Decade of Dealignment: The Conservative Victory of 1979 and Electoral Trends in the 1970s

In what ways did the nature of party support, and the attitudes of the electorate to the parties, change in the 1970s? How volatile was the British electorate? Was the two-party system breaking down? What were the causes of the Conservative triumph in 1979? Basing their work on national surveys conducted by the British Election Study at the University of Essex after the elections of February and October 1974 and May 1979, Bo Särlvik and Ivor Crewe examine the whole range of issues which formed the British political climate in this period. This 1983 book's focus is on the election of May 1979, but the analysis is placed in the context of changes in British politics that were signalled by the elections of 1974 as well as longer-term trends. This work provides a wealth of information for all who are interested in the recent history of British party politics and the ways in which people vote.