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 – initially regarded as ‘revisionist’ – has emerged. This work – now regarded as mainstream – has revealed many things including how campaigns have changed over time; how parties have responded to wider changes in society, the electorate, and within their own parties; and the degree to which parties are able to harness their resources effectively to fight elections. They have also informed discussions about power within parties – how far central party organisations are able to coordinate constituency party campaigns and how much is left to the grass-roots. And finally, they have furthered our understanding of how voters respond to cues from the parties, and the extent to which voters can be mobilized.

This study will examine constituency campaigning at the 2019 British General Election and will provide not only a continuation of a unique and valuable time series that began in 1992, but also a programme of innovation that furthers our understanding of the impact, role, and nature of campaigns in the modern political arena.

The study will seek to address four underlying research questions:

• What is the electoral impact of constituency campaigns?
• How have campaign techniques evolved?
• How are party campaign organisations evolving?
• What is the impact of constituency campaigns on different groups of electors?

Publications

• Edward Fieldhouse, Justin Fisher & David Cutts (2019) ‘Popularity equilibrium: testing a general theory of local campaign efficacy’. Party Politics, Published Online Early DOI: 10.1177/1354068818823443
• Justin Fisher, David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse & Bettina Rottweiler (2019), ‘The Impact of Electoral Context on the Electoral Effectiveness of District Level Campaigning: Popularity Equilibrium and the Case of the 2015 British General Election’, Political Studies 67 (2): 271-290 DOI: 10.1177/0032321718764800
• Justin Fisher, David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse & Bettina Rottweiler (2017) ‘District-level explanations for supporter involvement in political parties : The importance of electoral factors’ Party Politics. Published Online Early
• Justin Fisher, Ron Johnston, David Cutts, Charles Pattie & Edward Fieldhouse (2014) ‘You get what you (don’t) pay for: The impact of volunteer labour and candidate spending at the 2010 British General Election’, Parliamentary Affairs. 67 (4): 804-824.
• Justin Fisher, Edward Fieldhouse & David Cutts (2014) ‘Members Are Not the Only Fruit: Volunteer Activity in British Political Parties at the 2010 General Election’, British Journal of Politics & International Relations. 16 (1): 75-95.
• Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie, David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse & Justin Fisher (2013) ‘The Long and the Short of it: Local Campaigning at the British 2010 General Election’, Political Studies. Published Online Early. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9248.12011
• David Cutts, Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie & Justin Fisher (2012) ‘Laying the foundations for electoral success: Conservative pre-campaign canvassing before the 2010 UK general election’, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties. 22 (3): 359-75.
• Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie, David Cutts & Justin Fisher (2012) ‘Spending, contacting and voting: the 2010 British general election in the constituencies’, Environment and Planning A. 44: 1165-1184.
• Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie, David Cutts & Justin Fisher (2012) ‘We’ve got them on the list: contacting, canvassing and voting in a British general election campaign’, Electoral Studies. 31 (2): 317-29.
• Justin Fisher, David Cutts & Edward Fieldhouse (2011) ‘The Electoral Effectiveness of Constituency Campaigning in the 2010 British General Election: The ‘Triumph’ of Labour?’, Electoral Studies. 30 (4): 816-28.
• Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie, David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse & Justin Fisher (2011) ‘Local Campaign Spending at the 2010 General Election and its Impact: Exploring what Wider Regulation has Revealed’, Political Quarterly. 82 (2): 169-82.
• Edward Fieldhouse & David Cutts (2009) ‘The effectiveness of local party campaigns in 2005: combining evidence from campaign spending and agent survey data’ British Journal of Political Science, 39 (2): 367-88.
