Class Matters: The Persisting Effects of Contextual Social Class on Individual Voting in Britain, 1964-97

Abstract

This paper extends previous work on the changing importance of individual and contextual social class in Britain. We adopt a multi‐level framework for analysis, linking surveys fromthe 1964–1997 British Election Studies with Census data on the social‐class composition of constituencies. The goal of the paper is to test whether, net of individual social‐class effects, the social‐class composition of the constituency in which the voter lives has declined in importance over time. We found that contextual class effects were consistently significant and fairly constant throughout the period under study. We also find a gradual increase in the amount of constituency variation in vote. Although the proportion of this variation explained by contextual and individual social class has remained fairly constant for Conservative vote, it has decreased for Labour vote. Ultimately, we find evidence of a decline in class voting, but no evidence of a growth in the individualism of voters.