4.1 Case studies of three key general elections.

How Class And Social Status Used To Be Key To Determining GE Results

• Up until the early 1970s voting behaviour was strongly influenced by class and social status.

  • The majority of the working class voted for Labour Party, which was strongly associated with trade union movement and traditional ‘blue collar’ industries such as coal, steel and textiles.

  • the majority of the upper and middle classes voted for the Conservative Party including ‘white collar’ workers including non-manual workers, business people and property owners.

• Class voting was strongly influenced by self interest, with each party defined by protecting and representing different classes.

  • That said, it was never so clear cuts s the Tories always had a section of ‘deferential’ patriotic working class support and Labour some middle class support, especially those who worked in the state sector.

Clay Dealignment

• Since the 1970s class dealignment has occurred, where class began to lose its importance as a determinant of voting behaviour.

  • Thatcher was able to win three consecutive actions for the Conservative Party by attracting a significant working class support.

  • Blair was able to then win three consecutive elections for the Labour Party by attracting significant middle class support.

• This was influenced by (1) society and the economy changing, with increasing affluence, declining importance of traditional blue collar industries and less pronounced differences between the classes and (2) the parties changing their policies to try to appeal to all classes so that they could win elections.

• For some voters, class remains important in determining their identity and how they vote in GEs, though.

How There Used To Be High Partisanship

Partisan Dealignment And Apathy