Colin Talbot asks if we have reached a tipping point where ‘first past the post’ finally fails to hold together the two big coalitions that have dominated British politics for nearly a century ? Could we be seeing the end of the Conservative and Labour Parties? The Tories are having a great summer: an unexpected […]
Benefits and costs of party diversity
Why do Conservatives try so hard to increase their ethnic diversity while Labour takes minorities for granted? It all depends on who their target voter is. Labour’s target voters thought less of the party when they knew about its ethnic diversity, Conservative’s target voters were the opposite, explains Maria Sobolewska. For political parties the question […]
One Night in May [Part 1] – Whatever Happened to the Strange Death of Tory England?
In 2005, the political journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote a critique of the Conservative Party, The Strange Death of Tory England. Here Dave Richards and Martin Smith explore this failed prophesy and examine the implications of GE2015 on the main parties. When Wheatcroft wrote his book the Conservative Party was yet to come to terms with […]
Engaging with the electorate
Politicians seeking election this May need to communicate effectively with potential voters. Rosalynd Southern and Kingsley Purdam explain that – judging by the last General Election – many of them could do better. Good communication skills and an ability to connect with the electorate are key attributes for MPs. But in the UK MPs undertake […]
Young East Germans divided on EU
Despite the growth of the Eurosceptic AfD, most young East Germans support European solidarity, explain Dr Marius Guderjan and Dr Robert Grimm. Eurosceptic parties, including UKIP, made major gains across the EU in the 2014 European Parliament elections. In Germany, a traditionally Europhile nation, the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) made substantial gains and received […]
Polling Observatory 41: Opinion stable for now, but election battle lines are being drawn
This is the forty-first in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings, Dr Mark Pickup and Prof Christopher Wlezien that report on the state of the parties in the UK as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence, the impact of the random variation that each individual survey inevitably produces can be […]
The Polling Observatory Forecast 4: Conservative hopes recede slowly
As explained in the inaugural election forecast, up until May next year the Polling Observatory team will be producing a long term forecast for the 2015 General Election, using methods first applied ahead of the 2010 election (and which are also well-established in the United States). The authors’ method involves trying to make the best use of […]
Polling Observatory 40: Treading water as Scotland’s big moment approaches
This is the fortieth in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings, Dr Mark Pickup and Prof Christopher Wlezien that report on the state of the parties in the UK as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence, the impact of the random variation that each individual survey inevitably produces can […]
Polling Observatory 37: No Westminster polling aftershock from European earthquake
This is the thirty-seventh in a series of posts by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings, Dr Mark Pickup and Prof Christopher Wlezien that report on the state of the parties in the UK as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence, the impact of the random variation that each individual survey inevitably produces […]
Media must bear some blame for hostility to Poles
Attacks on Polish families living in the UK are strongly influenced by negative portrayals in the media, argues Alina Rzepnikowska. Polish families in Belfast have suffered a series of attacks in recent week. A row of three Polish families’ homes was spray painted with messages telling the families to leave the city. Elsewhere in Belfast, […]