Constituency Campaigning at the 2019 General Election

Constituency level campaigning has become crucial to the electoral strategies of all the major parties in Britain, and a significant academic literature has emerged. This work has revealed how campaign techniques have developed over time; how parties have responded to wider changes in society, the electorate, and within their own parties; the degree to which parties are able to harness their resources effectively to fight elections; how voters respond to cues from the parties, the extent to which voters can be mobilized; and how electoral context impacts upon the likelihood of electoral payoffs. However, campaign styles and strategies are changing all the time, both as a result of technological and societal changes, and because of the changing political context.

The analysis of the constituency campaign is now an integral part of studying elections by the electoral studies community, external stakeholders and the ESRC. The ESRC has funded a survey of election agents at each general election since 1992 (with the exception of 2005, which was funded at a much lower level by the Electoral Commission). It is the most comprehensive study of its kind in the world. There is therefore a unique and valuable time series which furthers our understanding of the impact, role, and nature of campaigns in the modern and changing political arena. The objectives of the proposed study are to continue this valuable work as well as delivering significant added value in four key areas: the changed electoral context; the impact of the sudden election on campaign techniques - especially digital; the focus on local versus national campaign issues, and the impact of the Brexit crisis on the campaigns.

At a minimum, we will publish findings based on the new data examining the electoral impact of the parties' campaigns and conditional effects of voter volatility; developments in campaign approaches and their reach - especially digital; and the differential effects of campaign emphasis (candidate versus national party message). In addition, in anticipation of collecting further data on behalf of the Electoral Commission, we will produce a report to form part of the Commission's post-election reporting, and further develop our work on perceptions of electoral integrity and electoral fraud. We will also present initial findings at conferences in the UK (PSA, EPOP) and overseas (EPSA).