manifesto/issues

• Popular manifesto promises helped campaigns whilst unpopular or confusing policies undermined campaigns
• Issues are important to consider in light of partisan and class dealignment, and growing use of rational choice theory
• Parties establish focus groups to find out which issues the public cares about most
• Popular manifestos - 2017 Labour committment to abolish tuition fees
• Popular manifestos - 1997 Labour’s five key pledges e.g. cut NHS waiting times
• Unpopular manifestos - 1992 Labour’s promise to increase public spending allowed Cons to paint a Labour government as a tax bombshell
• Unpopular manifestos - 2017 dementia tax
• Relevant issues - 2015 immigration an unexpected core issue, led to an increase in UKip’s vote from 3.1% in 2005 to 12.6%
• Relevant issues - 2017 Brexit and tuition fees
• Irrelevant issues - 1997 Labour enjoyed a 11% swing amongst AB voters although they would be most affected by Windfall tax on privatised utilities