Variable

UK Data Service variable record for:

British General Election Study, 1987; Cross-Section Survey

Variable Details

VariableV15B1
LabelReason 1 why voted for party
Question text You said you voted (PARTY AT V15A) in the 1987 general election. Can you say a bit about why you decided to vote for the (PARTY AT V15A)? 1st reason
Responses
100 Positive refs-named Con. leaders 0
101 General 9
102 Mrs. Thatcher 179
103 Local people in Party 12
110 Oth pos refs-general images 54
111 Competence in governing 169
112 Keeps promises, honest 1
113 Strong, decisive 31
114 United Party, not divided 0
115 Caring, concerned 5
116 Unites the Nation 1
117 Party is centre/moderate/not extreme 2
120 Oth pos refs-philosophies or ideas 1
121 Mentions of philosophy/ideas/beliefs 125
122 For free/Private enterprise/Profit 24
123 For indiv opp./Self-reliance/Indiv. choice 32
124 Social welfare, welfare state 0
125 Equality 1
126 Traditional/Patriotic Party 1
127 Right, not leftist 0
128 Fresh, new ideas 0
130 Oth pos refs-Foreign policy 1
131 Foreign policy 3
132 Defence 57
133 Nuclear defence issues 32
134 Falklands 0
135 Stands up to EEC, Common Market 0
139 General domestic policies 1
140 Other domestic issues 0
141 Budget, managing economy 34
142 Unemployment 3
143 Prices, inflation 8
144 Taxes/Cutting taxes/Lower taxes 13
145 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 11
146 Privatisation 16
147 Shares/share ownership/the City 1
148 National Health Service 1
149 Housing policy 11
150 State education 11
151 State pensions/Family allowance 0
152 Private health care/Education/Pensions 4
153 Crime, law and order 6
154 Strikes, industrial relations 3
155 Trade Unions 15
156 Immigration, ethnic minorities 0
157 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
158 Women, Women's issues 0
159 Environmental or 'green' issues 1
160 Pos mentions handling oth groups 0
161 Me, I am better off 111
162 All people, vast majority 11
163 Working people/the less well-off/the poor 2
164 Middle class/better-off 1
165 Trade Unions/Unionists 0
166 The unemployed 0
167 Those running industry/business 2
168 Those in City, financial services 0
169 Self-employed/small businessmen 16
170 Homeowners 4
171 Council tenants/the homeless 0
172 Shareowners 0
173 Taxpayers 0
174 Pensioners/older people 0
175 Young people 3
176 People in this part of country 4
177 Straight people/heterosexual 0
178 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
179 Public sector workers 2
180 Other responses-Party politics 0
181 Always been Conservative 83
182 Unknown label 0
183 Family/Parents etc. Conservatives 41
184 Active in local Conservative Party 2
185 Better not to switch parties 9
186 Vote for Party that could win 8
187 Tactical vote for Conservatives 2
188 Cons no chance-but voted for them anyway 1
189 Want Cons have more seats 0
190 Cons fought better campaign 5
196 No codes-Inadequate probing 2
197 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
198 No codes-Other answer 2
200 Negative refs-named Con. leaders 0
201 General 2
202 Mrs. Thatcher 57
203 Local people in Party 2
210 Oth negative mentions of party 4
211 Competence in governing 7
212 Can't keep promises/dishonest 2
213 Weak, indecisive 0
214 Divided Party, not divided 2
215 Uncaring, unconcerned 3
216 Divides the Nation 0
217 Party is extreme/hard-line/not moderate 21
220 Oth negative mentions-philosophies or ideas 0
221 Dislike overall philosophy 13
222 Free/Private enterprise/Profit 1
223 Too individualistic 0
224 Social welfare, welfare state 1
225 Inequality 0
226 Traditional/Patriotic Party 0
227 Are to Right, not leftist 7
228 Have no new ideas 0
230 Oth negative refs-Foreign policy 0
231 Foreign policy 0
232 Defence 3
233 Nuclear defence issues 1
234 Falklands 0
235 Stand on EEC, Common Market 0
239 General domestic policies 0
240 Other domestic issues 1
241 Budget, managing economy 0
242 Unemployment 15
243 Prices, inflation 0
244 Taxes 1
245 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 5
246 Privatisation 8
247 Shares/Share ownership/The City 0
248 National Health Service 9
249 Housing policy 0
250 State education 9
251 State pensions/Family allowance 1
252 Private health care/Education/Pensions 3
253 Crime, law and order 0
254 Strikes, industrial relations 0
255 Trade Unions 1
256 Immigration, ethnic minorities 0
257 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
258 Women, Women's issues 0
