1
Q
What is the introduction?
A
- This essay will discuss why age is the most crucial factor in voting behaviour, compared to other factors such as Geography and Social Class.
2
Q
What is the first influence on Voting Behaviour?
A
- One influence on Voting Behaviour is Age.
3
Q
What is the first Age Point?
A
- If you are younger, you may tend to be idealistic and more left-wing, which means young people are more likely to vote for Labour.
- In contrast, if you are older, you may be more realistic, grounded, and more right-wing, which means older people are more likely to vote Conservative.
4
Q
What is the first example for the first Age point?
A
- For example, a 2019 survey from YouGov shows that for every decade that you are alive the chance you to vote Conservative rises by 9%, with the Labour/Conservative cross-over at 39 years old.
5
Q
What is the first analysis for the first Age point?
A
- This proves the previous point, that depending on your age, this will determine which way you vote.
- Still, it also emphasises that the age groups are different, and have different beliefs, morals and attitudes, which can make them vote on either side which supports that.
6
Q
What is another point about Age and Voting Behaviour?
A
- In addition, both age groups may vote due to their economic self-interest.
7
Q
What do younger voters tend to want?
A
- Younger voters may tend to go to university, and as Labour can help support this goal, they may want to vote for that party.
8
Q
What is the example for the second point on Age?
A
- For example, one of the main Labour policies is to abolish tuition fees in England, and in 2017 they got most of the university constituencies’ votes, which they had not done before since 1914.
9
Q
What is the analysis to the second point on Age?
A
- This shows that younger people are more interested in what benefits them, which can influence how they vote if parties offer things that are tailored to them.
10
Q
What do older voters tend to want?
A
- On the other hand, Conservative voters are older, meaning they have settled down with children, and are more interested in being taxed less or more of a pay-rise in their job.
11
Q
What is the example of Older Voters in the third Age point?
A
- For example, in October 2022 a Conservative Treasury minister and one of Liz Truss’s major campaign donors, said they would like to abolish inheritance tax.
12
Q
What is the analysis of the third point on Age?
A
- This emphasises that older voters would rather focus on things that are more tailed to their economic self-interest and that if a party can support this, they are more likely to vote for them.
13
Q
What is a second factor which influences Voting Behaviour?
A
- Another factor that influences voting behaviour is Social Class.
14
Q
Why is Social Class important, and what are ABC1s?
A
- This is important because traditionally, Social Class dominated voting behaviour for most of the 20th century, this is because ABC1s, which are doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, and detectives which are mainly upper-class professions, voted Conservative.
15
Q
What are C2s and DEs?
A
- In contrast, C2s which are skilled working class with jobs such as Joiners, Plumbers, and Electricians and DEs which are unskilled working class with jobs such as Shop Assistants and Cleaners, these all voted Labour.
16
Q
How is Social Class less important?
A
- However, this changed in recent years as Social Class is declining in importance. This is because now, many of the floating voters are C2s, and they vote depending on what issues are prominent before/during a General Election.
17
Q
What is the example to prove class isn’t as important?
A
- For example, 47% voted Conservative compared to 40% Labour in 2017 and 2019 when 49% voted Conservative and 31% voted Labour.
18
Q
What is the analysis for social class?
A
- This shows that more people in the working class are not voting for their traditional social class, and more are voting Conservative, which introduces the idea of: are parties doing enough for what classes they were traditionally aimed to?
19
Q
How is the point of Social Class expanded?
A
- Furthermore, this is expanded as more DEs are voting Conservative, compared to their traditional Labour roots.
- Adding on to this, ABC1s are voting for Labour more than ever.
20
Q
What is the second example of Social Class?
A
- For example, IPSOS Mori, which is a reliable survey site, after the 2017 Election told; “The middle classes swung to Labour while working classes swung to the Conservatives.”
21
Q
What does this second piece of evidence about Social Class show?
A
- This shows that Social Class is not the most key factor as it was before, as it is declining in relevance as more voters are contrasting to their earlier roots.
22
Q
What is the overall conclusion about Social Class?
A
- Overall, age is more important than social class.
- This is because as class becomes less relevant in voting behaviour and more people are straying from their traditional social classes, voting behaviour becomes harder to predict this way, and is not a reliable source.
- This is contrasted with age, as there is a clear link between how old you are, your values, morals, interests and what party you may vote for, which makes Age a more necessary and reliable factor in what influences voting behaviour.
23
Q
What is the final factor which influences Voting Behaviour?
A
- A final factor which influences Voting Behaviour is Geography.
24
Q
What is the P for Geography?
A
- Depending on where you live can influence how you vote. In the UK, there is a constant rural/urban divide, as urban regions tend to favour Labour and rural areas favour Conservative.
25
What is the example for Geography?
- For example, in the North of England which has more urban areas, in the 2019 Election, 89 constituencies voted Labour compared to 78 constituencies which voted Conservative. In the South of England, where there are more rural areas, 143 constituencies voted Conservative compared to 63 constituencies voting Labour.
26
What does the evidence for Geography show to us?
- This shows that there is a prominent North and South divide in the UK and that where you live and what issues you face in your city/town can determine what way you vote.
27
What is the counter-argument against Geography?
- However, this rural/urban divide may not necessarily be the deciding factor for voting behaviour compared to Age.
- This is because rural and urban areas change their votes quite frequently.
28
What is the counter-argument evidence for Geography?
- For example, in the 2017 General Election, Bishop Auckland had the majority (48.1%) to vote Labour, compared to its General Election Results in 2019 where the area turned Conservative.
29
What does the counter-arguments evidence show (A)
- This shows that rural areas like Bishop Auckland are not stuck to just one party and that it is constantly changing, which makes Geography a weaker and more unreliable factor in voting behaviour.
30
How is Age a more consistent and reliable factor?
- Adding onto this, Age is a more consistent and reliable factor, this is because there will always be a constant older or younger age group, meaning that what party each age group favour is unlikely to change, making it more reliable than Geography.
31
What is the first part of the conclusion?
- In conclusion, age is the most influential factor in deciding to vote.
- This is because age can determine what issues you believe are most important, can determine your economic self-interest, values and morals.
32
Why is Age the most important factor in the conclusion?
- Although Social Class is important, it is constantly changing as people are not staying in their traditional parties, so it makes it harder for voting results to be predicted, meaning it does not influence voting behaviour as much as Age making it less important.
- Geography is important to voting behaviour, but as the north/south divide constantly changes, and age has more stability and significance, Geography is the weaker link.
Higher Modern Studies
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