How do British political parties mobilise and contact voters to increase turnout?

Abstract

This thesis will explore how British political parties over the period 2010-2017 have developed their mobilisation and contacting methods. Looking at social media, demographics, and other salient issues, I will construct a coherent and clear narrative of how British political parties have reacted to new technology, and what the advantages and disadvantages of doing so are. I shall be looking in particular at youth political mobilisation and contact, as this demographic has a poor election turnout record, so I shall explain why this is and how British political parties are attempting to contact and mobilise them (and how they have done so successfully). Looking at the 2010, 2015, and 2017 General Elections as well as the 2014 EU and 2016 referendums, this will enable me to take a look at Britain in different political times and differing levels of technology, from the first TV debates in 2010 to the first social media election in 2017. Examining how voter contacting has changed and how political parties attempt to use voter contacting to drive up turnout will be key to the thesis, and will illuminate how the evolution in British political parties over time has changed the way parties and voters relate to one another.