Sex, money and politics: Sleaze and the conservative party in the 1997 election

Farrell, David M.; McAllister, Ian; Studlar, Donley T.

doi:10.1080/13689889808413006

Cited by 48 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…The more satisfied voters were with the current political system, the more likely they were to vote Conservative in 1997 (Table 10a, columns 1 and 2). Furthermore, the climate of sleaze did have a general impact on support for the government, even when the 1992 vote is controlled for (Farrell et al 1998). Conservative voting was lowest among those who 'strongly agreed' with the assertion that moral standards had declined in public life.…”

Section: Attitudes To Government and Voting In 1997mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Members of the US Congress embroiled in corruption cases have lost support at the subsequent election (Peters and Welch 1980;Welch and Hibbing 1997;Shea 1999). In Britain, sleaze allegations against individual Conservative MPs during the 1992-1997 parliament had some-limited-impact at the 1997 election (Farrell et al 1998). But were public concerns about sleaze wrapped up with feelings of trust more generally?…”

Section: Trust Sleaze and Government Fortunesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sanders 1996 and1998;Evans 1998 and1999a). Rather less attention has been paid to the impact of voters' trust on the government's fortunes (though see Farrell et al 1998). This article therefore examines the nature of trust in the political system in the late 1990s and its impact on the outcome of the 1997 general election.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Losing the Voters' Trust: Evaluations of the Political System and Voting at the 1997 British General Election

Pattie¹,

Johnston²

2001

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Questions of standards in public life came to the fore of British politics during the 1992-1997 parliament. Concerns were expressed over the probity of individual politicians and of political parties and worries extended to the health of the British system of government as a whole. Underlying these news stories, however, were wider issues concerning attitudes towards government. Furthermore, these concerns about standards were also extensively reported during the 1997 election campaign, and were widely held, in popular accounts, to have played a part in the Conservative government's dramatic defeat. But, surprisingly, few academic analyses have tried to gauge either the extent of public concerns in 1997, or whether they really had an impact on party support. More generally, recent political science interest has focused on fears of declining public trust in the democratic system, throughout the western world. This article explores British voters' trust in their polity.'When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property' (Thomas Jefferson) Political scandal dominated the British news agenda to a striking degree during the 1992-1997 parliament. Perhaps most trivial were a series of sex 'scandals' concerning a number of MPs. More serious allegations included the 'cash for questions' affair: several politicians allegedly took payment

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Section: Attitudes To Government and Voting In 1997mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trust Sleaze and Government Fortunesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Losing the Voters' Trust: Evaluations of the Political System and Voting at the 1997 British General Election

Pattie¹,

Johnston²

2001

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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“…More generally the extent to which governments are perceived as being honest and trustworthy has been a recurring topic of research in both the US and Britain for some years (Leigh and Vulliamy 1997;Farrell et al 1998;Thompson, 2000;Anderson and Tverdova 2003). The fundamental concern is that cynicism among the general public about the honesty and truthfulness of their political leaders can erode confidence in all governments, as well as weakening 'diffuse' support for the political system (Easton 1979).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do Voters Lose Trust in Governments? Public Perceptions of Government Honesty and Trustworthiness in Britain 2000–2013

Whiteley

Clarke²,

Sanders

et al. 2015

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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This article:• Notes that public perceptions that governments are honest and trustworthy are surprisingly volatile over time, but they move together in a long-term equilibrium relationship with indicators of policy performance and perceptions of fairness of the decision-making process.• Argues that if individuals feel that policy delivery, particularly in relation to the economy, is working well then they will trust the government of the day even if they oppose a particular decision.• Maintains that if they feel that the process of governing is unfair then they are likely to view the government as being both dishonest and untrustworthy.• Indicates that evaluations of political leaders are powerful heuristics for allowing voters to judge the honesty and trustworthiness of a government.• Provides evidence that there is a long-term trend decline in perceptions of government honesty even after taking into account policy process and performance. The aim of this article is to analyse trends in public perceptions

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“…John Major's government was overtaken by a series of scandals after 1992 (Harding et al ., 1997; Leigh and Vulliamy, 1997; Norton‐Taylor et al ., 1996; Ridley and Doig, 1995). This contaminated not only the individuals involved but also the government itself and, by damaging their reputation for probity, contributed to the Conservatives' landslide defeat in 1997 (though probably not to the defeat of more than a very small handful of MPs personally implicated in scandal allegations: Farrell et al ., 1998).…”

Section: Understanding Political Scandalmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Electoral Impact of the UK 2009 MPs' Expenses Scandal

Pattie

Johnston

2012

Political Studies

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The 2009 scandal over British MPs' expenses claims unleashed a powerful and highly vocal tide of public anger with elected politicians. It claimed some political careers: some of the MPs most heavily implicated in the scandal decided (or were forced) to stand down at the 2010 election rather than face the voters' wrath. Others struggled to deal with the consequences and the party leaderships felt they had to be seen to be responsive to public outrage. But the scandal hit a year before the UK general election, a contest dominated by anxieties over a deep global recession, looming public sector cuts and antipathies towards a deeply unpopular prime minister. In this environment, no‐one could be sure of the scandal's wider electoral fallout. Would the departure of the most notably guilty MPs assuage public anger, or would the effects be more extensive, taking in either implicated MPs seeking re‐election, or even all MPs standing again, irrespective of their involvement? The article examines the scandal's electoral implications.

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Sex, money and politics: Sleaze and the conservative party in the 1997 election

Cited by 48 publications

References 10 publications

Losing the Voters' Trust: Evaluations of the Political System and Voting at the 1997 British General Election

Losing the Voters' Trust: Evaluations of the Political System and Voting at the 1997 British General Election

Why Do Voters Lose Trust in Governments? Public Perceptions of Government Honesty and Trustworthiness in Britain 2000–2013

The Electoral Impact of the UK 2009 MPs' Expenses Scandal

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