Scholarlink

<p>The British Conservatives are one of the most successful election-winning parties in the world. But for many years their constituency campaigns formed a weak link in their armoury. Campaigning was often poorly targeted, with the greatest effort expended in the party’s safest seats, amassing large majorities but not winning more MPs. And the party’s grassroots membership tends to be older and less active in campaigns than its rivals’. Internal party reforms since the early 2000s have sought to address some of these shortcomings. But to what effect? In this paper, we look at the efficiency and effectiveness of the Conservatives’ constituency campaigns over the quarter century from the 1997 to the 2024 UK General Elections. We show that, over time, the party has become a more focussed and efficient campaigner. But anomalies remain and the modern Conservatives still face challenges in how to organise and run their local campaign operations.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Post-modern asset or misfiring problem? The UK Conservative Party’s constituency election campaign, 1997–2024

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月2日

查看全文
  • Charles Pattie,
  • David Cutts

摘要

The British Conservatives are one of the most successful election-winning parties in the world. But for many years their constituency campaigns formed a weak link in their armoury. Campaigning was often poorly targeted, with the greatest effort expended in the party’s safest seats, amassing large majorities but not winning more MPs. And the party’s grassroots membership tends to be older and less active in campaigns than its rivals’. Internal party reforms since the early 2000s have sought to address some of these shortcomings. But to what effect? In this paper, we look at the efficiency and effectiveness of the Conservatives’ constituency campaigns over the quarter century from the 1997 to the 2024 UK General Elections. We show that, over time, the party has become a more focussed and efficient campaigner. But anomalies remain and the modern Conservatives still face challenges in how to organise and run their local campaign operations.