Going on the offensive: Negative messaging in British general elections

Duggan, Alan; Milazzo, Caitlin

Abstract

What drives British parliamentary candidates to attack their opponents? Using an original dataset of approximately 7500 general election leaflets from four elections between 2010 and 2019, we offer the first study into the conditions under which British parliamentary candidates use negative messaging. We find that leaflets from opposition candidates and candidates contesting marginal (i.e., competitive) seats are more likely to include messages about their opponent(s), which suggests that candidates respond to the incentives and pressures that come from both their local and national environment when determining whether to include negative messaging in their leaflets. Moreover, we find that, as seats become more marginal, candidates from government parties become just as likely as opposition parties to engage in negative messaging, and therefore, voters in marginal seats are likely to experience more negative campaigns than those residing in seats where the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Taken together, our findings make an important contribution to the growing body of literature that explores how candidates use negative messaging in party-centred systems.

Citation

Duggan, A., & Milazzo, C. (2023). Going on the offensive: Negative messaging in British general elections. Electoral Studies, 83, Article 102600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102600

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-06
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 19, 2023
• Journal: Electoral Studies
• Print ISSN: 0261-3794
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-6890
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 83
• Article Number: 102600
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102600
• Keywords: Negative messaging; British elections; Political communication; Leaflets
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/18228044
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379423000227?via%3Dihub