Voting Behaviour - The Basis of Voting & Declining Turnout

  • Turnout was at its highest in the 1950,60s and 70s.
  • Lowest turnout was in 2001 at 50%
  • However, in the recent election, turnout is steadily increasing.
Why Don’t People Vote:
  • People don’t understand politics
  • Loss of interest
  • Lack of trust
  • Disconnect between public and politics
  • Uneducated voters
  • People feel detached
  • Apathy (Can’t be bothered to vote)
  • Hepathy (People who don’t want anything to change)
  • Decline in civic culture (it is someone’s job to vote)
  • The parties have policies for the grey voter
  • Decline in partisan alignment
  • Alternate ways to participle in politics (joining a pressure group)
  • Politicians are self-centered (“all the same”)
  • The voting system is wrong and should be changed
  • Devolution effect
  • No clear blue water between the parties – muddy water
Voting-Based Off Gender:
  • Women tended to vote Conservatives as they promised economy stability
  • Now women tend to vote Labour
  • All parties are trying to do more get more women into politics
  • Some say women actually shape how/what policies are introduced in a party
  • In 2015 the percentage of women who voted Conservatives was higher than Labour (37-33%)
  • Men tend to vote for parties who will after nuclear weapons.
Voting-Based Off Age:
  • Age is now a key predictable factor in elections
  • Young voters tend to lean left, the older you get the more right you generally get
  • The younger you are the less likely you are to vote
  • An ageing population means elders are staying alive so more vote for the Conservatives since you tend to lean to the right.
  • 70% of young people (18-25 years) voted for Labour and only 4% for the Conservatives.
  • At 47 years you tend to switch between voting for Labour and the Conservatives
  • Parties should aim policies to the grey voters
Ethnicity In Voting:
  • White voters tend to lean right, whilst ethnic minorities tend to lean to the left
  • The ‘cricket test’ in the 1990s showed that ethnic minorities don’t really care about the country since they were asked which cricket team they supported and most ethnic minorities said the country they previously lived in and not England
  • Most ethnic minorities live in towns so they’re working class so they’ll tend to vote for Labour
  • The Conservative party is known for being slightly racist
  • The Conservative party claimed “white fright” and the changing nature of the UK so less ethnic minorities vote.
  • In the UK most people are white (87%) and they vote so ethnic minorities feel like their voices aren’t being heard.
  • In 2015 ethnic minorities voted 65% for Labour and only 23% for the Conservatives.

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