VOTING BEHAVIOURS
AND THE MEDIA
Keywords 3
Social Factors : CLASS 3
1970 3
1979 3
1997 3
2017 GE 3
2019 3
Education 3
2019 3
Social Factors: AGE 4
2014 Scottish Indy Ref 4
2015 GE 4
EU Referendum (2016) 4
2017 GE 4
2019 GE 4
‘For every 10 years older a voter is, 4
Social Factors: REGION 5
2015 GE 5
2017 GE 5
2019 GE & the ‘red wall’ 5
Social Factors: ETHNICITY 5
2017 GE 5
2019 GE 5
Social Factors: GENDER 5
Pandering Through Policy? 5
2017 GE 6
Non-social Factor : GOVERNING COMPETENCY 6
1959 GE 6
1979 GE 6
1983 GE 6
Non-social Factor : LEADERSHIP 6
1979 GE 6
1983 GE 7
1992 GE 7
2001 GE 7
, 2010 GE 7
2015 GE 7
Non-social Factor : CAMPAIGN 8
1983 GE 8
1992 GE 8
2017 GE 8
2019 GE - Conservatives 8
2019 GE - Labour 8
Non-social Factor : POLICY & MANIFESTO 9
1987 GE 9
1992 GE 9
2019 GE - Conservatives 9
2019 GE - Labour 9
2019 GE - Lib Dems 10
Role of MEDIA: DURING ELECTIONS 10
NEWSPAPERS 10
2010 GE 10
2017 GE 10
BROADCAST TV 10
2010 GE 10
2017 GE 10
OPINION POLLS 11
2015 GE 11
2017 GE 11
SOCIAL MEDIA 11
2017 GE 11
2019 GE 11
Role of MEDIA: IN BETWEEN ELECTIONS 12
NEWSPAPERS 12
BROADCAST TV 12
OPINION POLLS 12
SOCIAL MEDIA 13
KEY ELECTION CASE STUDIES 13
The 1979 Election - Conservative 13
The 1997 Election - Labour 14
The 2019 Election - Conservative 14
, Keywords
Class dealignment - voters don’t identify themselves with a certain class & do not vote for
the party that they are expected to vote for
● By 1983, proportions of trad class based voting fell from 65% to 47%
Partisan dealignment - voters no longer identify w/ party in the long term
● 1951 - Labour & Tories got 96% of the vote but only 65% in 2010
Valence - relative success or failure of a govt’s policy
Rational Choice Theory - idea that voters will look at policies and choose the party that is
most aligned with their preferences
Social Factors : CLASS
1970
Edward Heath won by appealing to issue based voting and getting all classes
● Won trad Labour seats w/ Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in 1968
1979
Thatcher launched campaign in Cardiff to disassociate the Tories from being too middle
class
● Promises to control inflation & combat trade unions appealed to lower & middle class
w/ an 11% swing of C2 and 9% swing of D/E voters
2017
Corbyn gained pro-EU AB votes while May gained pro-Brexit DE votes
2017 GE
47% of D/E voters chose Labour and 47% of A/B chose Tory.
● 40% of the overall electorate vote according to class
2019
Tories breaking ‘red wall’ w/ C2-DE voters more likely to vote for them
Education
2019
➔ 60% of degree holders likely to vote Labour or Lib-Dem & 29% voting Tory
➔ 61% of people with GCSE education or below likely to vote Tory or Brexit Party
AND THE MEDIA
Keywords 3
Social Factors : CLASS 3
1970 3
1979 3
1997 3
2017 GE 3
2019 3
Education 3
2019 3
Social Factors: AGE 4
2014 Scottish Indy Ref 4
2015 GE 4
EU Referendum (2016) 4
2017 GE 4
2019 GE 4
‘For every 10 years older a voter is, 4
Social Factors: REGION 5
2015 GE 5
2017 GE 5
2019 GE & the ‘red wall’ 5
Social Factors: ETHNICITY 5
2017 GE 5
2019 GE 5
Social Factors: GENDER 5
Pandering Through Policy? 5
2017 GE 6
Non-social Factor : GOVERNING COMPETENCY 6
1959 GE 6
1979 GE 6
1983 GE 6
Non-social Factor : LEADERSHIP 6
1979 GE 6
1983 GE 7
1992 GE 7
2001 GE 7
, 2010 GE 7
2015 GE 7
Non-social Factor : CAMPAIGN 8
1983 GE 8
1992 GE 8
2017 GE 8
2019 GE - Conservatives 8
2019 GE - Labour 8
Non-social Factor : POLICY & MANIFESTO 9
1987 GE 9
1992 GE 9
2019 GE - Conservatives 9
2019 GE - Labour 9
2019 GE - Lib Dems 10
Role of MEDIA: DURING ELECTIONS 10
NEWSPAPERS 10
2010 GE 10
2017 GE 10
BROADCAST TV 10
2010 GE 10
2017 GE 10
OPINION POLLS 11
2015 GE 11
2017 GE 11
SOCIAL MEDIA 11
2017 GE 11
2019 GE 11
Role of MEDIA: IN BETWEEN ELECTIONS 12
NEWSPAPERS 12
BROADCAST TV 12
OPINION POLLS 12
SOCIAL MEDIA 13
KEY ELECTION CASE STUDIES 13
The 1979 Election - Conservative 13
The 1997 Election - Labour 14
The 2019 Election - Conservative 14
, Keywords
Class dealignment - voters don’t identify themselves with a certain class & do not vote for
the party that they are expected to vote for
● By 1983, proportions of trad class based voting fell from 65% to 47%
Partisan dealignment - voters no longer identify w/ party in the long term
● 1951 - Labour & Tories got 96% of the vote but only 65% in 2010
Valence - relative success or failure of a govt’s policy
Rational Choice Theory - idea that voters will look at policies and choose the party that is
most aligned with their preferences
Social Factors : CLASS
1970
Edward Heath won by appealing to issue based voting and getting all classes
● Won trad Labour seats w/ Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in 1968
1979
Thatcher launched campaign in Cardiff to disassociate the Tories from being too middle
class
● Promises to control inflation & combat trade unions appealed to lower & middle class
w/ an 11% swing of C2 and 9% swing of D/E voters
2017
Corbyn gained pro-EU AB votes while May gained pro-Brexit DE votes
2017 GE
47% of D/E voters chose Labour and 47% of A/B chose Tory.
● 40% of the overall electorate vote according to class
2019
Tories breaking ‘red wall’ w/ C2-DE voters more likely to vote for them
Education
2019
➔ 60% of degree holders likely to vote Labour or Lib-Dem & 29% voting Tory
➔ 61% of people with GCSE education or below likely to vote Tory or Brexit Party
