All posts tagged General Election 2015

Did Brexit Influence the General Election 2017 Result?

In the year following the EU Referendum, I wrote a number of posts utilizing Chris Hanretty’s estimates of the vote split by constituency for England and Wales. Hanretty estimates that 421 of the 573 constituencies in England and Wales voted to leave. These estimates were necessary as the vote was counted by different – and mostly larger – areas than the parliamentary constituencies.

Politically, my major conclusion was that it was the Labour Party who could potentially suffer more from Brexit. There are two major reasons for this situation.

First, is that the Labour constituencies had a far greater spread of views than the Conservative constituencies. This is in both the divergence between regions and the disproportionate numbers of constituencies that are were either extreme Remain or extreme Leave in the referendum. Figure 1 is for the result for constituencies with Conservative MPs in 2016, and Figure 2 for constituencies with Labour MPs.

Figure 1: Constituencies in England and Wales with Conservative MPs in 2016, by estimated Leave or Remain Band. 

Figure 2: Constituencies in England and Wales with Labour Party MPs in 2016, by estimated Leave or Remain Band. 

In particular, London, where much of the current Labour Leadership are based, has views on the EU diametrically opposed views to the regions where most of the traditional Labour vote resides. Further analysis, from July 2016, is here.

Second, is the profile of the Leave supports. Based on an extensive poll conducted by Lord Ashcroft on EU Referendum day, Leave support was especially strong on those retired on a State Pension, council and housing association tenants, those whose formal education did not progress beyond secondary school, and the C2DEs. That is, groups that traditionally disproportionately vote Labour. Further details, from May 2017, are here.

Yet, the results of the snap General Election in June 2017 suggest that it was the Conservatives that suffered from Brexit. Despite their share of the popular vote increasing by over 5%, to the highest share in 25 years, they had a net loss of 13 seats and lost their majority. Labour increased their share of the vote by 10%, but only had a net gain of 30 seats.

Do the positions on Brexit appear to have had an influence? The Conservatives were seeking a stronger mandate for the Brexit negotiations, whilst Labour strongly avoided taken a firm position one way or the other. Chris Hanretty has revised his estimates, with the number of Leave-majority constituencies in England and Wales reduced from 421 to 401. The general picture is unchanged from the previous analysis. I have taken these revised figures, put them into the eight bands used previously and compared to the full election results available from the House of Commons Library.

The main seat results are in Figure 3.

Main points from Figure 3 (for England and Wales) are

  • Conservatives had a net loss of 25 seats, 14 of which likely voted Remain in the EU Referendum and 11 likely voted Leave. Remain seats reduced by 18% and Leave seats by 4%.
  • All 6 gains from Labour were in strongly Remain constituencies. This includes Copeland, which was gained in a by-election in early 2017 and retained in the General Election.
  • Labour had a net gain of 24 seats, 13 of which likely voted Remain in the EU Referendum and 11 likely voted Leave. Remain seats increased by 16% and Leave seats by 7%.

Figure 4 is the average percentage change in the constituency vote from 2015 to 2017 for the Conservative Party.

Main point from Figure 4 for the Conservative Party is

  • The estimated Referendum vote is a strong predictor of change in Conservative Party vote share from 2015 to 2017 General Election.

Figure 5 is the average percentage change in the constituency vote from 2015 to 2017 for the Labour Party.

Main points from Figure 5 for the Labour Party are

  • Overall average constituency vote share increased by 10% on the 2015 General Election.
  • In the 6 seats lost to the Conservatives, Labour’s share of the vote increased.
  • In every area, Labour increased its share of the constituency vote with one exception. In the 6 seats that the Liberal Democrats gained from the Conservatives, the Labour share of the vote was on average unchanged. This suggests some tactical voting.
  • In Conservative “hold” seats Labour’s increase in vote share did not have a “Remain” bias.
  • In Labour “hold” seats Labour’s increase in vote share had a strong “Remain” bias.

