Gaining on the Swings? The Changing Geography of the Flow-of-the-vote and Government Fortunes in British General Elections, 1979–1992

Gaining on the swings? The changing geography of the flow-of-the-vote and government fortunes in British general elections, 1979–1992, Reg. Studies 28, 141–154. The results of British elections during the 1980s produced a politically polarized country, with the Labour Party increasingly thrown back on support in the urban industrial areas of the north, and the Conservatives making gains throughout much of the south. The first general election of the 1990s is investigated to see whether this trend has continued into the new decade. Analysis of the constituency flow-of-the-vote suggests that Britain is less polarized in the 1990s than in the 1980s, but that the electoral geography of the country still favours the Conservatives.