Social Class is still the main determinant of voting behavior.
Social classes have always had a ‘usual’ party to vote for. For example, working class usually vote Labour whereas middle class usually vote Conservative. However, social classes seem to vote differently than expected due to different party policies and which will effect personally or affairs they are more concerned about in today’s society.
Usually, people may feel they should vote for a certain party due to their social class. Class dealignment then come to light in the 70s after there was a massive decline in people voting according to their social class. The decline has continued. However, people may start to feel they belong to a different class as job opportunities are changing, and there are less people in tertiary jobs, with more people getting and education and professional jobs. People who would have been ‘working class’ may begin to view themselves as lower middle class. This is class dealignment. In the 2010 General Election the Conservatives gained from all groups with the exception of the lowest class DE which stayed Labour. ABC1 (grouped together) had a 39% vote for the Conservatives while Labour had 27%. In the C2 class 37% voted Conservative compared to 29% for Labour, and in the DE group 31% voted Conservative and 40% Labour.
In the 40’s it was clear that social class was the main determinant of the way people voted. They would vote according to their natural class. A and B voting Conservative, C1 Cons or Labour and C2 and D/E voting Labour. In places such as Blaenau Gwent, Labour will usually get an absolute majority as they consider themselves working class.
Social class may not determine what party one votes for due to partisan dealignment. This is similar to class dealignment where as people no longer vote according to their social class, this may be due to people losing their traditional class loyalties to a particular part. An example of this would be in the 2006 local elections, where a large number of traditional Labour areas voted for BNP. Voters may also feel less loyalty to their party, causing a decline of voters. Public opinion is also influenced by what the parties publish in their manifestos - declarations of what they intend to do if they win the election. Media coverage could be a cause for this, the way a party is portrayed over social media as well as newspapers, could cause a floating voter- unsure of what party they will vote for. The media may perceive what was considering as somebody’s 'usual' party to vote for in a discouraging way, creating doubt of whether they are competent to run the country.
People may rather take part in politics other ways, such as get involved with pressure groups or taking direct action. People are also voting for smaller parties such as UKIP or, what is now not so little being the 3rd main party, SNP.
Region also appears to be a factor in voting behavior; here a North-South divide is in evidence. The possible link between region and voting behavior is that, as the North is generally poorer then they are likely to cast their vote for Labour. Furthermore, conditions in the South maintain lower un-employment and a higher proportion of supervisory and skilled jobs, therefore resulting in the majority voting for the Conservatives. This demonstrates, that yes, must play an important part in voting behavior.
These factors may cause people to not vote according to their social class. Gender, age, ethnicity and region are all factors which affect what parties voters vote for. They will tend to go for parties which effect there main priorities. For example, younger women (around 21) seem to vote for Labour in the last GE.
On the other hand, other influences have been at work in recent years. The influence of political issues over the last 15 years has clearly grown. For example, in 1992 the Conservatives were seen to be the strongest party due to their involvement in defense, taxation, prices and inflation issues, ultimately this shows why they won the election. However, it is evident that in 1997 Labour maintained the highest success rate because their policies were based on the NHS, unemployment, education, taxation and relations with Europe which resulted in Labour gaining power. Therefore, the evidence suggests that there is a significant link between party policies and voting behavior.
Also, as you go down the Social Class scale the Labour voters’ increase- still. People will still feel they HAVE to vote accordingly to their social class, if they don’t they may be a ‘Shy Torrie’, this means they vote conservative but portray the role of a floating voter.
To conclude, I believe social class in not the ‘main’ determinant of voting behavior. Due to other factors such as the media affecting the way people vote. In today’s era I believe those who do vote, will vote according to manifestos, voting for a party which policies cover there issues the most. With smaller parties coming alight such as UKIP and SNP, people are likely to lean towards these rather than Labour or Conservatives. However, as the evidence above suggests, I do think that social class is still influential to voting behavior, but not the main determent. I