259 Environmental or 'green' issues 0
260 Negative mentions handling oth groups 2
261 Me, I am worse off 8
262 All people, vast majority 0
263 Working people/the less well-off/the poor 10
264 Middle class/better-off 8
265 Trade Unions/Unionists 0
266 The unemployed 2
267 Those running industry/business 0
268 Those in City, financial services 0
269 Self-employed/small businessmen 0
270 Homeowners 0
271 Council tenants/the homeless 0
272 Shareowners 0
273 Taxpayers 0
274 Pensioners/older people 0
275 Young people 0
276 People in this part of country 9
277 Gays/lesbians/homosexuals 0
278 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
279 Public sector workers 0
280 Other responses-Party politics 0
281 Used to be Conservative 3
282 Always hated/disliked Conservatives 15
283 Family etc. hate Conservatives 0
284 Dislikes local Con. Party 1
285 Time for a change 5
286 Win anyway-didn't need vote 1
287 Tactical vote against Conservatives 40
288 Cons no chance-so did not vote for it 2
289 Want Cons have fewer seats 4
290 Cons fought bad campaign 0
295 Never though about voting Cons 0
296 No codes-Inadequate probing 1
297 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
298 No codes-Other answer 0
300 Positive refs-named Labour leaders 1
301 General 0
302 Neil Kinnock 23
303 Local people in Party 17
310 Oth pos refs-general images 13
311 Competence in governing 12
312 Keeps promises, honest 1
313 Strong, decisive 1
314 United Party, not divided 0
315 Caring, concerned 18
316 Unites the Nation 1
317 Party is centre/moderate/not extreme 0
320 Oth pos refs-philosophies or ideas 0
321 Likes overall philosophy/beliefs 42
322 For socialism 9
323 For fairness/justice 4
324 Social welfare, welfare state 7
325 Equality 2
326 Traditional/Patriotic Party 0
327 Left, not right-wing' 2
328 Fresh, new ideas 0
329 Militant 0
330 Oth pos refs-Foreign policy 0
331 Foreign policy 0
332 Defence 10
333 Nuclear defence issues 15
334 Falklands 0
335 Policy on EEC, Common Market 0
339 General domestic policies 3
340 Other domestic issues 0
341 Budget, managing economy 2
342 Unemployment 47
343 Prices, inflation 0
344 Taxes 1
345 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 0
346 Nationalisation 1
347 Shares/share ownership/the City 0
348 National Health Service 14
349 Housing policy 2
350 State education 9
351 State pensions/Family allowance 5
352 Private health care/Education/Pensions 0
353 Crime, law and order 1
354 Strikes, industrial relations 0
355 Trade Unions 2
356 Immigration, ethnic minorities 1
357 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
358 Women, Women's issues 0
359 Environmental or 'green' issues 0
360 Pos mentions handling oth groups 1
361 Me, I am better off 60
362 All people, vast majority 11
363 Working people/the less well-off/the poor 185
364 Middle class/better-off 0
365 Trade Unions/Unionists 6
366 The unemployed 10
367 Those working in industry/business 0
368 Those working in City/finance 0
369 Self-employed/small businessmen 0
370 Homeowners 1
371 Council tenants/the homeless 0
372 Shareowners 0
373 Taxpayers 0
374 Pensioners/older people 7
375 Young people 4
376 People in this part of country 11
377 Gays/lesbians/homosexuals 0
378 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
379 Public sector workers 1
380 Other responses-Party politics 1
381 Always been Labour 160
382 Unknown label 0
383 Family/Parents etc. Labour 67
384 Active in local Labour Party 5
385 Time for a change 17
386 Vote for Party that could win 11
387 Tactical vote for Labour 1
388 Labour no chance-but voted for them anyway 4
389 Want Labour have more seats 2
390 Lab fought better campaign 7
396 No codes-Inadequate probing 0
397 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
398 No codes-Other answer 2
400 Negative refs-named Lab. leaders 1
401 General 7
402 Neil Kinnock 13
403 Local people in Party 9
410 Oth negative mentions of party 9
411 Competence in governing 15
412 Can't keep promises/dishonest 3
413 Weak, indecisive 4
414 Divided Party, not divided 8
415 Uncaring, unconcerned 0
416 Divides the Nation 0
417 Party is extreme/hard-line/not moderate 3
420 Oth negative mentions-Philosophies or ideas 1
421 Dislike overall philosophy 20
422 For socialism 4
423 Not concerned with rights 0
424 Social welfare, welfare state 1
425 Equality 1
426 Against tradition, unpatriotic 0
427 Are to Left, not right-wing 30
428 Have no new ideas 3
429 Militant 5
