Personalities
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US: parties dominated by personalities
- reflects individualist nature of US society and culture
- UK: much more party focused
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Presidential system emphasises personal qualities and skills of candidates and also their vision
- e.g. FDR New Deal, Trump MAGA
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UK 1945: Churchill campaigned (unsuccessfully) on basis of his wartime leadership
- Thatcher and Blair ran personalised campaigns
- Theresa May: “Brexit means Brexit”
- BoJo: “Get Brexit done”
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Televised debates emphasise focus on party leaders
- Third parties largely excluded from debates in the US, apart from Ross Perot 1992
Candidate selection
- US: primaries and caucuses used for candidate selection
- UK: historic participation limited to party members
Voting behaviour
Highlights historic and cultural differences in both countries
Age
- Youth vote strongly favours more liberal or progressive party
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2024 UK: Lab 41% of 18-24s, Green 18%, Lib 16%, Con 8%
- Con retained lead amongst older voters (41% vs 22% Lab) in 65+
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Age also (weaker) predictor in US
- Traditional Dem lead shrank for Harris (11% lead vs Biden’s 24%)
- Much less pronounced in 65+
Religion
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UK: does not really have a religious right
- evangelical religous right in the US opposed to the UK
- changing now with Reform
- British politics gets religion, Robert Shrimsley
- R more uniformly pro life and anti abortion
Race
- Minority ethnic groups trend Lab/Dem
- More pronounced in US, e.g. Texas and Florida where there is large Latino vote