Abstract
Manifestos are one of the main means by which parties project their ‘brand’, chiefly by presenting policy prescriptions which collectively position them at clearly identifiable points along the political spectrum. This chapter focuses on the manifesto as a platform to project each party’s brand, as well as how that brand is communicated to the electorate through mini-campaigns and media events. Space does not allow a consideration of all policies; so, given that it was a key concern of the public, was central to the campaign and featured prominently in the main parties’ manifestos, economic policy is the main focus of this analysis. Overall, the chapter contends that the Conservative brand narrative was the clearest and most credible, which may have contributed significantly to their election victory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ashcroft, M. (2013). What are the liberal democrats for? Lord Ashcroft Polls, March 8. http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/03/what-are-the-liberal-democrats-for/
Beck, S. (2015). Regret your vote? Why that might not be such a bad thing. The Conversation, May 14. https://theconversation.com/regret-your-vote-why-that-might-not-be-such-a-bad-thing-41692
Boffey, D. (2015). TV channels block Green party bid to limit Natalie Bennett’s screen time. The Guardian, February 28. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/28/natalie-bennett-green-party-limit-leader-screen-broadcasters
Brack, D. (2000). Introduction. In I. Dale [with an introduction by Duncan Brack] Liberal Party general election manifestos, 1900-1997 (pp. 1–19). London and New York: Routledge and Politico’s Publishing.
British Election Study Team. (2015). British election study: Three common errors in interpreting voters’ choices. http://www.britishelectionstudy.com/uncategorized/three-common-errors-in-interpreting-voters-choices/#.Veugb5fK_IU
Charles, J. (2015). There’s just over a month till ‘pension freedom day’ – will yours be ready? The Guardian, February 28. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/feb/28/pension-freedom-day-month-you-ready
Conservative Party. (2015a). The Conservative Party manifesto 2015. Strong leadership. A clear economic plan. A brighter, more secure future. London: Conservative Party.
Conservative Party. (2015b). David Cameron speech: Conservative Party manifesto launch. April 14, 2015 [press release]. http://press.conservatives.com/post/116374071635/david-cameron-speech-conservative-party-manifesto
Cwalina, W., Falkowski, A., & Newman, B. I. (2011). Political marketing: Theoretical and strategic foundations. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
Dale, I. (2013). Top 50 most influential Liberal Democrats: revenge of the Orange Bookers. Daily Telegraph, September 17. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/10315247/Top-50-most-influential-Liberal-Democrats-Revenge-of-the-Orange-Bookers.html
Gaber, I. (2011). The transformation of campaign reporting: The 2010 UK general election, revolution or evolution? In D. Wring, R. Mortimore, & S. Atkinson (Eds.), Political communication in Britain (pp. 261–280). Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Green Party. (2015). For the common good. General election manifesto. London: Green Party.
ITV. (2015). Conservatives delay manifesto launch to avoid Labour clash, April 9. http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-04-09/conservatives-delay-manifesto-launch-to-avoid-labour-clash/
Kavanagh, D. (2000). Labour party manifestos 1900-1997. In I. Dale (Ed.) [with an Introduction by Dennis Kavanagh], Labour Party general election manifestos, 1900-1997 (pp. 1–8). London and New York: Routledge and Politico’s Publishing.
Keller, K. L. (2001). Building customer-based brand equity: A blueprint for creating strong brands (Report summary, 01-107). Cambridge, MA: Marketing Research Institute.
Kellner, P. (2015). Latest forecast: Tories pay the price of an inept campaign. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/04/26/tories-pay-price-inept-campaign/.
Labour List. (2014). Changing Britain together, December 8. http://labourlist.org/2014/12/changing-britain-together/
Labour Party. (2014). Changing Britain together. London: Labour Party.
Labour Party. (2015). Britain can be better. The Labour Party manifesto 2015. London: Labour Party.
Lees-Marshment, J. (2008). Political marketing and British political parties (2nd ed.). Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
Liberal Democrats. (2015a). Liberal Democrat manifesto 2015. London: Liberal Democrats.
Liberal Democrats. (2015b). Women’s manifesto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eABC9FII_zE
Lilleker, D., & Negrine, R. (2006). Mapping a market-orientation: Can we only detect political marketing through the lens of hindsight? In B. Newman & P. Davies (Eds.), Winning elections with political marketing (pp. 33–58). New York: Haworth Press.
Loughborough University Communication Research Centre. (2015a). Media coverage of the 2015 General Election (report 2), April 18. https://blog.lboro.ac.uk/general-election/media-coverage-of-the-2015-general-election-report-2/
Loughborough University Communication Research Centre. (2015b). Media coverage of the 2015 General Election (report 3), April 24. https://blog.lboro.ac.uk/general-election/media-coverage-of-the-2015-general-election-report-3/
Moore, M., & Ramsay, G. (2015). Election unspun. Media Standards Trust, King’s College London, The Policy Institute at King’s. www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/…/MST-Election-2015-FINAL.pdf
Morris, N. (2014). Not just Nigel Farage? Ukip unveils new top team to combat ‘one-man band’ image. The Independent, June 2. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/not-just-nigel-farage-ukip-unveil-new-top-team-to-combat-oneman-band-image-9474710.html
Morris, N. (2015). General election 2015: Immigration – How the parties are playing the numbers game. The Independent, April 22.
Perraudin, F. (2015). Liberal democrat members left ‘in the dark’ about party’s spending plans. The Guardian, March 9. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/09/liberal-democrat-members-left-dark-about-party-spending-plans
Scottish National Party. (2015). Stronger for Scotland. SNP manifesto. Edinburgh: Scottish National Party.
Shephard, M. (2015). Using social media to predict the General Election? In D. Jackson & E. Thorsen (Eds.), UK election analysis 2015: Media, voters and campaign (p. 29). Poole: Political Studies Association/Centre for the Study of Journalism Culture & Community, Bournemouth University. http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2015/section-2-voters/using-social-media-to-predict-the-general-election/
UKIP. (2015). Believe in Britain. UKIP manifesto. Newton Abbot: UKIP.
Whiteley, P., Stewart, M. C., Sanders, D., & Clarke, H. D. (2005). The issue agenda and voting in 2005. In P. Norris & C. Wlezien (Eds.), Britain votes 2005 (pp. 146–161). Oxford and New York: Oxford Journals, Oxford University Press. In association with The Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government.
Wintour, P. (2015). The undoing of Ed Miliband—and how labour lost the election. The Guardian, June 3. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/03/undoing-of-ed-miliband-and-how-labour-lost-election
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
White, A. (2016). Manifestos as an Extended Branding Campaign. In: Lilleker, D., Pack, M. (eds) Political Marketing and the 2015 UK General Election. Palgrave Studies in Political Marketing and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58440-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58440-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58439-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58440-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)