Political Communication in Britain Polling, Campaigning and Media in

This book offers a unique exploration of the 2015 General Election from the perspectives of those most intimately involved as strategists, journalists and analysts. It features contributions from the rival parties, news and polling organizations as w

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, ring e, W c i or in Dom r Mortim n o e Rog n Atkins o Sim ted

Edi

Political Communication in Britain

Dominic Wring • Roger Mortimore • Simon Atkinson Editors

Political Communication in Britain Polling, Campaigning and Media in the 2015 General Election

Editors Dominic Wring Loughborough University United Kingdom

Simon Atkinson Ipsos MORI London, United Kingdom

Roger Mortimore Ipsos MORI London, United Kingdom

ISBN 978-3-319-40933-7    ISBN 978-3-319-40934-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40934-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956373 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: David Cameron campaigning in the Cornish marginal seat of St Ives holding a copy of the ‘I’m afraid there is no money’ memo written by a former Labour Treasury minister government. The Prime Minister frequently used the letter in the final stage of the General Election to question his opponent’s economic record in government.  Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland The registered company address: is Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

and

Acknowledgements

The arithmetic relating to the UK electoral system proved crucial to determining the result of the 2015 General Election. In previous contests, the party coming first had done so by a margin comfortable enough to govern on its own. This changed in 2010 with the formation of the Coalition after the Conservatives had failed to win an overall majority. Approaching this election, and with successive polls showing a very close race with no single party in a clear lead, there was widespread anticipation of another hung parliament being returned. Yet the Conservatives’ 2015 victory was achieved by the margin of votes necessary to enable them to take office on their own, albeit with a relatively

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