The Results: How Britain Voted

Abstract

Between 2005 and 2010, despite some ‘random shocks’ caused by the emergence of new party leaders, the trends in party support suggested a return to the traditional inter-election cycle. During the election campaign, however, there were dramatic changes as the popularity of Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, increased sharply. In terms of votes, the Conservatives emerged as the largest party but this was not enough to obtain a majority of seats. Scotland was unusual in seeing a rise in Labour support and a decline for the Liberal Democrats. The pattern of party support for the major parties across constituencies was much the same as before, but UKIP and the BNP had distinctive areas of relative strength and weakness. Turnout increased but not by as much as might have been expected given the closeness of the contest. The ‘win’ for the Conservatives was probably mainly due to the electorates preference and greater liking for David Cameron over Gordon Brown, but voters still harboured doubts about the ability of the Tories to deliver effective policies and that is why they did not win more emphatically.