430 Oth negative refs-Foreign policy 1
431 Foreign policy 1
432 Defence 19
433 Nuclear defence issues 16
434 Falklands 0
435 Policy on EEC, Common Market 0
439 General domestic policies 0
440 Other domestic issues 1
441 Budget, managing economy 5
442 Unemployment 0
443 Prices, inflation 1
444 Taxes/cutting taxes/lower taxes 4
445 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 1
446 Nationalisation 2
447 Shares/share ownership/the City 0
448 National Health Service 0
449 Housing policy 0
450 State education 0
451 State pensions/Family allowance 0
452 Private health care/Education/Pensions 0
453 Crime, law and order 1
454 Strikes, industrial relations 1
455 Trade Unions 6
456 Immigration, ethnic minorities 0
457 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
458 Women, Women's issues 0
459 Environmental or 'green' issues 0
460 Negative mentions handling oth groups 0
461 Me, I am worse off 8
462 All people, vast majority 0
463 Working people/the less well-off/the poor 1
464 Middle class/better-off 0
465 Trade Unions/Unionists 0
466 The unemployed 1
467 Those working industry/business 0
468 Those working in City/financial services 0
469 Self-employed/small businessmen 1
470 Homeowners 1
471 Council tenants/the homeless 0
472 Shareowners 0
473 Taxpayers 0
474 Pensioners/older people 1
475 Young people 0
476 People in this part of country 2
477 Gays/lesbians/homosexuals 2
478 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
479 Public sector workers 0
480 Other responses-Party politics 0
481 Used to be Labour 15
482 Always hated/disliked Labour 17
483 Family etc. hate Labour 3
484 Dislikes local Lab. Party 1
485 Time for a change 4
486 Win anyway-didn't need vote 0
487 Tactical vote against Labour 20
488 Labour no chance-so did not vote for it 8
489 Want Lab have fewer seats 6
490 Labour fought bad campaign 2
494 Unknown label 0
495 Never though about voting Labour 0
496 No codes-Inadequate probing 0
497 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
498 No codes-Other answer 0
500 SDP leaders-Positive refs 0
501 General 1
502 David Owen 19
503 Local people in Party 36
504 Liked two leaders 2
510 Oth pos refs-general images 18
511 Competence in governing 16
512 Keeps promises, honest 4
513 Strong, decisive 0
514 United Party, not divided 0
515 Caring, concerned 10
516 Unites the Nation 2
517 Party is centre/moderate/not extreme 73
518 Alliance like Conservatives 1
519 Alliance like Labour 1
520 Oth pos refs-philosophies or ideas 0
521 Likes overall philosophy/beliefs 77
522 For free/private enterprise 0
523 For individual opportunity 1
524 Social welfare, welfare state 1
525 Equality 1
526 Traditional/Patriotic Party 0
527 Right, not left-wing 0
528 Fresh, new ideas 3
529 Neither left nor right 4
530 Oth pos refs-Foreign policy 0
531 Foreign policy 0
532 Defence 4
533 Keep nuclear weapons 4
534 Falklands 0
535 Policy on EEC, Common Market 0
539 General domestic policies 1
540 Other domestic issues 0
541 Budget, managing economy 0
542 Unemployment 3
543 Prices, inflation 0
544 Taxes/cutting taxes/lower taxes 1
545 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 1
546 For Privatisation 0
547 Share ownership 0
548 National Health Service 1
549 Housing policy 1
550 State education 3
551 State pensions/Family allowance 1
552 Private health care/Education/Pensions 0
553 Crime, law and order 0
554 Strikes, industrial relations 0
555 Trade Unions 0
556 Immigration, ethnic minorities 0
557 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
558 Women, Women's issues 0
559 Environmental or 'green' issues 0
560 Pos mentions handling oth groups 0
561 Me, I am better off 10
562 All people, vast majority 7
563 Working people/the less well-off/the poor 6
564 Middle class/better-off 0
565 Trade Unions/Unionists 0
566 The unemployed 0
567 Those working in industry/business 0
568 Those working in City/finance 0
569 Self-employed/small businessmen 0
570 Homeowners 0
571 Council tenants/the homeless 0
572 Shareowners 0
573 Taxpayers 0
574 Pensioners/older people 4
575 Young people 1
576 People in this part of country 10
577 Gays/lesbians/homosexuals 0
578 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
579 Public sector workers 0
580 Other responses-Party politics 0
581 Always been Alliance/Liberal 21
583 Family/Parents etc. Alliance 16
584 Active in local SDP/Liberal Party 7
585 Time for a change 63
586 Vote for Party that could win 4
587 Tactical vote for Alliance 6
