Political Communication in Britain: The Leader Debates, the Campaign and the Media in the 2010 General Election

Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-4
Front Matter....Pages 5-5
What Took So Long? The Late Arrival of TV Debates in the UK General Election of 2010....Pages 7-21
The Election Debates: Sky News’ Perspective on their Genesis and Impact on Media Coverage....Pages 22-36
Media Coverage of the Prime Ministerial Debates....Pages 37-55
The Polls, The Media and Voters: The Leader Debates....Pages 56-73
Front Matter....Pages 75-75
Were the Polls Wrong about the Lib Dems All Along?....Pages 77-93
Polling Voting Intentions....Pages 94-108
Front Matter....Pages 109-109
The Campaign As Experienced by the Voters in the Battleground Seats....Pages 111-125
Public Confidence in Elections....Pages 126-143
Front Matter....Pages 145-145
The Conservative Campaign....Pages 147-156
The Labour Party’s Road to 2010....Pages 157-168
From Protest to Power — The Progress of the Liberal Democrats....Pages 169-178
Front Matter....Pages 179-179
‘This Election will be Won by People not Posters’… Advertising and the 2010 General Election....Pages 181-197
Constituency Campaigning in 2010....Pages 198-217
Below the Radar? Online Campaigning at the Local Level in the 2010 Election....Pages 218-237
Front Matter....Pages 239-239
Playing by the Rules: The 2009 MPs’ Expenses Scandal....Pages 241-260
The Transformation of Campaign Reporting: The 2010 UK General Election, Revolution or Evolution?....Pages 261-280
Reporting the 2010 General Election: Old Media, New Media — Old Politics, New Politics....Pages 281-303
Genre and the Mediation of Election Politics....Pages 304-324
Conclusion: Time for Change?....Pages 325-332
Back Matter....Pages 333-349