Class and Voting

Back in the 1980s you couldn’t easily do a sociology course without the old chestnut of class and voting coming up. The working class were statistically more likely to vote Labour, the middle class Conservative, the theory went. Of course, there were significant qualifications. A big section of the working class voted Tory - they were deferential and would for instance, argue that those from higher social classes were best qualified to lead the country. A small section of the middle class would go against their assumed self-interest and vote Labour. Can we still make the same or broadly similar claims today? Many sociologists have argued that class has fragmented and these broad patterns are no longer so easy to discern. See how far things have changed by watching this report from the Daily Politics.