Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Furthermore, some of these factors play more important role than the other ones, and different voting campaigns show different tendencies. This paper will argue that such factors as age, gender, income, ethnicity and some others can influence voting behaviour in the United Kingdom, and that it is very important for sociologists, politicians and PR specialists to take into account the combination of these factors. 2. The most significant factors of voting behaviour in the United Kingdom are social class, geography, age and background, public opinion and media. Social class of voters is concerned as the most important factor: "When voting analysis began in 1945 it became clear that social class was the most important factor in the way people traditionally voted. People tended to vote according to their natural class" (Voting Behaviour). It is evident that upper and middle classes tend to vote Conservative, while upper and lower working class votes for Labour, but actually this tendency has changed - it is connected to the media activity and the politics of Conservative party which tries to attract the population of lower income, while the Labour party politics moves to the right.1 This tendency can also be explained by the changing of the population structure in the last half of the 20th century: "Since the 1970s, the number of manual workers has fallen from nearly 50% of the population to jus t 33%. This is because of the changes in employment patterns, educational opportunities and the rising standard of living" (Voting Behaviour). But in spite of that the factor of social class is still rather strong in British voting behavior. In addition to that, the household also plays very important role in voting pattern in the United Kingdom. People who live together traditionally vote for the same party, and this factor should also be taken into account: "Since we expect members of households to vote together, this means that the number of households in which all members vote for the same party should be greater than expected, whereas the number in which different members vote for different parties (or abstain) should be less than expected" (Johnston et al., 2003). Geographical location of voters also affects voting behaviour in the United Kingdom. The north of the UK, as well as Wales, tends to vote for Labour, while the southern part of the country usually votes for Conservative: "In 2001, the southern part of England voted 56.3% for the Conservative Party whilst the north of England, Scotland and Wales voted 82.4% in favour of the Labour Party" (Voting Behaviour). This tendency is connected to the historical and industrial development of different regions in Great Britain: the north and Wales are industrial regions where trade unions activity is traditionally high, and the population mostly votes for Labour. The factor of age also plays role in political preferences in Great Britain. Often people under 35 vote for Labour while older people vote for Conservative. This tendency can be explained by the Labour party politics directing younger population: "Those under 35 tend to vote Labour and the Conservative