Voting behaviour

Abstract

In 1872 the secret ballot was introduced in British elections, and so we can never be certain how people vote. We obviously know what the support for each political party is in each constituency, and thus we can see that support for the Labour Party is much higher in the North of England, Wales and Scotland than in the Midlands and Southern England — a pattern that has been described as a ‘two-nations’ style of voting. Additionally support for the Conservative Party is higher in rural areas than it is in industrial centres, regardless of the North/South divide.