

What are examples for media.

Answer 21

• The readers of the Daily Mails vote for Labour while the readers of the Daily Mirror vote for Conservative