Change is the Frame in the Election Campaign

In my last blog I suggested that many floating voters will use ‘gut’ or ‘intuitive’ thinking when deciding between the candidates. I also outlined the importance of framing in election campaigns.

So far, all three parties seem to be encouraging the electorate to use a ‘change’ frame and then trying to build up credibility by emphasising their change credentials.

This frame leads floating voters to evaluate campaign information simply in terms of the amount and direction of change it implies. Thus parties are being evaluated in terms of the amount of change they are thought to bring about, rather than a detailed evaluation of the implications of their policies.

With the introduction of the three-way debates the party leaders have become more prominent, so floating voters are likely to be assessing each primarily in terms of their ‘potential for inducing change’ rather than other characteristics. This is where Nick Clegg, either intentionally or by luck, has scored so heavily. He has been able to bracket Labour and Conservative parties together as the ‘old system’ and the Liberal Democrats as the ‘new way’.

This gives the Liberal Democrats a much higher rating in terms of degree of change, making them much more attractive to floating voters. This suggests that other aspects of their policy are being neglected. If you doubt this, listen to interviews with the new converts. Not only do they know very little about Liberal Democrats’ policies, but many actually disagree on issues such as joining the euro and looking for a successor to Trident. However, by focusing on this rather nebulous concept of change these crucial differences are ignored.

This state of affairs presents a real problem for the Conservatives who have made the ‘change frame’ a principal part of their campaign. It will be interesting to see whether they rise to the challenge by further emphasising David Cameron’s change credentials or by trying to switch the campaign frame.

As for the Labour Party, they too seem to be going along with the change frame, perhaps inappropriate for a party that has been in power for so long. It will be interesting to see whether we see a switch in their campaign as we get closer to polling day.

Professor John Maule - Linstock Associate
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