UK Party Research Articles

Informalization in UK party election broadcasts 1966-97

This article uses a novel, quantitatively based method to assess the extent to which UK party election broadcasts in the 31 years between 1966 and 1997 became more ‘informal’. Using the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, I identify 28 linguistic ‘markers’ which are salient in the assessment of formality, and count their frequencies in the 37,000-word corpus. My quantitative findings reveal a general increase in informalization over time, which corresponds with judgements made in critical discourse analysis (CDA). But I also discover an anomaly in the broadcasts from 1987, which I explain with reference to the influence of the Conservative party leader, Margaret Thatcher.

Mis‐marketing the Conservatives: The Limitations of Style over Substance

Every Tory leader since 1997 has made significant attempts to use marketing; the most recent, Michael Howard, appointed the first ever UK party Marketing Director to head a specialised Marketing Department. However, whilst the Conservatives have made use of the tools of marketing (polling, focus groups, public listening exercises, communication) they have misunderstood the concept of political marketing, which is concerned with creating a unified political product that is responsive to voter demands. Political marketing has hitherto not worked for the Conservative party. This is because there is a lack of a supportive internal culture that accepts the party change necessary to produce a market‐orientated political product including policy, leadership and candidates. If political marketing is only used to sell a product that the party elite rather than the British public wants, it will never help the Conservatives regain control of government.

Russian parties and the political internet

Russian parties and the political internet

Sleaze or clear blue water?: the evolution of corporate and pressure group representation at the major UK party conferences

AbstractThere has been growing academic and public interest in corporate political lobbying in both the UK and EU in recent years. In Britain, links between politicians and commercial interests have been one of the areas examined by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (‘the Nolan Committee’ and now ‘the Neill Committee’). A visible but under‐researched aspect of political lobbying by firms and other groups is the range of activities that take place at annual party conferences. An exhaustive study of these activities at the three main British party conferences between 1994–97 is reported, covering the period from Tony Blair's first appearance as party leader to the aftermath of the 1997 General Election. There is clear growth of visible lobbying, particularly at the Labour conferences, over the period leading up to the election, and a dropping off in 1997; particularly at the Conservative conference. The implications of the results for organisations, and particularly for public affairs practitioners, are considered. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications

Elite discourse and popular opinion on European union. british exceptionalism revisited

Making sense of EU membership in domestic political discourse has always been a difficult problem for UK political elites. This article seeks to understand whether the political class has any realistic chance to convince a broadly sceptical British public that the EU is the answer to Britain’s future problems. The majority of the political elite apparently wish, to take Britain into the European Single Currency yet most of the public seem set against such a development. British voters are also exceptionally ill-informed about the European Union, and Europe has never been a domestic vote-winner for UK parties. Nevertheless the electorate is shown to display a deeply ambivalent attitude on the issue of the EU and this leads to a certain ‘softness’ in their attitudes on European matters. It is suggested that hard-headed calculations can be made by many sceptical British citizens and that while the British may not particularly admire European institutions and practices, they grudgingly regard the EU as the best option for maintaining UK employment, growth and living standards. The final question is whether a new elite consensus on the desirability of further European integration which can command substantial popular support will become established in the UK, or whether the balance will swing towards elites favouring a looser association between sovereign European nations, if they favour one at all.

Elections Online: Assessing Internet Voting in Light of the Arizona Democratic Primary

Political Science QuarterlyVolume 116, Issue 4 p. 561-583 Elections Online: Assessing Internet Voting in Light of the Arizona Democratic Primary RACHEL GIBSON, RACHEL GIBSON RACHEL GIBSON is a lecturer in politics at the University of Salford, UK and a visiting scholar at the University of Mannheim. She is co-editor of Reinvigorating Democracy: British Politics and the Internet and has co-authored articles on UK parties and web campaigning in Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics and Information, Communication and Society.Search for more papers by this author RACHEL GIBSON, RACHEL GIBSON RACHEL GIBSON is a lecturer in politics at the University of Salford, UK and a visiting scholar at the University of Mannheim. She is co-editor of Reinvigorating Democracy: British Politics and the Internet and has co-authored articles on UK parties and web campaigning in Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics and Information, Communication and Society.Search for more papers by this author First published: 15 February 2013 https://doi.org/10.2307/798221Citations: 51 AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume116, Issue4Winter 2001Pages 561-583 RelatedInformation

Vote for health

I went to a debate recently, held by my local branch of Age Concern. The main speakers were prospective parliamentary candidates of the three main UK parties, two young men and a woman, on their best behaviour and in their best suits, who were earnestly trying to convince the mainly over 70-year-old audience that their party was the best bet for their votes in the forthcoming general election.

An outsider's medium? The European elections and UK party competition on the internet

(2000). An outsider's medium? The European elections and UK party competition on the internet. British Elections & Parties Review: Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 173-191.

UK parties differ on means, not ends

UK parties differ on means, not ends

Forecasting political preferences and election outcomes in the UK: Experiences, problems and prospects for the next general election

Recent attempts to forecast movements in UK party popularity are reviewed and the major problems of political forecasting in the UK are discussed. A forecasting model for the current UK Parliamentary term is developed which focuses on the importance of aggregate personal economic expectations. A series of simulations are performed which make different assumptions about gdp growth and changed in real interest rates in the period through to mid 1997. It is concluded that the Conservative government cannot reasonably expect to win the 1996/1997 UK general election by using the general macroeconomic strategy of progressive interest rate reductions that was successfully followed in 1982–1983, 1986–1987 and 1991–1992. An alternative strategy, based perhaps on tax reductions in 1995 and 1996, offers the most obvious prospect of electoral (if not economic) success.

Is political popularity a random walk?

This paper tets for nonstationarity in the political popularity of UK parties and governments within the context of an economic model which predicts that party support is an ARIMA (0, 1, 1) process. The hypothesis is rejected for the government's popularity but the results for individual party support are less clear out.