David Cameron’s victory in the 2015 election was the most unexpected political comeback in a generation. Four leading political analysts, led by founder of MORI Sir Robert Worcester and including Cranfield University’s Professor Paul Baines, explain how it happened in a new book launched at Westminster this week.
Explaining Cameron’s Comeback gives a comprehensive account of the election, drawing on evidence from detailed political polling focus groups and even the political campaign cartoons. It explains how Cameron’s comeback occurred, why David Miliband failed, and how the new contenders – particularly the Scottish National Party – changed the political battleground.
Analysis comes from the point of view of the voters to provide a picture of the British electorate in 2015, their hopes and fears, and their perceptions of the parties and their leaders.
The authors discovered that “reluctant Labour voters”, rather than “shy Tories”, gave David Cameron his victory, with only one-in-ten Labour supporters failing to vote.
Paul Baines is Professor of Political Marketing at Cranfield School of Management and a specialist in the application of marketing in politics. He examined the campaigns of the parties, including the televised leadership debates.
Sir Robert Worcester is Visiting Professor at London School of Economics and King’s College London. Roger Mortimore is Director of Political Analysis at Ipsos MORI and Professor of Public Opinion and Political Analysis at King’s College London. Mark Gill is an adviser to governments and organisations around the world on public opinion research.
The authors spoke about their findings to Cranfield School of Management in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDbSG93wXog
Explaining Cameron’s Comeback is available from all good bookshops and direct from www.indiebooks.co.uk.
About Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.
