Voting behaviour essay plan
Argument: Media mainly entrenches opinions + perpetuates rather than influence + change.
Government competency is subjective to each opinion, demographics, and class (to an extent) are
the most strongly correlated with voting behaviour (especially bc each policy is directed towards a
specific demographic)
Class
Labour affiliations with trade unions + working class historically “blue collar, white collar”
Become more complex with labour appealing to university intellectuals and conservatives
attracting patriotic working class, many of whom are monarchists and Brexiters
More affluent society – working class seek middle class lifestyle
Patterns still found…
Class correlation: 1979 – even though conservative support increased among all classes, still
much lower in C2 and DE than AB
Wealthy are more likely to vote – 2010: 74% homeowners voted, only 55% of those in social
housing (more to lose)
Demographics
Gender: 1940-80s Labours strong association with male dominated trade unions gave
conservatives the opportunity to appeal to women with “family values” e.g. 1959 Harold
Macmillan “conservative vote is a vote for a happy family life”
Ethnicity: 2017 – only 5 of 75 most diverse voted tory bc appear hostile to immigrants e.g.
Enoch Powell rivers of blood speech, Windrush scandal
Religion: 2017 – Muslims 37% Labour, 7% Conservative, partly due to Islamophobia,
offensive comments e.g. Burkas “Letterboxes”
Age: Strong link to wealth (more money to protect = tory low taxes bc less progressive),
Labour invest in youth problems, education and reducing youth unemployment
Government competency
Very subjective: rightwingers often focus on defence and austerity, younger voters care
more about unemployment, education
Effect is reliant on demographics
1997 Labour win example
Divisions over EU
Sex scandals
1992 Abandoned European exchange rate mechanism - Black Wednesday – damaged
economy, dramatic rise in interest rates hit mortgage owners
Slow response to mad cow disease
Media
Media/campaign is unimportant: 1997 – Labours support in polls failed to grow throughout
campaign + extensive media coverage (minds had already been made up)
People choose the media they consume, often to justify and affirm their political stance
Guardian reader age 48, Telegraph reader age 61
Argument: Media mainly entrenches opinions + perpetuates rather than influence + change.
Government competency is subjective to each opinion, demographics, and class (to an extent) are
the most strongly correlated with voting behaviour (especially bc each policy is directed towards a
specific demographic)
Class
Labour affiliations with trade unions + working class historically “blue collar, white collar”
Become more complex with labour appealing to university intellectuals and conservatives
attracting patriotic working class, many of whom are monarchists and Brexiters
More affluent society – working class seek middle class lifestyle
Patterns still found…
Class correlation: 1979 – even though conservative support increased among all classes, still
much lower in C2 and DE than AB
Wealthy are more likely to vote – 2010: 74% homeowners voted, only 55% of those in social
housing (more to lose)
Demographics
Gender: 1940-80s Labours strong association with male dominated trade unions gave
conservatives the opportunity to appeal to women with “family values” e.g. 1959 Harold
Macmillan “conservative vote is a vote for a happy family life”
Ethnicity: 2017 – only 5 of 75 most diverse voted tory bc appear hostile to immigrants e.g.
Enoch Powell rivers of blood speech, Windrush scandal
Religion: 2017 – Muslims 37% Labour, 7% Conservative, partly due to Islamophobia,
offensive comments e.g. Burkas “Letterboxes”
Age: Strong link to wealth (more money to protect = tory low taxes bc less progressive),
Labour invest in youth problems, education and reducing youth unemployment
Government competency
Very subjective: rightwingers often focus on defence and austerity, younger voters care
more about unemployment, education
Effect is reliant on demographics
1997 Labour win example
Divisions over EU
Sex scandals
1992 Abandoned European exchange rate mechanism - Black Wednesday – damaged
economy, dramatic rise in interest rates hit mortgage owners
Slow response to mad cow disease
Media
Media/campaign is unimportant: 1997 – Labours support in polls failed to grow throughout
campaign + extensive media coverage (minds had already been made up)
People choose the media they consume, often to justify and affirm their political stance
Guardian reader age 48, Telegraph reader age 61
