... economy and how the parties can manage it, rather than the actual economic prosperity of the country, that affects how people vote. It can also be argued how far other factors affect voting choice, especially in the post 1997 election period. Ever since the explanatory power of social class seems to have diminished, and the debate has raged on the extent to which newer areas such as geography can explain variance in British voting, one particular theory-economic voting-has recently gained favour in psychological circles. Most of the focus for these studies has concentrated upon personal economic expectations; however as the 1992 and 1997 elections show the basis for economic voting seems to lie in the economic credibility of the political parties. In 1992 Labour had a clear lead on most of the issues that dominated the election, having in-built advantages on the social agenda of education policy, the NHS and unemployment. The ...

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