Mark Shephard

The Impact of the Scottish Parliament in Amending Executive Legislation

This paper provides the first systematic attempt to investigate the legislative impact of the Scottish Parliament on Executive legislation, by analysing the fate of all amendments to Executive bills from the Parliaments first session (1999–2003). Initial findings on the success of bill amendments show that the balance of power inclines strongly in favour of ministers. However, when we account for the type of amendment and initial authorship we find evidence that the Parliament (both coalition and opposition MSPs) actually makes more of an impact, particularly in terms of the level of success of substantive amendments to Executive bills. Our findings have implications for much of the current literature that is sceptical of the existence of power sharing between the Executive and the Parliament and within the Parliament.

Facing the voters : the potential impact of ballot paper photographs in British elections

A growing body of literature has found that photographs of politicians can influence electoral preferences. In this article we assess whether candidates rating higher on electoral attractiveness perform better in a series of hypothetical elections, and whether their advantage is magnified when their appearance is printed not only on campaign materials but also on ballot papers. We find that candidate appearance only had a significant impact on vote choice when photographs were printed on ballot papers, and even then there was an impact on only some of the elections, notably those pitting male against female candidates. Photographs had most impact on the choices of those least interested in politics and least likely to vote, and magnified a tendency (among voters of all ages) to favour younger candidates and to penalise older candidates. Findings suggest that the addition of photographs to ballot papers could affect the outcomes of marginal British constituency races.

Gender, candidate image and electoral preference

Studies show that voters make judgements about politicians—their competence, honesty, warmth and so on—on the basis of physical appearance, and that these judgements can influence voting behaviour. This raises the possibility of two different gender gaps: (i) female and male candidates may be evaluated differently, ultimately affecting their relative electoral performance; and (ii) female and male voters may react differently to candidate images. We explore this using a stacked data set of evaluations of 36 UK MPs by 368 undergraduate students, and find evidence of both gender gaps. First, we confirm the persistent finding that voters assign ‘warmth’ traits to female and ‘strength’ traits to male candidates. Such stereotyping has an interesting impact on electoral preference: male candidates were judged more by warmth, female candidates more by strength, suggesting that stereotypical traits were taken for granted. Second, we find male voters more likely than female voters to see male candidates as stronger, and to prioritise strength in voting. Our results also support the view that gender and appearance heuristics are relied on most by those with little other basis for judgement, such as non-partisans. Hence, while gender effects on voting are weak when averaged across the whole electorate, they could be much stronger for (expanding) sub-groups of voters.

A Face for Radio? How Viewers and Listeners Reacted Differently to the Third Leaders' Debate in 2010

Neil Kinnock expressed scepticism about Gordon Browns likely showing in the 2010 election debates, suggesting that the Labour leader had a ‘radio face’. We report an experiment in which students were split randomly between audio and video conditions for the third debate. As Kinnock predicted, Gordon Brown was more often proclaimed the winner by listeners. Nick Clegg, not David Cameron, benefited most from television. These differences were statistically significant despite a small sample (n = 63). We test three explanations for Cleggs advantage: (i) that television boosts the salience of certain traits (notably attractiveness); (ii) that television boosts the importance of ‘style’ over ‘substance’; (iii) that listeners form judgements based on performance throughout the debate, while viewers are disproportionately influenced by memorable incidents or remarks. There is evidence supporting all three explanations.

Electoral poachers? an assessment of shadowing behaviour in the Scottish parliament

The mixed member electoral system used for the Scottish Parliament has produced two kinds of parliamentarians – those elected to represent constituencies (constituency members) and those elected to represent regions (list members). This system has created the possibility that list members might shadow constituency members with the intention of contesting the constituency seat in the next election. One manifestation of this is where list members locate their offices. Existing research on the shadowing of constituency members by list members has focused on the opinions of samples of members. In this paper we measure the behaviour of all members to examine the question of whether, how, and why list members shadow constituency members through the location of their offices. Among a number of findings, we provide evidence that list members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are significantly more likely to locate offices in most marginal constituencies, suggesting that electoral poaching is a feature of the system.

