The 2019 General Election
Overview
The 2019 general election, which was
called due to Boris Johnson and the
Conservative’s Party weak position in the
House of Commons and the introduction
of the ‘Early Parliamentary General
Election Bill’ (a way to call the election
without needing support from 2/3s of MPs
Boris Johnson driving a JCB digger with the slogan ‘Get
as in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act), Brexit Done’
resulted in a Conservative victory. The
Conservatives won 365 seats (48 more campaign, Labour were concerned that
than in 2017) and gained a majority. They they had focused to heavily and swung
won 43.6% of the popular vote. In too far towards the Remain position and
comparison, Labour only won 202 seats so switched its focus to gaining support of
(down from 262) and 32.1% of the vote. Leave-supporting seats. This was
unsuccessful. This lack of clarity on what
Campaigns was a pivotal factor in the election on top
The Conservative Party’s campaign was of Jeremy Corbyn himself made the
tightly disciplined. It focused on the central Labour campaign largely unsuccessful.
message of ‘Get Brexit Done’. Boris Many people did not like Corbyn due to
Johnson even symbolised the his alleged past links to terrorist groups
parliamentary ‘Brexit gridlock’ by driving a and his failure to deal with anti-Semitism.
JCB digger through a polystyrene wall.
Despite this, Johnson can be said to have Furthermore, the funding received by both
played it safe in terms of his campaign. parties would have impacted the success
There was one event in which Johnson of their campaigns. The Conservatives
mishandled a journalist who tried to get secured £19.5 million in financial
him to look at photos of a young boy donations as opposed to Labour’s £5.1
sleeping on the floor of a hospital. After million.
this, Labour tried to draw focus to
underfunding in the NHS. However, this Media
did not have a large impact on Johnson or Similarly to 2017, the majority of the press
the success of his campaign. supported the Conservatives. However,
Johnson did come into conflict with the
Labour’s campaign was significantly less broadcasters. He claimed that there was
successful due to the lack of clarity - bias adrer Channel 4 replaced him with a
particularly on their views towards Brexit. melting ice sculpture after he refused to
Corbyn eventually declared that in a take part in a debate on the topic of
second referendum he would remain climate change. Televised debates were
neutral. This did not really garner the held both by the BBC and ITV. Neither
support of people on either side of the leader gained a huge advantage over the
Brexit debate. In the last stages of the other but Johnson was favoured in the
polls by 52% to Corbyn’s 48%.
Social Media was also a massive part of
the 2019 election campaigns. This was
Overview
The 2019 general election, which was
called due to Boris Johnson and the
Conservative’s Party weak position in the
House of Commons and the introduction
of the ‘Early Parliamentary General
Election Bill’ (a way to call the election
without needing support from 2/3s of MPs
Boris Johnson driving a JCB digger with the slogan ‘Get
as in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act), Brexit Done’
resulted in a Conservative victory. The
Conservatives won 365 seats (48 more campaign, Labour were concerned that
than in 2017) and gained a majority. They they had focused to heavily and swung
won 43.6% of the popular vote. In too far towards the Remain position and
comparison, Labour only won 202 seats so switched its focus to gaining support of
(down from 262) and 32.1% of the vote. Leave-supporting seats. This was
unsuccessful. This lack of clarity on what
Campaigns was a pivotal factor in the election on top
The Conservative Party’s campaign was of Jeremy Corbyn himself made the
tightly disciplined. It focused on the central Labour campaign largely unsuccessful.
message of ‘Get Brexit Done’. Boris Many people did not like Corbyn due to
Johnson even symbolised the his alleged past links to terrorist groups
parliamentary ‘Brexit gridlock’ by driving a and his failure to deal with anti-Semitism.
JCB digger through a polystyrene wall.
Despite this, Johnson can be said to have Furthermore, the funding received by both
played it safe in terms of his campaign. parties would have impacted the success
There was one event in which Johnson of their campaigns. The Conservatives
mishandled a journalist who tried to get secured £19.5 million in financial
him to look at photos of a young boy donations as opposed to Labour’s £5.1
sleeping on the floor of a hospital. After million.
this, Labour tried to draw focus to
underfunding in the NHS. However, this Media
did not have a large impact on Johnson or Similarly to 2017, the majority of the press
the success of his campaign. supported the Conservatives. However,
Johnson did come into conflict with the
Labour’s campaign was significantly less broadcasters. He claimed that there was
successful due to the lack of clarity - bias adrer Channel 4 replaced him with a
particularly on their views towards Brexit. melting ice sculpture after he refused to
Corbyn eventually declared that in a take part in a debate on the topic of
second referendum he would remain climate change. Televised debates were
neutral. This did not really garner the held both by the BBC and ITV. Neither
support of people on either side of the leader gained a huge advantage over the
Brexit debate. In the last stages of the other but Johnson was favoured in the
polls by 52% to Corbyn’s 48%.
Social Media was also a massive part of
the 2019 election campaigns. This was