In summary, it would appear that the Conservatives in implementing Brexit have mostly suffered at the ballot in Remain areas. Labour, in being the Party of Opposition and avoiding taking a clear position on Brexit, benefited from the Remain support without being deserted by the Leave vote. I will leave it for another day – and for others – to draw out further conclusions.

Kevin Marshall

Update 23rd May

Whilst writing the above, I was unaware of a report produced by political pundit Prof John Curtice last December Has Brexit Reshaped British Politics?

Key findings

In the 2017 election the Conservatives gained support amongst Leave voters but fell back amongst Remain supporters. Labour, in contrast, advanced more strongly amongst Remain than amongst Leave voters.

That is pretty much my own findings by a different method. Both methods can produce different insights. My own approach can give regional analysis.

by manicbeancounter on 17/05/2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Conservative Party, EU Referendum, General Election 2017, Labour in Opposition, Spin (Propaganda)
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Posted by manicbeancounter on 17/05/2018

https://manicbeancounter.com/2018/05/17/did-brexit-influence-the-general-election-2017-result/

Banksy trying to bribe voters through a legal loophole?

The BBC has an article Banksy makes election print-for-vote offer.

Secretive artist Banksy has offered fans a free print if they vote against the Conservatives in a move which could land him in legal trouble.

The political graffitist posted on his website offering a print to voters in six Bristol area constituencies.

Applicants have to send him a ballot paper photo showing a vote against the Tories to get the limited edition work.

This would contravene laws designed to ensure votes remain secret, and could break rules against bribery.

Banksy print

The small print is

Lawyer’s note: this print is a souvenir piece of campaign material, it is in no way meant to influence the choices of the electorate, has no monetary value, is for amusement purposes only and is strictly not for re-sale. Terms and conditions to follow, postage not included.

I will leave it up to the Electoral Commission to decide the legality of Bansky’s offer. But the terms in the small print shows a delusion of the left. Simply by declaring that something “has no monetary value” and is “for amusement purposes only” does not mean that the print is not valuable to the recipient. For instance, experiences in my life have no monetary value, but I value them highly. In this respect the offer of a print for not voting Conservative could be viewed the same as a similar offer of being able to meet a famous person that the voter admires. What most people would agree upon is that some of the most valuable things in life have no monetary value, such as love, friendship or the bonds of family. The left have always been keen to emphasize that by creating monetary values, capitalism distorts these real values. It is therefore somewhat hypocritical for someone of the left to circumvent the law on bribing voters by offering a reward for voting in a non-monetary way, That is by trying to legally demonstrate that there is no bribe by declaring it has no monetary value, when to the genuine left-wing voters it is more valuable due to declared monetary value. The only defense if that those of the genuine left would never vote Conservative anyway. But that means that any offers for sale on Ebay of the prints are evidence that someone maybe changed their vote to get a print.

Alternatively, as most people agree that some things without monetary value are still valuable, including Conservative voters it could still be valuable. The intellectual left view Tories as being of lower morals, particularly looking after their selfish interests. In this respect maybe someone who would normally vote Conservative will vote for a non-Conservative outsider, to get the print. I am sure that Banksy feel able to stand up in court, under his real name, and proclaim under oath that no Conservative would stoop to such an action. I am just as sure that Corbinysta twitter trolls will be queuing  up with their Twitter histories to affirm that they have never implied anything other than that Conservatives were on a similar level of morals to themselves.

Just to clear, Banksy might be within the law. But it would appear to be rank hypocrisy from a left-winger to offer something that is declared without a monetary value, but clear non-monetary value, when most people agree – particularly of the left – that many things with a non-monetary value are in fact valuable to them.

Update 07/06/17

Guido Fawkes reported yesterday that Banksy has withdrawn this “bribe”.

