Premium
A Labour City? The London Mayoral and Assembly Elections 2021
Author(s) -
Travers Tony
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.13049
Subject(s) - reputation , politics , begging , voting , political science , public administration , leverage (statistics) , political economy , local election , government (linguistics) , demographic economics , sociology , economics , law , linguistics , philosophy , machine learning , computer science
London's reputation as a ‘Labour city’ was sustained by the 2021 Greater London Authority election. Sadiq Khan won, as expected, though the Conservatives’ Shaun Bailey did better than polls or pundits predicted. But, London has not always been thus. Declines in Conservative voting in elections since the mid‐1990s have made it significantly harder for the party to win. Social and demographic factors have affected Londoners' electoral behaviour, with an electorate which is younger, more likely to live in rented accommodation, more likely to belong to an ethnic minority and more likely to have a degree. As Boris Johnson's government seeks to extend its 2019 electoral success in the ‘red wall’, there is a risk the ‘levelling‐up’ agenda will leave London without political leverage, begging the question: how long will it be before London voters learn to send observable messages to the major parties about the fragility of their support?