The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election
Do policy failures inevitably lead to electoral punishment? This paper examines the role of immigration in the 2015 UK general election to argue that policy failure can be electorally successful. In the 2010 election, the Conservatives had committed to reduce net migration to under one hundred thous...
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| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/560 |
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| author | James Hampshire |
| author_facet | James Hampshire |
| author_sort | James Hampshire |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Do policy failures inevitably lead to electoral punishment? This paper examines the role of immigration in the 2015 UK general election to argue that policy failure can be electorally successful. In the 2010 election, the Conservatives had committed to reduce net migration to under one hundred thousand. As majority partners in the 2010-15 Coalition government, they failed spectacularly to achieve this, overseeing a substantial increase in net migration. By 2015 immigration was highly salient and the electorate wanted it reduced. The paper argues that the Conservatives won a majority not despite their migration policy failure, but in large part because of it. Their failure to reduce immigration and address public anxiety contributed to the emergence of UKIP as an anti-immigration party, a development which disproportionately harmed Labour in the 2015 election. UKIP’s anti-immigration message helped the Conservative win victories in a number of key marginal constituencies, thus contributing to their unexpected majority. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ad0c94edc94c4a5c8f72a9c22365c6a2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0248-9015 2429-4373 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
| spelling | doaj-art-ad0c94edc94c4a5c8f72a9c22365c6a22024-12-09T15:26:22ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732015-12-0120310.4000/rfcb.560The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General ElectionJames HampshireDo policy failures inevitably lead to electoral punishment? This paper examines the role of immigration in the 2015 UK general election to argue that policy failure can be electorally successful. In the 2010 election, the Conservatives had committed to reduce net migration to under one hundred thousand. As majority partners in the 2010-15 Coalition government, they failed spectacularly to achieve this, overseeing a substantial increase in net migration. By 2015 immigration was highly salient and the electorate wanted it reduced. The paper argues that the Conservatives won a majority not despite their migration policy failure, but in large part because of it. Their failure to reduce immigration and address public anxiety contributed to the emergence of UKIP as an anti-immigration party, a development which disproportionately harmed Labour in the 2015 election. UKIP’s anti-immigration message helped the Conservative win victories in a number of key marginal constituencies, thus contributing to their unexpected majority.https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/560Conservativeselectionsimmigrationpolicy failureUKIP |
| spellingShingle | James Hampshire The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique Conservatives elections immigration policy failure UKIP |
| title | The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election |
| title_full | The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election |
| title_fullStr | The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election |
| title_short | The Cost of Broken Promises or How Policy Failure Can Help Win Elections - Immigration and the 2015 UK General Election |
| title_sort | cost of broken promises or how policy failure can help win elections immigration and the 2015 uk general election |
| topic | Conservatives elections immigration policy failure UKIP |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/560 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jameshampshire thecostofbrokenpromisesorhowpolicyfailurecanhelpwinelectionsimmigrationandthe2015ukgeneralelection AT jameshampshire costofbrokenpromisesorhowpolicyfailurecanhelpwinelectionsimmigrationandthe2015ukgeneralelection |