This essay will address Labour Parties electoral performance in the 2010 and 2015 General Election. There are several factors that affected Labours performance in both the 2010 and 2015 General Elections. For example; the economy, the growth in power for the SNP, party identification, introduction of challenger parties, leadership Add more factors.
Considering that Labour are formally a left-wing party means that they tend to care more about society than the economy. As a result, Labour have been criticised heavily for the way they have handled the economy. Prior to the British General election of 2010, the economy faced a crash resulting in an inevitable loss of Labour votes (Green, J and Posser, C). Moreover, up until the 2015 General election many voter felt that the austerity measures from the government, was due to Labour party’s lack of economic management (Fielding, S. 2015). Although, there has been progressive improvements in the economy, voters still blamed Labour for the unstable economy (Green, J and Posser, C). The fact that Labour is seen as incapable of handling the economy means that less people will vote for them. Thus, Labour failed to win in both the 2010 and the 2015 General Elections.
Similarly, party identification is another key factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance in the elections. In other words, the Labour party were failing to identify with their own target audience i.e. the working class (Kavanagh, D. and Cowley. P., (2010). A survey carried out by YouGov in 2009 showed that only 19% of voters felt as though that the Labour party cared for the economy (Kavanagh, D. and Cowley. P., (2010). Similarly prior to the 2015 elections, voters still did not know what they thought Labour stood for yet but, more importantly they could for conjure up what the Conservatives stood for (Fielding, S. 2015). Another factor contributing to the Labour party’s irregular electoral performance in the General Elections is communication. For instance, Miliband’s 2011 speech about transforming labour into a community was referred to as, ‘One Nation Labour’ (Fielding, S. 2015). Despite being praised for his efforts, only 25 per cent of voters knew what ‘One Nation Labour’ meant, eventually the term disappeared altogether (Fielding, S. 2015). Considering that Labour do not have a persuasive theme means that they are losing the attention of their voters. (Moran, M 2005) has similarly argued that ‘Labour needs to give working-class people a reason to vote for them’. Thus, one could theorise that in this instance, Miliband’s lack of communication to the voters led to a poor electoral performance. Another factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance is the rise in power by the SNP. To be specific, the SNP pledged for an independence referendum, this was highly anticipated by many Scottish citizens. In other words, the referendum would allow Scotland to be independent Green, J and Posser, C). Thus, increasingly positive attitudes towards the SNP in Scotland meant that Labour lost the support of the Scottish public, inevitably after the introduction of the referendum in 2014, only 40 per cent of the Scottish public were willing to vote for the Labour party (Green, J and Posser, C). As a result of poor leadership, the Labour party became less popular, not only that but they also lost the support of a media ally, Rupert Murdoch (Fielding, S. …show more content…
2015). Before, the economic crash the Sun newspaper would promote the Labour party thus, attracting potential voters towards the Labour party. But due to, a showcase of poor leadership the Sun newspaper switched from Labour to Conservatives (Fielding, S. 2015). Specifically, in 2009 the Sun began a ‘full blooded partisanship with the Conservatives’. (Kavanagh, D and Cowley. P, (2010). Thus, one could theorise that a fall in popularity would result in a fall in votes. Tactical voting is another factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance in General elections. To be specific, statistics from the campaign of March 2015, shows that the Conservative party was better attracting Ukip voters whereas, In addition the Conservative party were successful in attracting more Lib Dem voters that are formally left-wing
Considering that Labour are formally a left-wing party means that they tend to care more about society than the economy. As a result, Labour have been criticised heavily for the way they have handled the economy. Prior to the British General election of 2010, the economy faced a crash resulting in an inevitable loss of Labour votes (Green, J and Posser, C). Moreover, up until the 2015 General election many voter felt that the austerity measures from the government, was due to Labour party’s lack of economic management (Fielding, S. 2015). Although, there has been progressive improvements in the economy, voters still blamed Labour for the unstable economy (Green, J and Posser, C). The fact that Labour is seen as incapable of handling the economy means that less people will vote for them. Thus, Labour failed to win in both the 2010 and the 2015 General Elections.
Similarly, party identification is another key factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance in the elections. In other words, the Labour party were failing to identify with their own target audience i.e. the working class (Kavanagh, D. and Cowley. P., (2010). A survey carried out by YouGov in 2009 showed that only 19% of voters felt as though that the Labour party cared for the economy (Kavanagh, D. and Cowley. P., (2010). Similarly prior to the 2015 elections, voters still did not know what they thought Labour stood for yet but, more importantly they could for conjure up what the Conservatives stood for (Fielding, S. 2015). Another factor contributing to the Labour party’s irregular electoral performance in the General Elections is communication. For instance, Miliband’s 2011 speech about transforming labour into a community was referred to as, ‘One Nation Labour’ (Fielding, S. 2015). Despite being praised for his efforts, only 25 per cent of voters knew what ‘One Nation Labour’ meant, eventually the term disappeared altogether (Fielding, S. 2015). Considering that Labour do not have a persuasive theme means that they are losing the attention of their voters. (Moran, M 2005) has similarly argued that ‘Labour needs to give working-class people a reason to vote for them’. Thus, one could theorise that in this instance, Miliband’s lack of communication to the voters led to a poor electoral performance. Another factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance is the rise in power by the SNP. To be specific, the SNP pledged for an independence referendum, this was highly anticipated by many Scottish citizens. In other words, the referendum would allow Scotland to be independent Green, J and Posser, C). Thus, increasingly positive attitudes towards the SNP in Scotland meant that Labour lost the support of the Scottish public, inevitably after the introduction of the referendum in 2014, only 40 per cent of the Scottish public were willing to vote for the Labour party (Green, J and Posser, C). As a result of poor leadership, the Labour party became less popular, not only that but they also lost the support of a media ally, Rupert Murdoch (Fielding, S. …show more content…
2015). Before, the economic crash the Sun newspaper would promote the Labour party thus, attracting potential voters towards the Labour party. But due to, a showcase of poor leadership the Sun newspaper switched from Labour to Conservatives (Fielding, S. 2015). Specifically, in 2009 the Sun began a ‘full blooded partisanship with the Conservatives’. (Kavanagh, D and Cowley. P, (2010). Thus, one could theorise that a fall in popularity would result in a fall in votes. Tactical voting is another factor which has had an effect on the Labour party’s performance in General elections. To be specific, statistics from the campaign of March 2015, shows that the Conservative party was better attracting Ukip voters whereas, In addition the Conservative party were successful in attracting more Lib Dem voters that are formally left-wing