Gender and Generational Shifts in UK Voting Trends: What Should We Think?
A consistent political phenomenon has been observed across many democracies. Gen Z, born roughly between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, exhibits a significant gender divide in social attitudes, ideals, and voting behaviours. Young women, influenced by recent feminist movements like Me Too, tend to lean towards left-wing parties. In contrast, young men show higher tendencies to support right and far-right parties, possibly due to a perceived loss of status and challenges to traditional ideals of masculinity. According to a recent YouGov poll following the 2024 UK general elections, men and women voted very similarly with respectively 34% and 35% supporting […]
The hard work begins here: Frances legislative elections and what comes next
This post was originally published on The Identities Blog by Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. First published 10 July 2024: ‘The hard work begins here: Frances legislative elections and what comes next’. Anxieties were running high on Sunday 7th July as French voters went to the polls in the second round of this years legislative elections. At a time of rising support for the far right across Europe – and with Frances current centrist administration having already passed hard-line anti-Muslim and anti-migrant policies – most observers believed that the far-right National Rally (RN) would emerge as the nations strongest […]
The UK General Election of July 2024: Results and Implications
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On 5 July 2024, the day after its general election, the UK was a country that appeared to have bucked the trend of a shift to the right among the democracies. In France, the 30 June National Assembly elections had seen a dramatic rise in support for the Rassemblement National. Earlier that month, at the European Parliament elections, there had been equally dramatic rises in support for the far right in other European countries. The election of Donald Trump in the run-up to US presidential elections in November appeared to be a growing possibility. Against this background, Labour scored […]
Election 2024 analysis: The UK Union may appear restrengthened — but is it really?
This post was originally published on Centre on Constitutional Change. First published 9 July 2024: ‘Election 2024 analysis: The UK Union may appear restrengthened — but is it really?’. The headline of a Labour landslide majority—not just in the UK as a whole, but in Scotland, Wales and England individually—may suggest that the UK Union is unified once again. The story of election night was one of major Tory losses, rather than stunning Labour victories. Low voter turnout, the splitting of votes between the Tories and Reform UK and tactical voting assisted in a Labour success. Nevertheless, united […]
The Electoral System Got It Half Right
The British First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system has two major functions: Firstly, to create a stable government by turning a minority of votes into a parliamentary majority, and secondly to represent the division of political views among voters. As long as two parties between them win the great majority of the votes, both goals can be realised. That period ended in Britain in 1974, when the Liberals turned elections into three-party competition by contesting and winning votes in nearly every constituency. This year’s general election produced a balanced result only in the sense that the electoral system […]
Constitutional conundrums: what happens if a Prime Minster resigns during an election campaign?
Media reports both prior to the start of the general election campaign and now during it suggest that some Conservatives want Rishi Sunak to resign. I put it in terms of the individual rather than the office because Rishi Sunak holds two positions. He is leader of the Conservative Party and consequently, because he led a party commanding a majority in the House of Commons, was invited to become Prime Minister. Some members may wish him to be replaced as party leader, but during an election campaign there is no mechanism by which he could be removed as […]
What Do People Do When They Are Not Voting?
Ordinary people spend only a few hours during the life of a parliament thinking about how they will vote when a general election is held. This does not mean that their mind is a political blank sheet that can be filled by tweets by parties and shouted exchanges by party leaders. When it comes time to vote, people draw on their own experiences over the past five years to decide how to vote. People do not need to wait for the media to broadcast monthly economic statistics to know whats happening to their cost of living. They learn about […]
Celebrating Success in the Face of Horror: Reflections of an Early Career Researcher
How Diverse are Politics and IR Departments?
It is great to see the second set of data highlighting the progress and gaps within the social sciences. This year, the Academy of Social Sciences (ACSS) has published its summary report on EDI in the social sciences, leading to the availability of a broader set of data. This is following from the 2021 novel report launched by PSA and BISA, which identified important EDI issues within Politics and IR departments in UK Universities. The recent ACSS report was drawn from a selection of 2021/22 HESA and POLAR4 data for academic and teaching staff and student populations in the social […]
PSA at IPSA
Few things excite academics more than a conference where they can meet fellow academics. When it is a conference that promises to assemble over 2500 delegates from around the world, the excitement heightens. And if it is in a city that blends history and culture the way Buenos Aires does, that excitement knows no bounds. So, when the International Political Science Association announced that its 2023 World Congress in Buenos Aires, students of politics the world over went into a tizzy! I was fortunate, and privileged, to be nominated to represent the PSA at the World Congress, and to be […]