• Justin Fisher & David Denver (2009) ‘Evaluating the Electoral Effects of Traditional and Modern Modes of Constituency Campaigning in Britain 1992-2005’, Parliamentary Affairs. 62 (2): 196-210.
• Justin Fisher & David Denver (2008) ‘From Foot-Slogging to Call Centres and Direct Mail: A Framework for Analysing the Development of District-Level Campaigning’, European Journal of Political Research. 47 (6): 794-826.
• Justin Fisher, David Denver & Gordon Hands (2006) ‘The Relative Electoral Impact of Central Party Co-ordination and Party Size at Constituency Level’, Electoral Studies. 25 (4): 664-76.
• Justin Fisher, David Denver & Gordon Hands (2006) ‘Unsung Heroes? Constituency Election Agents in British General Elections’, British Journal of Politics & International Relations.8 (4): 569-86.
• Justin Fisher, David Denver & Gordon Hands (2006) ‘Party Membership and Campaign Activity in Britain: The Impact of Electoral Performance’, Party Politics. 12 (4): 505-19.
• David Denver, Gordon Hands, Justin Fisher & Iain McAllister (2003) ‘Constituency Campaigning in Britain 1992-2001: Centralisation and Modernisation’, Party Politics. 9 (5): 541-59.
• David Denver, Gordon Hands, Justin Fisher & Iain McAllister ‘The Impact of Constituency Campaigning in the 2001 General Election’, British Elections & Parties Review Volume 12: The 2001 General Election. pp.80-94.
• Justin Fisher (2014) ‘Can’t buy me votes (necessarily): money and elections’ in Cowley & Ford (eds) Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box. London: Biteback Publishing. pp. 225-8. (free access available via Google Books)
• Justin Fisher (2011) ‘Legal regulation and political activity at the local level in Britain’ in Ewing, Tham & Rowbottom (eds) The Funding of Political Parties. London: Routledge. pp. 110-23.
• Justin Fisher, David Cutts & Edward Fieldhouse (2011) ‘Constituency Campaigning in 2010’ in Wring, Mortimore & Atkinson (eds) Political Communication in Britain: TV Debates, the Media and the Election. Basingstoke: Palgrave. pp.198-217.
• Andrew Russell, David Denver, David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse & Justin Fisher (2008) ‘Non-Party Activity in the 2005 UK General Election: “Promoting or Procuring Electoral Success”?’ in Farrell & Schmitt-Beck (eds) Non-Party Actors in Electoral Politics. Baden-Baden: Nomus. pp. 103-25.
• Justin Fisher, David Denver, Edward Fieldhouse, Andrew Russell & David Cutts (2007) ‘Constituency Campaigning in 2005: Ever More Centralization?’ in Wring, Green, Mortimore & Atkinson (eds) Political Communications: The British General Election of 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave. pp. 79-92.
• David Denver, Gordon Hands, Justin Fisher & Iain McAllister (2002) ‘Constituency Campaigning in 2001: The Effectiveness of Targeting’ in Bartle, Mortimore & Atkinson (eds), Political Communications: The British General Election of 2001. London: Frank Cass, 2002. pp.159-80.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Professor Justin Fisher - After nearly three years working in market research, I took my first degree and then moved on to a PhD, which was funded by the ESRC. After nine years as a lecturer at London Guildhall University, I moved to Brunel in 2000, where I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2003 and then to Professor of Political Science in 2006. After serving as Head of Politics & History (2004-2007), I was appointed Director of the Magna Carta Institute in 2009 and combined that role with being Deputy Head of School of Social Sciences (Research). I was Head of the School of Social Sciences between 2012 and 2014, Head of the Department of Politics, History & the Brunel Law School between 2014 and 2017, and Head of the Department of Social and Political Sciences between 2017 and 2020. I was appointed as Director of the University's Policy Unit - Brunel Public Policy - in September 2020. Qualifications: PhD Government (Brunel) BA (Hons) Politics & Government (City of London Polytechnic)

Related Research Group(s)

Magna Carta - We analyse how best to create and maintain just societies that fairly balance both personal freedom and authority, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals and society.

Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.

Project last modified 29/06/2021