The Impact of COVID-19 on Voting Behaviour in the UK
The COVID-19 pandemic caused global disturbances with its emergence in late 2019, just three months before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s December 2019 election win. The world changed entirely and the UK suffered enormously with more than 150,000 people dying because of the virus making the UK one of the worst-equipped countries in the world.(UK Government, 2021) The forced lockdowns somewhat stopped the spread of the virus but left the economy damaged, and impacted education and overall people’s well-being but it was clear to see that some of the government officials’ complete dismissal of the rules and regulations they put in place lost them a significant amount of respect and trust from the UK’s public.
As with every voting behaviour pattern studied class is always a leading factor and it is no different when it comes to the pandemic. Upper-middle-class members of the public typically lean more towards the Conservative Party who tend to be more right-winged and socially authoritarian voters (Surridge, 2018; Hobolt, 2018) and this can give us an idea of how different voters may respond to the coronavirus policies. (Heath et al., 1991) Political parties and candidates in the UK have had to adapt their campaign strategies in response to the pandemic such as limiting the amount of door-to-door canvasing by changing to more remote options like directed social media posts and digital advertising that allowed for candidates to reach voters directly from their homes while also abiding by the restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic allowed candidates to prioritise public health messaging which played a significant role in shaping voter attitudes and preferences at the time, having strong, clear and consistent communication with the public about public health measures such as social distancing, vaccines and mask-wearing, played a massive role influencing people’s perceptions of the government’s competence and trustworthiness has become a vital role in determining political support. Class is not the only difference seen in policy support, age and gender also comes into factor. Research shows that women are more likely to encourage masker wearing compared to men who are more in favour of imprisoning COVID rule breakers, whistle older people are in support of less demanding policies such as increased hand washing and opposed to schools and shops closing to prevent transmission. (Haischer et al., 2020) Government responses to the pandemic such as furlough schemes have also played a part in influencing voter perception as the public’s understanding of whether the government are adequately addressing the economic and social impacts of the pandemic will shape how voters feel about individual candidates and political parties. Although these schemes were not left without criticism, some argue that they were economically disastrous (Reuters, 2020b). As an author of the Essex-UTD nation survey provides the idea that the government’s ability to politically profit from the pandemic depends entirely on how the public thinks Jhonson and his colleagues are able to handle the crisis. We saw a rise of support for Johnson in late December, shortly after the vaccine rollout had begun and within just three months, over 37% of the UK’s population had been vaccinated, a far more substantial number in comparison to other democracies.
However, differences in pandemic management strategies among the devolved administrations of the UK (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) have created divergent political narratives which sometimes clash with the centralised approach of the UK government which contributed to tensions and political friction. For example, in Scotland, First Minister Nichola Sturgeon advocated for stricter lockdowns in comparison to the UK government led by Jhonson. These differences highlighted the diverse needs and priorities of the various parts of the UK, which left voters conflicted on which leader was handling the crisis better causing a lot of comparisons, causing friction.
In summary, the COVID-19 virus has profoundly influenced voting behaviour in the UK. With over 150,000 deaths and significant economic and social disruption, it has highlighted the importance of effective crisis management and governmental response. Social class, age and gender have and always will play a crucial role in shaping voter preferences and through the pandemic we have seen how political parties have adapted to gain support from as many voters as possible by attempting to prioritise public health, improve government responses, including vaccination campaigns and economic relief. Moving forward, policymakers must address socioeconomic disparities and foster unity to navigate a post-pandemic era effectively.
Haischer, Michael H., et al. “Who Is Wearing a Mask? Gender-, Age-, and Location-Related Differences during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” PLOS ONE, vol. 15, no. 10, 15 Oct. 2020, p. e0240785, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240785, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240785.
Heath, Anthony, et al. “The Measurement of Core Beliefs and Values: The Development of Balanced Socialist/Laissez Faire and Libertarian/Authoritarian Scales.” British Journal of Political Science, vol. 24, no. 1, 1994, pp. 115–132, www.jstor.org/stable/194188. Accessed 30 Apr. 2022.
“How the Pandemic Is Shaping Voting Intentions in the UK | Blog | University of Essex.” Www.essex.ac.uk, www.essex.ac.uk/blog/posts/2021/03/31/how-the-pandemic-is-shaping-voting-intentions-in-the-uk. Accessed 7 Apr. 2024.
Mellon, Jonathan, et al. “How Do Coronavirus Attitudes Fit into Britain’s Ideological Landscape?” Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 74, no. 3, 29 May 2021, pp. 597–616, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsab030. Accessed 6 Aug. 2021.
“UKHSA Data Dashboard.” Ukhsa-Dashboard.data.gov.uk, ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/.
This article accurately describes that COVID-19 heightened the awareness of healthcare and crisis management which shaped perceptions of political landscape and influenced voting decisions. Moreover, the pandemic accentuated concerns over public health and safety and how ministers and the government were going to manage how these new rules and regulations would change how people voted. As well, as the article highlighting how factors such as age, class and gender effected your ideals towards COVID-19 management. To improve, this article could provide some visual tools to engage the reader and perhaps some headlines to clearly see the breakdown on how Covid impacted voting behaviour.
The author chose a very topical issue for this blog, this is due to many believing that this could be the sole reason for a Labour win in the next general election. The shift in advertising operations from these political parties was on that was inevitable, however this was enhanced by the pandemic. Social media and digital marketing are tactics that parties had to adapt at a time where community outreach in-person was not possible. The public health messages during the pandemic were integral in shaping voter attitudes throughout the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on the economy was also huge in impacting public perceptions, with the effects of this still being felt to this day.