588 Alliance no chance-but voted for them anyway 11
589 Want Alliance have more seats 35
590 Alliance better campaign 6
591 Likes SDP 3
593 Liked coalition-two parties 2
596 No codes-Inadequate probing 0
597 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
598 No codes-Other answer 5
600 SDP leaders-negative refs 0
601 General 1
602 David Owen 0
603 Local people in Party 1
604 Disliked two leaders 3
610 Oth negative mentions of party 2
611 (In)Competence in governing 0
612 Can't keep promises/dishonest 0
613 Weak, indecisive 0
614 Divided Party, not divided 2
615 Uncaring, unconcerned 0
616 Divides the Nation 0
617 Party too moderate 0
618 Alliance like Conservatives 1
619 Alliance like Labour 0
620 Oth negative mentions-Philosophies or ideas 0
621 Dislike overall philosophy 0
622 For private enterprise 0
623 Individual opp-too much 0
624 Social welfare, welfare state 0
625 Equality 0
626 Against tradition, unpatriotic 0
627 Are to Right, not left-wing 0
628 Have no new ideas 1
629 Negative-Alliance left nor right 0
630 Oth negative refs-Foreign policy 0
631 Foreign policy 0
632 Defence 0
633 Favour Nuclear weapons-negative mentions 0
634 Falklands 0
635 Policy on EEC, Common Market 0
636 Alliance split-nuclear defence 0
639 General domestic policies 0
640 Other domestic issues 0
641 Budget, managing economy 0
642 Unemployment 0
643 Prices, inflation 0
644 Taxes/cutting taxes/lower taxes 0
645 Poll tax/Community charge/Rates 0
646 Privatisation 0
647 Alliance on share ownership 0
648 National Health Service 0
649 Housing policy 0
650 State education 0
651 State pensions/Family allowance 0
652 Private health care/Education/Pensions 0
653 Crime, law and order 0
654 Strikes, industrial relations 0
655 Trade Unions 0
656 Immigration, ethnic minorities 0
657 Gay/lesbian/homosexual issues 0
658 Women, Women's issues 0
659 Environmental or 'green' issues 0
660 Negative mentions grps Alliance supports 0
661 Me, would be worse off 0
662 All people, vast majority 0
663 Not favour working class/less well-off/poor 0
664 Too much favour middle class/better-off 0
665 Trade Unions/Unionists 0
666 The unemployed 0
667 Those working industry/business 0
668 Those working in City/financial services 0
669 Self-employed/small businessmen 0
670 Homeowners 0
671 Council tenants/the homeless 0
672 Shareowners 0
673 Taxpayers 0
674 Pensioners/older people 0
675 Young people 0
676 People in this part of country 0
677 Gays/lesbians/homosexuals 0
678 Ethnic minorities/Blacks/Asians 0
679 Public sector workers 0
680 Other responses-Party politics 1
681 Used to be Alliance 1
682 Always hated/disliked Alliance 0
683 Family etc. hate Alliance (SDP or Liberal) 0
684 Dislikes local SDP/Liberal party 0
685 Time for a change in Alliance 0
686 Win anyway-didn't need vote 0
687 Tactical vote against Alliance 0
688 Alliance no chance-so did not vote for it 12
689 Want Alliance have fewer seats 0
690 Fought bad campaign 0
691 Dislikes SDP 0
693 Merge two parties 0
695 Never though about voting Alliance 0
696 No codes-Inadequate probing 0
697 No codes-Bad handwriting 0
698 No codes-Other answer 0
700 Liberal leaders-Positive refs 3
702 David Steel 6
722 For socialism/social democracy 3
723 For fairness/justice 2
727 Left, not right-wing 0
733 Get rid of nuclear weapons 1
746 For Nationalisation 0
791 Likes Liberal Party 4
800 Liberal leaders-negative refs 0
802 David Steel 0
822 For socialism 0
823 Fairness-too much concern for 0
827 Are to Left, not right-wing 0
833 Oppose nuclear weapons-negative mentions 0
846 Nationalisation 0
863 Too much favour working class/less well-off/poor 0
891 Dislikes Liberal party 0
901 Pro-SNP:looks after Scotland's interests 17
902 Pro-SNP:any reason 5
903 Anti-SNP:any reason 0
921 Pro-Plaid Cymru:looks after Welsh interests 7
922 Pro-Plaid Cymru:any reason 2
923 Anti-Plaid Cymru:any reason 0
941 Positive support-any other party 4
942 Negative support-any other party 0
996 No codes-bad probing 0
997 No codes-illegible handwriting 0
998 Other answers-vague/irrelevant 5
999 Not answered 4
Sysmiss 2796
DisclaimerPlease note that these frequencies are not weighted.
LocationBritish General Election Study, 1987; Cross-Section Survey
UniverseElectors in Great Britain;National
SamplingNationally representative probability sample drawn from the Electoral Registers of England, Wales and Scotland (south of the Caledonian Canal)
Study TypeCross-sectional (one-time) study