Power and Politics
Voting Behaviour

Make a list of the factors which may
affect the way that you might vote in a
general election.
• Do you have a range of reasons?
• Can your reasons be categorised?
• Do you think that your reasons for
voting may change over time? Why?

Learning Objectives
 Know the range of factors which influence the
patterns of voting behaviour
 Be able to apply this knowledge to describe the
patterns of voting behaviour in GB
 Be able to use relevant sociological evidence to
support your explanations of voting behaviour

How do these factors influence the
way we vote in the UK?
 Class
 Gender
 Age
 Ethnicity
 Religion
 Geographical Area

Up until the 1970s – class was the
most important influence on voting
behaviour in the UK
Change….past 35 years the
social class structure has
changed. Railings and
Thrasher (1997)….manual
workers in the electorate fell
from 41% to 34%. Labour’s But…in 1997 Tony Blair
traditional electorate was and the Labour Party won
being eroded. a landslide election. This
Elections in 2005 was because it managed
The classes still voting along to appeal to people from
traditional lines with the majority of the different social classes
votes from the professional classes
going to the Conservatives and the

• Class no longer an important factor in the way that people vote.
• Class dealignment - weakening of the links between class and
voting behaviour
• 1992 – Conservatives had a 32% lead over Labour in votes from
the Middle Class, but by 2005 this has dropped to 9%. This shows
that the Labour Party has managed to attract core Conservative
supporters.
• Class still an important influence
• 2005 professional and middle class votes were still more likely
to vote Conservative
• The working classes were more likely to vote Labour.
• The link between class, tradition and voting behaviour was still
strong

Factor How does this Evidence that
influence voting supports this?
behaviour?
Class
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Religion
Region
• Complete this grid on A3 paper to show how these factors can influence the
way that people vote in elections.
• You may wish to colour code your grid to show which factors are SOCIAL
factors.

To what extent would sociologists
agree that social class is still the
most important influence on the
voting behaviour of British
citizens? (12 Marks)