“Its not like that round here”: Region, economic evaluations and voting at the 1992 British General Election

Abstract

Abstract. Accounting for regional divides in British electoral behaviour during the 1980s has proved controversial. Critics have argued that, once individual characteristics are taken into account, regional context is unimportant. Supporters of the regional divide have pointed to the connection between economic conditions and voting, but have been unable to show direct links between local economies and voters' decisions. The paper employs new data to examine the controversy. Voters at the 1992 General Election are shown to judge their regional economies, and to act on those judgements, even when their personal positions are controlled for.

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“…of the value of multilevel modelling in being able to identify effects at various levels. It is also consistent with some research in Britain that made use of direct evaluations of economic conditions at different levels to show that voters' economic evaluations at both personal and regional levels were significant influences on vote (Pattie and Johnston 1995).…”

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