Campaign

Campaign

1. Results 2010 General Election

   • Conservatives = 36%, 307 seats
   • Labour = 29%, 258 seats
   • Liberal Democrats = 23%, 57 seats
   • Others = 12%, (UKIP 4%, BNP 4%, Green 2%)
   • Turnout = 65% (increase from last election

2. National Campaign

   • a) Largely on TV - debates, interviews, party political broadcasts
   • b) Highly focused on party leaders - they will visit marginal constituencies, do speeches and rallies
   • c) Permanent Campaigns - 2010 Cameron had a 24 hour campaign push. Makes him look young and energetic
   • d) Polling and focus groups - bandwagon effect, boomerang effect
   • e) Political consultants - devising strategies, writing speeches and producing adverts
   • g) Manifestos - document that explains what the party will do if put into power.
   • h) Pledge cards - include 5 key points for each party

3. Constituency and local campaigns

   • Leaflets
   • Convassing (voter ID)
   • GOTV (get out the vote)

4. Parties

   • Main 3 parties have national call centres, where people will ring round to persuade people.
   • Central party headquarters play a bigger role than ever in elections.
   • They will employ full time organisers, who will organise campaigns in constituencies like leaflets etc.

5. The media - 1 in 4 said they changed their mind after the first tv debate.

   • Influence - this suggests that newspapers have a direct influence over the voting behaviour of their readers. The sun claimed to have influenced the outcome of the 1992 election and that of 1997, when it switched to labour. It also back conservatives in 2010.
   • Reinforcement - suggests that newspapers reinforce views already held by their readers. Most people read a newspaper that reflects their political views. But they often rely on TV rather than newspapers for non-partisan coverage of politics.
   • Agenda shaping - this perspective claims that the press is unlikely to have a direct influence on voting but that newspaper courage does help shape the political agenda. Newspaper coverage of say immigration or crime helps to frame the way in which these issues are perceived by voters.