Values voters are motivated by issues like fox-hunting and the arms trade - rather than conventional economic concerns.
Toffs support the Tories.
People with beards and sandals vote Liberal.
Trade unionists vote Labour.
Well that’s the way some people think it used to be. Now luvvies with BMWs in their drives vote Labour and builders who loathe Brussels vote Conservative.
In the USA the relationship between income and party affiliation is becoming weaker and weaker. A person’s marital status, the strength of their religious beliefs and their attitudes to wedge issues like abortion are becoming as predictive of affiliation as wealth.
In Britain, income and class remain more reliable predictors of voting intention but will American trends take hold in Britain?
As people become more prosperous the exact level of taxation becomes less important to them. As global economic forces become more powerful people take less interest in a party’s economic policies. ‘Values voters’ ask:
- What does a party think about the environment?
- Where does it stand on animal welfare?
- Does it support an extension of gay rights?
- Does it believe in the sale of arms to non-democracies?
Values issues that were always interesting to voters can become decisive when voters aren’t living on ‘the financial edge’ or when mainstream parties have become indistinguishable on the ‘old’ economic issues.
Values voters can remain a small portion of the electorate at the same time as they become influential groups within the declining memberships of political parties. Values voters are enthusiastic enough about their causes to deliver leaflets for their preferred candidates and give money to their campaigns. They can, therefore, wield an influence beyond their number in campaigns where getting-out-the-vote and fundraising really matter.
Values voters may be a vital part of an election-winning conservative coalition.
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