AO1: Class is seen as a major social factor in determining how people vote; this can be linked to their region and locality, which also carries a strong correlation as to the way in which an individual will cast their vote. AO2: Class and partisan alignment are crucial factors by which a person sees their political identity; this starts very early on in life and becomes a dominant force in exercising political choice. Regionally, voting patterns have followed the north of England and large urban areas having a clear preference for Labour and the South of England and rural areas tending to vote Conservative. AO3: This is evidenced by the number of safe seats throughout the UK that follow socially constructed patterns. The number of seats changing hands at general elections is minimal and bears testimony to this. AO1: Age is another social factor that has a strong bearing on how people vote. AO2: Evidence shows that younger people vote Labour and that older people vote Conservative - these age characteristics are important for parties to develop as they are key to electoral success. AO3: Therefore it is often seen that parties target age cohorts in their appeal and their turnout is crucial for party success. The changing age demographic in the UK, with a large ageing population, will have a greater impact on voting. AO1: A citizen's ethnic background is another social factor with a strong bearing on voting preferences. AO2: Ethnic groupings have become more important in terms of voting behaviours in recent years; they are highly important in urban areas. In the main, the Labour Party fares better in garnering the ethnic vote than does the Conservative Party. AO3: However, the Iraq war and the relevance of other social factors alongside ethnicity make this a less secure pattern in explaining voting behaviour. AO1: Gender is another social variant that indicates likely voting behaviour. AO2: Gender has some general patterns in reflecting voting behaviour. In the main, female voters tend to vote Conservative more than men, with men being slightly more likely to vote Labour. AO3: However with gender there is the cross-cutting link of age and this does distort the picture, but it does show clearly that social factors linked together can have an impact on voting behaviour.

AO1: Social factors used to be relevant but they no longer provide a clear indication of voting patterns; partisan dealignment and class dealignment have changed this. AO2: Social factors have been significant in the past but the landscape seems to be changing. Social mobility has meant that class identity is more fluid and that class barriers are diminishing. AO3: The relevance of class has been brought into question since the 1970s; in 2015 the Labour Party, once dominant in Scotland, was routed by the SNP and in May 2016 the Conservatives became the main opposition party in Scotland, so these are no longer fully reliable models for determining voting behaviour. AO1: A person can cast their vote influenced by issues that have a direct impact on them - issue voting. AO2: Issue voting sees voters making decisions on a range of issues; these issues are communicated through media and party manifestos and voters make an informed choice on the issues that benefit their needs most. AO3: Therefore the electorate is better informed and is willing to cast votes for issues pertinent to them, rather than subscribing to a full party package. AO1: People cast their vote on the basis of financial benefits; as such they are making a choice based on economic perception. AO2: Economic voting models attempt to explain voting behaviour based on the state of the economy - this includes employment and wage earnings in that field. AO3: Economic prosperity will deliver support for the incumbent government; economic turmoil will spell disaster for the incumbent party because the vast majority of voters are affected by economic policies, which is particularly important during a recession or economic recovery. AO1: The importance of personality is now seen as a crucial factor in understanding the way in which people vote - and leaders of parties, as the brand image, carry a major bearing on voting patterns. AO2: Charisma and personality of party leaders are now seen to make a pivotal difference in voting behaviour; this arises as leaders are seen as the brand image of their party. AO3: In essence this is more about image than substance and is associated with 'political spin' more than anything, but it has been promoted by the emergence of TV leader debates before general elections.