Convergence on Crisis? Comparing Labour and Conservative Party Framing of the Economic Crisis in Britain, 2008‐14

Abstract

Since the 1980s, Britains two largest political parties have been converging ever closer on the political spectrum, in line with a Downsian model of two party majoritarian systems. While both Labour and the Conservatives have been moving toward consensus, we investigate the extent to which the recent financial crisis, understood as a critical juncture, interrupted this movement. Using a "fuzzy set" ideal type analysis with claims-making data, we assess whether or not we can detect any signs of this consensus breaking down as a result of the crisis and the events which followed. Our results show that despite this most critical event, consensus was maintained as we found both parties adopting very similar framing and narrating strategies on the economic crisis in their public discourse. The study concludes that the shared discursive framing and narrating between both parties on the crisis demonstrates a continued Thatcherite, neoliberal consensus in British politics.

Thatcher’s Children, Blair’s Babies, Political Socialization and Trickle-down Value Change: An Age, Period and Cohort Analysis

“…For better or worse, it seems that we still live in 'Thatcher's Britain'. 59 See also recent work by Temple et al 2016;English et al 2016. 60 Duménil and Lévy 2011;Kotz 2015;Swarts 2013. …”

Citizens and the Crisis: The Great Recession as Constraint and Opportunity

“…As such, they all show how the economy and politics relate to each other. This can be seen, for example, in the chapter on the UK, which shows the relationship between the economic crisis, political, and partisanship (see also English et al 2016;Grasso et al 2017;Temple et al 2016), but it is perhaps most obvious in the chapter on Spain, which shows the impact of the crisis on the development of populist attitudes and more specifically on the emergence of the leftist populist party Podemos, and in the chapter on Poland, which examines how neoliberal policies and privatization measures led to a legitimation crisis in the context of the Great Recession.…”

When Bad News is Good News: Information Acquisition in Times of Economic Crisis

“…Judging by the rise of populist parties of thin economic policy substance across Europe and the parallel demise of traditional mainstream parties during the financial crisis (Hernández & Kriesi 2015), the Great Recession may have contributed to a move away from constructive policy debate in the European democracies hardest hit by the recession. Voters in contexts of worsening economic conditions are exposed to less clear policy information because populist parties tend to blur intentionally their positions on economic policy (Rovny 2013) while mainstream parties implement externally imposed austerity policies in discord with their electoral programs (English et al 2016;Talving 2017). While citizens in contexts of economic crisis may well have greater incentives to acquire political information, as per Shen (2009), without the ready accessibility of clear policy information, such incentives are less likely to translate into familiarity with party positions.…”

“…In contrast, political parties do not necessarily put forth clearer economic policy proposals during a recession. Recent studies suggest that voters receive more ambiguous policy messages during a recession, as exemplified by the rise of populist parties that intentionally blur their positions on economic policy (Hernández & Kriesi 2015;Rovny 2013) or mainstream parties whose economic policy positions are difficult to pinpoint in the context of austerity (Bremer 2016;English, Grasso, Buraczynska, Karampampas & Temple 2016;Talving 2017). Economic crises, in short, may well boost the public's information levels when it comes to the state of the economy but are less likely to have tangible effects on policy information levels in elections.…”