This paper is motivated by the growing interest in the strategies that political actors and parties adopt to be successful in the electoral market. This work focuses on the election campaigns of the Conservative party in the United Kingdom´s general elections 2015 and 2017. In particular, it tries to identify which strategic orientation the Conservatives applied in their approach towards the electoral market. The degree of strategic orientation of a party with regard to political marketing management can be operationalized by the deployment of the Strategic Political Posture concept. After the Strategic Political Postures of the Conservative´s 2015 and 2017 election campaign are derived, both postures are compared, in order to make suggestions on possible reasons for a change in strategic orientation.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Course of action
3. Strategic Political Postures
4. Strategic Political Posture of the Conservatives in the 2015 United Kingdom Election
5. Strategic Political Posture of the Conservatives in the 2017 United Kingdom Election
6. Comparison of the Strategic Political Postures of the Conservative Party in the 2015 and 2017 Election
7. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Themes
This paper aims to analyze and compare the strategic orientation of the British Conservative Party during the 2015 and 2017 general election campaigns by applying the concept of "Strategic Political Postures" (SPP) to identify changes in their electoral market approach.
- Theoretical framework of Strategic Political Postures (Leading vs. Following)
- Analysis of the Conservative Party's 2015 manifesto and strategic orientation
- Analysis of the Conservative Party's 2017 manifesto and strategic orientation
- Comparison of strategic shifts between the two election periods
- Evaluation of external factors, such as the EU Referendum, on political marketing strategy
Excerpt from the Book
Strategic Political Postures
To understand the way in which parties and candidates exchange value propositions in the electoral market, it is useful to apply theoretical concepts. Additionally, political actors need to have an overall strategy plan that can be seen as a guideline the party complies with. This helps gaining success in an election campaign through the efficient alignment of its communication instruments (Henneberg, 2006). An appropriate concept to measure the basic orientation of a party or candidate towards the electoral market concerning Political Marketing Management, are the Strategic Political Postures (SPP) (Ormrod & Henneberg, 2006). Henneberg (2006) distinguishes two main dimensions that constitute the different Strategic Political Postures from which parties or political actors can choose when deciding on a competitive position in the political sphere:
Leading: When a party tries to lead, they know, that their political offering is substiantially right. This mostly involves trying to actively convince other of the beneficial nature of offering of the party. As a result, Political Marketing Management is only a tactical tool to pursue a certain mission (Ormrod et al., 2013).
Following: When a party decides to follow, they anticipate or analyze the wishes of their target voters and create an offering that best represents the wishes of the largest possible number of individuals (Ormrod et al., 2013). Following implicates that Political Marketing is not a tool only a tool to execute the parties strategy but is also needed to develop the political offering and therefore the strategic orientation (Henneberg, 2006). Parties, that follow the market, also have to react to “events such as public opinion changes by developing adaptive offerings that fulfill stakeholder´s needs and wants” (Ormrod & Henneberg, 2011, S. 7).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the motivation for the study, focusing on the political climate leading up to the 2017 snap election and the resulting interest in potential strategic shifts.
2. Course of action: Outlines the methodological approach, which involves establishing a theoretical foundation followed by the analysis and comparison of the Conservative Party's campaign postures.
3. Strategic Political Postures: Defines the core theoretical concepts of "Leading" and "Following" and illustrates the four resulting strategic postures: Convinced Ideologist, Tactical Populist, Relationship Builder, and Political Lightweight.
4. Strategic Political Posture of the Conservatives in the 2015 United Kingdom Election: Analyzes the 2015 manifesto and concludes that the party adopted a "Convinced Ideologist" posture characterized by high leading and low following.
5. Strategic Political Posture of the Conservatives in the 2017 United Kingdom Election: Examines the 2017 manifesto, identifying a shift toward a "Relationship Builder" posture that incorporates both leading and following dimensions.
6. Comparison of the Strategic Political Postures of the Conservative Party in the 2015 and 2017 Election: Compares the two campaign periods and attributes the shift in posture largely to the political fallout and needs following the 2016 EU Referendum.
7. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, noting a clear transition in strategy and acknowledging the subjective nature of the analysis due to limited rationality in assessing political postures.
Keywords
Political Marketing, Strategic Political Postures, Conservative Party, UK General Election, Electoral Market, Leading, Following, Convinced Ideologist, Relationship Builder, Manifesto Analysis, EU Referendum, Strategy Shift, Value Proposition, Political Campaign, Market Orientation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this research paper?
The paper examines the strategic marketing orientation of the British Conservative Party during the 2015 and 2017 general elections.
What are the primary theoretical themes explored?
The core theme is the "Strategic Political Posture" (SPP) framework, specifically focusing on the dimensions of "Leading" and "Following" in political marketing.
What is the main objective of this study?
The goal is to determine if and how the Conservative Party's strategic orientation changed between the 2015 and 2017 campaigns by identifying their specific strategic posture in each period.
Which scientific method is applied here?
The author uses a qualitative analysis approach, deriving the strategic postures by examining the contents of the Conservative Party's election manifestos from 2015 and 2017.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers the theoretical definition of SPP, a detailed analysis of the 2015 and 2017 manifestos, and a comparative discussion of the findings.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Political Marketing, Strategic Political Postures, Conservative Party, Electoral Market, and Manifesto Analysis.
Why did the author classify the 2015 campaign as a "Convinced Ideologist" posture?
The 2015 campaign showed a heavy emphasis on "Leading" through a strong ideological focus, with little to no evidence of adapting policies to public opinion shifts, fitting the definition of an ideologist-driven strategy.
How did the 2016 EU Referendum influence the findings regarding the 2017 campaign?
The author suggests that the unexpected referendum result and the need for a stronger mandate pushed the Conservatives to move toward a "Relationship Builder" posture, requiring a greater focus on "Following" and adapting to public concerns.
- Quote paper
- Harry Kreil (Author), 2017, Strategic Political Postures of the Conservatives in the UK General Election 2015 and 2017. Analysis and Comparison, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/427001
