You must be able to explain the definition of this word to the class!! Starter RE-CAP SOCIAL CLASS Come up with as many words as you can that are associated with social class/voting behaviour. Like ‘Scrabble’, add up your score for each word using the picture on the right. The pupil with the highest score wins. You must be able to explain the definition of this word to the class!!

Long term factors affecting voting behaviour 04.08.2018 In this section you will learn that social class, there are a number of other long-term factors that affect voting behaviour in the UK. These factors include age, gender, place and race.

Learning Intentions To explain the long term factors which can affect the way a person votes Success criteria I can successfully explain how age, gender and geographical location can affect an individuals voting behaviour.

Long-term Factors Affecting Voting Behaviour: Age For many years age has been an important factor affecting the way people vote. Why? The Conservative’s traditional policies of lower taxation and less radical change may appeal to elderly people, many of which are wealthy. However, it may be that as people become older, they move up the ‘social ladder’ so its a change of class rather than age that is affecting older voters. Labour / Lib. Dem have greater focus on education which appeals to younger voters. 16 31 44 Age 65+ 23 28 38 55-64 29 30 35 25-34 18-24 Lib. Dem Labour Conservative Age Group Source Ipsos/Mori: Voting Preference by Age Group 2010 UK General Election Source 1

Long-term Factors Affecting Voting Behaviour: Gender Before 1997, gender was seen as a major factor affecting voting behaviour with more men consistently voting Labour than women. In the two General Elections of 1997 and 2001, there was little difference between male and female voting. However, in 2005, it is argued that women’s support for Labour, especially amongst ‘school-gate mums’, helped Labour win, again making gender a factor in voting. Why Labour? Labour targeted families with children for most support e.g. Child Trust Fund. Lower paid women workers also benefited more from policies such as the Minimum Wage. In 2010 and 2015, Labour continued to have marginally more support from women voters. Source Ipsos/Mori 2010

Male % vote Female % vote Source 2 2010 UK General Election 2015 UK General Election POLITICAL PARTY Male % vote Female % vote Conservative 38 36 37 Labour 28 31 30 33 Liberal Democrat 22 26 8 Source Ipsos/Mori 2010/2015

What do you see from this map of London? - What changes the further out you get from London City? Source 3

What do you see from this map of the UK? -Think about Urban and Rural areas? - Is there a difference the more North we go?

Long-term Factors Affecting Voting Behaviour: Place Geographic Location Place or geographic location plays a part in affecting voting choice: Generally, the further south and east someone lives (outside inner London) the more likely they are to vote Conservative; the further north and west, not Conservative. • People in urban areas are more likely to vote Labour - arguably this can perhaps be attributed to the fact those who live in big cities have a first hand experience of witnessing poverty, therefore being more likely to pay higher taxes to help fund the health/welfare service. Rural areas are more likely to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat Again, people in the South and East tend to wealthier than those elsewhere so location may also be linked to social class.

Long-term Factors Affecting Voting Behaviour: Place Tenure (Whether people own or rent their home) Generally, a person is more likely to vote Labour if they rent their home and Conservative if they have a mortgage or have bought their home outright. However, as people who are wealthier can afford to buy this may again link to class and is not exclusive to geographical location. Source 5 2010 General Election Cons. Lab. Lib Dems. Owned 45 24 21 Rented 24 47 19 Source Ipsos/Mori 2010

Regional Voting Knowledge - There are clear regional variations in voting. North-south divide is evident, with Labour support highest in Scotland and Conservative support in the south of England. The geographical divisions in voting behaviour can be explained in part by social class factors. Labour’s safe seats tend to be in the inner city constituencies in cities like Glasgow and Liverpool. In contrast Conservative safe-seats tend to be in prosperous English constituencies (e.g. Kensington in London). Whilst the SNP have dominated in Scotland for the past ten years this may be beginning to change again. The 2017 General Election results suggest the Conservatives are performing much better in Scotland than ever before. They now have 13 MPs compared to just 1 MP following the 2015 General Election. Analysis – Where people live in the UK clearly influences voting behaviour. Although Labour’s popularity in Britain fell as a whole which led to the 2010 Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, Labour still performed well in Scotland in 2010 but the picture continues to change.

This video will help consolidate the points we have already went over. This also focuses on education which we are NOT looking at. Use what you have learned from the video and from todays slides to complete the next task https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3MuTNFVel8

Voting Behaviour: Task We will discuss this as a class What long-term factor do you believe is the most influential to voters? Add reasons on why you think that this is the case. Most Influential Least Influential