2015 election

• in 2010, there was the first coalition since WWII
• Lib Dems were blamed for the failures of the coalition and was wiped out as a Parliamentary party
• 2015 was the Conservatives' first majority since 1992
• the turnout was 66%
• SNP broke Labour's traditional dominance in Scotland, gaining 56 out of the 59 seats
• Conservatives won 320 seats to Labour's 232
• UKip got one seat but 12.6% of the vote
• David Cameron was the leader of the Conservatives, and had the least negative image
• Ed Miliband was Labour and was not respected
• Nick Clegg was Lib Dem and was also short of public respect
• Nicola Sturgeon was SNP and had quite a positive image
• this was the second campaign to use televised debates
• Cameron refused to have a one-to-one debate with Miliband, only agreeing to a seven-person debate which proved bland and didn't help Miliband stand out
• the opinion polls underestimated the turnout of the elderly
• Labour's campaign was pro-Labour rather than anti-Conservative
• Age - Labour won 18-24, tied 40-49, and Conservative won across every other group, gaining a 20% advantage with +65s
• Regional - England overwhelmingly Conservative, reducing Lib Dem votes. Lab + Lib Dems nearly wiped out in Scotland
• Class - AB, C1 and C2 Conservative. Lab won DE
• Ethnicity - Lab won 67% of Afro-Carribean vote, Cons 21%. Cons won decisively with Asian people outside of India
• Gender - Cons won similarily with men and women -> 37% and 38%. Lab had a clear gender gap with more women than men