Survey of Election Agents at the 2019 British General Election, 2019-2020

Consists of a survey of elections agents from the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru (PC) and Brexit Party conducted immediately after the British general election of 2019. The survey covers details of the preparations for the campaign, organisation and strategy, and campaign and polling day activities. In addition, it covers an evaluation of the administration of the campaign. Surveys were sent to all agents and the dataset comprises responses from 175 Conservative Agents; 270 Labour Agents; 227 Liberal Democrat Agents; 24 SNP Agents; 14 Plaid Cymru Agents; and 65 Brexit Party Agents.

Constituency level campaigning has become crucial to the electoral strategies of all the major parties in Britain, and a significant academic literature has emerged. This work has revealed how campaign techniques have developed over time; how parties have responded to wider changes in society, the electorate, and within their own parties; the degree to which parties are able to harness their resources effectively to fight elections; how voters respond to cues from the parties, the extent to which voters can be mobilized; and how electoral context impacts upon the likelihood of electoral payoffs. This project continues a unique and valuable time series which furthers our understanding of the impact, role, and nature of campaigns in the modern and changing political arena. In addition, it further develops the analysis of the importance of electoral context on campaign effectiveness, and the growth of digital campaigning.

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