Election issues , political party performance and geography

Introduction Voters make decisions on whether to vote and who to vote for in places. Places are crucial because they not only provide the context for interaction and social identification but they are the containers in which parties operate and seek representation by socialising and mobilising voters to support them. Longstanding theories of party choice stress how such places provide the space for group conditioning and environmental influences on individual behaviour. They also highlight how experiences shape an individual’s identification with a political party which seeks to represent their interests. For a long time it was assumed that such partisan identifications remained intense and stable throughout the lifecycle following repeat exposure, mobilisation and participation in the political process. Aside from being both enduring and reasonably resistant to changes in the political environment, these partisan attachments were shown to have indirect effects on electoral behaviour by influencing responses to party candidates and their policy platforms. Yet in the British context growing scepticism exists not only about the traditional strength of class as an explanatory variable of vote choice but the weakness of partisan ties.