Voting Behaviour Essay

Question 1

What are the factors for voting behaviour.

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is background information for voting behaviour.

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is your knowledge for age.

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What are examples for age.

Answer 4

• 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 5

What is your analysis for age.

Answer 5

• 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 6

What is your evaluation for age.

Answer 6

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 7

What is your knowledge for social class.

Answer 7

• 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 8

What are examples for social class.

Answer 8

• 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 9

What is your analysis for social class.

Answer 9

• 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 10

What is your evaluation for social class.

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What is your knowledge for media.

Answer 11

• 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 12

What are examples for media.

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What is your analysis for media.

Answer 13

• 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 14

What is your evaluation for media.

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is your knowledge for geographical location.

Answer 15

• 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 16

What is your analysis for geographical location.

Answer 16

• 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 17

What is your evaluation for geographical location.

Answer 17

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