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For some, it’s the Grinch Election; a mid-winter trip to the polls that has slammed straight into the festive season interrupting Christmas shopping and parties (including The Conversation’s London bash).
For others, it’s the election that had to happen, to break the Brexit deadlock and define Britain’s future. But could it mean the very end of the United Kingdom, itself? The stakes are that high as the campaign commences.
Yesterday, parliament was dissolved (legally, this time). And so, the 2019 UK general election campaign is officially underway.
Here at The Conversation, a charity, we are dedicated to providing readers with evidence-based academic journalism all year round – but we think that principle becomes doubly important during election campaigns. And while other media – old and new – may fixate on the personalities and quick headlines, we will dig deep into policy proposals that may shape these isles for a generation.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll bring you informed analysis of developments in the campaign and we’ll fact check the claims being made. Academic expert authors will dive deep into manifestos to pull out the promises that matter as December 12 approaches. It may be the most difficult vote to predict in decades, so while we’ll look at what certain voting patterns may do to the electoral map, we’ll also focus on what proposed measures will mean for the UK, Ireland, and other European countries.
We already know a little bit about what to expect. For Boris Johnson, the key to winning back a majority for the Conservatives seems to be a plan to target constituencies in the north of England that have traditionally voted Labour but also supported leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum. Johnson is convinced his hard line on Brexit can win votes in these areas. Ryan Swift is conducting his PhD on the politics of this region so I asked him to
assess Johnson’s chances.
Meanwhile, Karl Pike has some thoughts on how Jeremy Corbyn can strike Johnson where he is weak, beginning with a deceptively simple question: why did you really call this election? But the outcome of this election may well be determined by other parties. We’ll bring you constitutional experts, digital media analysts and psephologists on the challenges facing all the key players.
And with mainstream as well as social media in the spotlight like never before we’ll pay particular attention to how political operators seek to game television, and the social platforms. In fact, we’ve already got an analysis of which party made the best use of these tools over the past week.
So, if you value a different type of news media – one rooted in deep knowledge – then make The Conversation your first stop every morning. And do forward this email to friends and colleagues who share your thirst for fact-based news, encouraging them to sign up for the daily email.
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