Banksy recall

 

Kevin Marshall

 

 

 

 

by manicbeancounter on 04/06/2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Conservative Party, General Election 2017, Labour in Opposition
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Posted by manicbeancounter on 04/06/2017

https://manicbeancounter.com/2017/06/04/banksy-trying-to-bribe-voters-through-a-legal-loophole/

Labour Manifesto is misleading the British Public

Today Ed Miliband formally launched the Labour Election Manifesto 2015. See the summary at the BBC.

David Cameron has called it a con trick. (Hattip Conservative Home)

This con trick claim can be substantiated by reading the Manifesto. Here are a few snippets.

 

The Economy

On the Economy, Labour realize they have an uphill struggle. A couple of examples

“We will cut the deficit every year with a surplus on the current budget..”

The current budget deficit is the difference between tax revenue and current spending. To get the total deficit you need to add in (what used to be called) capital expenditure.

Remember Gordon Brown’s Golden Rule of only borrowing to invest?

Ed Miliband will return Britain to the days of 2001-2008, when Labour built a structural deficit of £50-£70bn. It is this reason that there is still a huge deficit, not the credit crunch. Labour still do not understand the public sector capital investment does not provide financial returns. New roads, schools and hospitals are not constructed to generate revenue like in a business but to provide social returns. Properly spent, overall welfare is increased, despite capital spending creating additional financial burdens in terms of staffing and maintenance.

“There is not a single policy in this manifesto that is funded by additional borrowing.”

This is grossly misleading. Labour are committed to at least maintaining current spending levels. When there is a deficit that means new additional borrowing is required, adding to the total debt. What Labour mean is that additional spending will be funded by additional taxes.

 

Discouraging entrepreneurship, jobs and growth

There is a subsection headed “We will back our entrepreneurs and businesses”

The measures are tiny. Instead here are a scattering of policy initiatives which will likely damage British businesses and help undermine economic growth.

  1. “We will reverse the Government’s top-rate tax cut.“

    British Entrepreneurs will be discouraged from investing in Britain. They will go elsewhere.

     

  2. “We will abolish the non-dom rules…”

    Ed Balls in January said

    “I think if you abolish the whole (nom-dom) status then probably it ends up costing Britain money”

    There on a lot of people who rely on the non-doms for jobs. Many invest money in Britain.

     

  3. “We will close tax loopholes that cost the public billions of pounds a year,”

    The tax system will become even more complex, especially for small businesses. This could reduce revenues.

     

  4. “We will end unfair tax breaks used by hedge funds and others“

    A major part of Britain’s exports come from the financial services sector. Labour’s antipathy to this sector threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs and may demote the City of London to a second tier financial sector.

     

  5. “We will increase the National Minimum Wage

    We will ban exploitative zero-hours contracts

    We will promote the Living Wage”

    The cost of employing people will rise. Businesses who do not toe the official line on the living wage might be unable to sell to the State Sector. Start-up businesses will be reduced and small businesses will not expand as inflexible employment laws will increase the risks of taking people on. The unemployed will become locked out of jobs. Youth unemployment will rise.

     

  6. “We will freeze gas and electricity prices until 2017“

    Prices have been rising because of the Climate Change Act 2008 that Ed Miliband was responsible for steering through Parliament. There is huge investment needed in new sources of electricity. That ain’t going to happen if profit rates fall. This is a policy to ensure the lights go out in a couple of winters time.

     

  7. “We will introduce a fairer deal for renters“

    This will be at the expense of landlords, many of whom rent as a business.

     

  8. “We will expand free childcare from 15 to 25 hours per week for parents of three- and four-year-olds, paid for with an increase in the bank levy.”

    See point 4 on the City of London

I am really concerned that a Labour Government will jeopardize the prosperity of this country, and my children’s future. Rather than learning from past Labour continue to deceive themselves through spin. Rather than and admitting that they got things wrong Labour blame others.

Kevin Marshall

by manicbeancounter on 13/04/2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Government Spending, Socialism
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Posted by manicbeancounter on 13/04/2015

https://manicbeancounter.com/2015/04/13/labour-manifesto-is-misleading-the-british-public/