Political Communication in Britain

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Seven Weeks Is a Long Time in Politics

   • Dominic Wring, Roger Mortimore, Simon Atkinson

   Pages 1-20

3. Media

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

      PDF

   2. A Tale of Two Parties: Press and Television Coverage of the Campaign

      • David Deacon, John Downey, David Smith, James Stanyer, Dominic Wring

      Pages 23-41

   3. Broadcasting the Snap Election: Surprising Politics but Familiar Production

      • Paul Brand

      Pages 43-49

   4. BBC Campaign Coverage Policy

      • Jay G. Blumler

      Pages 51-64

   5. Election Night: The View from Sky News

      • Isla Glaister

      Pages 65-81

   6. The Agenda-Setting Role of Newspapers in the UK 2017 Elections

      • Angela Phillips

      Pages 83-97

   7. Alternative Agendas or More of the Same? Online News Coverage of the 2017 UK Election

      • Emily Harmer, Rosalynd Southern

      Pages 99-116

   8. Alternative Media: A New Factor in Electoral Politics?

      • Craig Gent, Michael Walker

      Pages 117-128

4. Campaigns

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 129-129

      PDF

   2. ‘Strong and Stable’ to ‘Weak and Wobbly’: The Conservative Election Campaign

      • Anthony Ridge-Newman

      Pages 131-148

   3. The Labour Campaign

      • Greg Cook

      Pages 149-159

   4. The Liberal Democrat Campaign

      • James Gurling

      Pages 161-169

   5. Movement-Led Electoral Campaigning: Momentum in the 2017 General Election

      • Abi Rhodes

      Pages 171-186

   6. #GE2017: Digital Media and the Campaigns

      • Declan McDowell-Naylor

      Pages 187-205

5. Polling

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 207-207

      PDF

   2. The Polls in 2017

      • Will Jennings

      Pages 209-220

   3. “Yer Jaiket Is Hanging by a Shooglie Peg!”: Fear, Groupthink and Outliers

      • Damian Lyons Lowe

      Pages 221-233

   4. An Ever-Changing Mood: Qualitative Research and the 2017 Election Campaign

      • Paul Carroll, Suzanne Hall

      Pages 235-246

Political Communication in Britain is a now established series of nine books, the first of which appeared in the aftermath of the 1979 General Election. This book follows the structure of previous volumes and features commentaries and assessments from the pollsters who monitored voter opinion during the 2017 General Election. It also includes chapters from party strategists responsible for devising and executing the rival campaigns. Furthermore contributions from journalists offer a media perspective on the campaign. The remainder of the book consists of academic material designed to complement and augment the aforementioned professionals’ chapters. Here the focus is on the major dynamics of political communication, specifically the roles of the press, television, advertising, internet and other such phenomena during the 2017 Snap Election.

• election
• campaigning
• polling
• reporting
• Theresa May
• Jeremy Corbyn
• press
• coverage
• process
• policy
• leaders
• journalism
• public service broadcasting
• BBC
• newspapers
• agenda-setting
• partisanship
• digital news
• online journalism
• messaging

“This book lifts the lid on the thoughts and decisions of those ‘in the know’ at the heart of British politics, providing a unique and highly valuable account of the 2017 general election campaign from those closest to its broadcasting and planning, and from observers on the ground. This most fascinating of elections is brought to life in the reflections of some of its key protagonists.” (Jane Green, Professorial Fellow and Gwilym Gibbon Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK)

“An excellent account of the 2017 election campaign and how the polls and media covered it.” (Dennis Kavanagh, Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of Liverpool, UK)

“In 1945 Clement Attlee was driven around the country by his wife to the campaign rallies. That was seventy-three years ago. Political campaigns have come a long way. The book by Wring, Mortimore, Atkinson and contributions from their colleagues have nailed it. Anyone interested in British politics should want to read it.” (Sir Robert Worcester KBE DL, Founder of MORI)

 

• School of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

  Dominic Wring

• King’s College London, London, UK

  Roger Mortimore

• Ipsos MORI, London, UK

  Simon Atkinson

Dominic Wring is Professor of Political Communication at Loughborough University, UK.
Roger Mortimore is Professor of Public Opinion and Political Analysis at King’s College London, UK, and Director of Political Analysis at Ipsos MORI.

Simon Atkinson is Chief Knowledge Officer at Ipsos MORI, UK.

Policies and ethics