News - BES Findings
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Is any Brexit Deal Possible...
The current withdrawal agreement agreed by Theresa May – the deal that is currently the only one on offer from the EU – is very unpopular. Unsurprisingly, only 5% of Remainers consider it to be a good or very good deal (in newly released BES…
Youthquake – a reply to our critics
In the wake of the release of the 2017 BES face-to-face data, and our analysis that showed no evidence of a surge in youth turnout at the 2017 election, some commentators have challenged our findings. The key message of our original article (published on…
Women, men, and the 2017 general election. By Jane Green and Chris...
With the forthcoming centenary of the Representation of the People’s Act 1918, it is timely to ask whether women are equally engaged in voting, whether they vote differently to men, and how this might have played out in the most recent general election in June…
The myth of the 2017 youthquake election
By Chris Prosser, Ed Fieldhouse, Jane Green, Jonathan Mellon, and Geoff Evans In the wake of the surprise outcome of the 2017 election people began to look for an explanation for Labour’s unexpectedly good performance. One explanation quickly became prominent: Jeremy Corbyn had mobilised previously…
Swings and roundabouts: the potential electoral consequences of Labour’s position on Europe.
In light of previous BES research which demonstrated how Labour relied on the Remain vote at the 2017 general election, it is not surprising that many regarded Labour’s rethinking on transitional arrangements for leaving the EU as electorally opportunistic. But how much difference might we…
Did people vote for Jeremy Corbyn because they thought he would lose?
By Jon Mellon and Chris Prosser In the run up to the election, many commentators and even some MPs suggested that people might vote labour despite Jeremy Corbyn and not because of him. People could do this, the argument went, because they could be safe…
What was it all about? The 2017 election campaign in voters’ own...
The 2017 election campaign was the most remarkable in recent British political history. As the dust settles on the election, many politicians and commentators have put their spin on why the campaign saw such dramatic changes in vote intentions. But what did the voters themselves…
A tale of two referendums – the 2017 election in Scotland
By Chris Prosser & Ed Fieldhouse Only two years after the astonishing rise of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 election, the SNP juggernaut seemed to come to a crashing halt. Although the SNP remained the largest party in Scotland at the 2017 election,…
2017 Election BES Internet Panel Data Released
The British Election Study is pleased to announce the release of the 2017 election waves of the British Election Study Internet Panel. This major release of new data consists of three new waves of our internet panel (waves 11, 12, and 13), and an accompanying…
The Brexit election? The 2017 General Election in ten charts
By Ed Fieldhouse and Chris Prosser Despite Theresa May’s claim that her reason for calling an early election was to get a mandate for the Brexit negotiations, Brexit was conspicuous by its absence during the 2017 General Election campaign as both the Conservatives and Labour…