Factors Influencing Voting in Elections
Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 4.1.2
Factors Influencing Voting
Voting in elections is influenced by factors including attachment to a particular party, the government’s competency and social factors including age, ethnicity and gender.
Partisanship
- Voters may choose to support a party because they strongly identify with that party.
- There has been partisan dealignment in the UK recently where voters have stopped identifying themselves with a particular party and have instead become floating voters who could vote for a number of parties.
- Disillusion and apathy explain the loss of party appeal to voters. It means that voters have become disengaged in politics and lack confidence in politicians to be able to solve important issues.
- In the 2024 General Election, voting patterns showed continued fragmentation, with increased support for smaller parties.
Class based voting
- Traditionally social class influenced who citizens voted for, with working class people supporting the Labour Party and the middle classes voting for the Conservatives.
- Class dealignment has taken place, with fewer voters identifying themselves as much with a specific political class. So, social class has less influence on voting.
- This can be explained by the increase in the size of the UK’s middle class, the decline in trade union power, the privatisation of industries and greater educational opportunities.
Governing competency
- Governing competency is how voters perceive the ability of each party to run the country effectively. This can influence voting decisions.
- The success of a government’s policy, including economic policy and strong leadership, affects how competent they appear to voters, whilst voters are also influenced by the potential governing competence of opposition parties.
- In 1997 John Major’s lack of competency was a factor in Labour winning the election.
- In the 2024 General Election, perceptions of Conservative government performance after 2019–2024 were a key factor contributing to their loss of power to Labour.
Age
- Traditionally older people support the Conservatives.
- This is often explained by older voters prioritising stability and protecting their material interests, although the reasons are not fully certain.
- In 2024, only about 8% of under-30s voted Conservative, compared to around 46% of over-70s
- Young people are less likely to vote than older people, although this gap has narrowed slightly in recent elections.
- In the 2024 General Election, around 78% of people aged 65+ voted, compared with about 50% of 18–24-year-olds.
Region
- Geographical region and where people live are important influences on voting decisions.
- Voters in poorer areas of the country, such as the north of England and Wales, are more likely to support Labour.
- Voters in wealthier areas such as the south of England, except London, and rural areas more often support the Conservatives.
- In the 2024 General Election, Labour strengthened its position in many urban and northern constituencies, while Conservative support remained stronger in parts of southern England.
Ethnicity and Gender
- Ethnic minorities are more likely to support Labour because Labour policies are often stronger in promoting a multi-cultural agenda.
- In 2017 65% of ethnic minorities supported Labour.
- Historically, women were more likely to support the Conservatives than men because of the Conservatives' emphasis on the family, which was thought to be an important factor for women when choosing how to vote.
- More recently, gender has been less significant in influencing voters.
- In the 2024 General Election, voting patterns by gender showed relatively small differences.
Voting Behaviour Patterns in 1979, 1997 and 2010
Social class, gender and age influenced voting behaviour in the 1979, 1997 and 2010 elections. These factors were of differing importance across the three elections.
Age: 1979, 1997 and 2010
- Age has become a more important factor in determining UK voting behaviour.
- In 1979 age was less significant, with a similar level of support for Labour (41%) and the Conservatives (42%) from voters aged 18-24.
- In 1997 many more younger people supported the Labour party with 49% of voters aged 18-24 and 25-34 voting for Labour.
- In 2010 there was a large difference among older voters, with 44% of voters aged over 65 supporting the Conservatives compared to 31% of voters supporting Labour.
Age in 2017 general election
- Age was very important in the 2017 general election, with most young people supporting Labour and most older voters supporting the Conservatives.
Social class: 1979 and 1997
- Social class was an important factor in 1979, 1997 and 2010, although has declined in its influence on voting.
- In 1979 class was important with the Conservatives winning 59% of the middle-class vote, whilst Labour won the largest share of the unskilled working class vote at 49%.
- In 1997 Labour won 50% of the skilled working class vote, and 59% of the unskilled working class vote. In comparison, the Conservatives won 27% of the skilled working class vote and 21% of the unskilled working class vote.
Social class: 2010
- In 2010 class played less of a role with the Conservatives winning the most middle-class support, at 39%, and Labour narrowly winning the most support of the unskilled working class.
- The Conservatives won more support from the skilled working class, despite this group mainly supporting Labour in previous elections.
Gender: 1979 and 1997
- The importance of gender in determining voter decisions has lessened in recent elections.
- In 1979, 47% of women supported the Conservatives compared to 35% of women supporting Labour.
- In 1997 more women supported Labour, with 44% voting for the party, and more men also supported Labour, with 45% voting for Labour compared to 31% for the Conservatives.
Gender: 2010
- In 2010 higher percentages of both men and women supported the Conservative party than any other party.
- In 2010 Labour and the Conservatives received similar levels of support across men and women.
- This suggests that gender has had less of an impact on voting behaviour in more recent years
Test yourself on Factors Influencing Voting in Elections
Which of these is NOT a factor affecting how people vote in elections?
Which of these statements are true about voting behaviour patterns in the UK?
In which election was class a less significant role in deciding voting intention?