Parliamentary Scrutiny and Oversight of the British ‘War on Terror’: From Accretion of Executive Power and Evasion of Scrutiny to Embarrassment and Concessions

The UK has experienced strong executive commitment to the ‘war on terror’ from the outset. Even though the rhetoric towards the ‘war on terror’ may have changed under the Brown administration, attempts to extend the powers of the state in the security domain have persisted, for example, by the proposed introduction of ID cards and extensions of detention without charge. Despite rebellions, the executive invariably benefits from majority control in the House of Commons, control over business, time, information, and a sometimes compliant Conservative opposition. However, there have been both procedural concessions (for example, committee scrutiny of the PM, and rights to debate and vote on war) and policy concessions (sunset clauses, and reduced days’ detention without charge). While the House of Lords has arguably been more successful in gaining policy concessions, analysis over time reveals that concessions are temporary and if the executive wants its way it will use its advantages to try again.

Multiple audiences, multiple messages? An exploration of the dynamics between the party, the candidate and the various constituencies

Abstract Using both aggregate and individual‐level data, the extent to which Scottish Labour manifestos and individual election communications for the 2001 and 2005 General Elections were responsive to various constituencies is examined. Findings suggest that while the Labour Party has been responsive to Scottish public opinion (particularly for those issues where party performance has been strongest), there has not been much targeting of individual candidate literature content at the constituency level. In particular, while regression analysis indicates that some socio‐economic indicators of constituencies were more significant than marginality in explaining variance in the content of Labour candidate messages, effects were nonetheless fairly limited (albeit more noticeable for potential voter groups).

The long and the short of the SNP breakthrough

The 2015 election campaign saw the Scottish National Party (SNP) abruptly transformed from a largely irrelevant minority party to one with a major impact on British politics. For two generations after Scottish Nationalists began contesting elections in 1929, their efforts had demonstrated the commitment of Scots to the two British governing parties. Together, the Conservative and Labour Parties took up to 97% of the Scottish vote, while the Nationalists averaged only 1%, and did not win a single seat at a general election until 1970. The SNP first gained significance when the share of the two British governing parties fell to 75% at the 1974 British general elections. While in England the Liberals benefited, in Scotland it was the SNP that gained most. In the February 1974 British general election its vote almost doubled and it won seven MPs, enough to hold the balance of power in an almost evenly divided House of Commons. In October 1974 the SNP won 11 seats and its share of the Scottish vote reached 30%, only six percentage points less than the Labour vote. The Labour government introduced a bill for the devolution of a minimum of powers to a Scottish assembly, but many Labour MPs were hostile and the proposed assembly was rejected because of insufficient turnout at a 1979 Scottish referendum.

Constitutional Conventions in Westminster Systems: Controversies, Changes and Challenges

different notions of class were deployed by those who carried out this study, and by those who participated as interviewees, linked to how notions of class were mobilized in the parliamentary by-election in Luton in 1963. These very specific investigations are used to make powerful arguments about the specific understandings of class (uniting ‘the poor and the aspiring’) that were successfully mobilized by Labour in the 1960s but which were subsequently lost. Duncan Tanner was a Welshman, and though not a nationalist, contributed a great deal to the understanding both of the specific ‘Welsh’ version of Labour, and the challenges it faced from a revived national consciousness and process of devolution. How the Conservatives coped with the issue of devolution is addressed respectively by Matthew Cragoe, whilst Andrew Edwards and Mari Wiliam consider how Labour responded in the years before and after 1964 respectively. These latter essays register the significance of de-industrialization in shaping Welsh politics, whilst also taking full account of the cultural challenges that were involved in combining the traditions of British socialism with a distinctive ‘Welshness’. Two broad essays on ‘common sense’ and the economy by Peter Clarke, and ‘Big State versus Big Society’ by Pat Thane, complete the book. In sum, this is a fitting tribute to Duncan Tanner, a book which combines meticulous scholarship, methodological innovation and a willingness to address key themes in the politics of modern Britain in compelling fashion.

The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands it and Campaigning Undermines it

reflètent véritablement ce qui se passe dans les départements, en permettant de combler des lacunes et surtout de démontrer que le point de vue local ne l’emporte pas toujours. Les procès-verbaux sont évidemment une mine d’informations concernant le sens et les détails de ce qui a été décidé même s’ils peuvent être controversés quand ils entrent dans le champ des politiques nationales, de par leur soutien à la bonne ou mauvaise faction politique, leurs contenus lacunaires qui laissent présager une suppression de contenu, ou l’orthographe souvent imprécise des noms des individus d’une session à l’autre. Ces réserves mises de côté, on conçoit bien qu’une lecture strictement chronologique donnera au mieux une idée d’immédiateté (surtout celles de l’Hérault particulièrement riches même si elles demandent à être clarifiées). Les chercheurs auront soin de prendre garde à la figure clé du secrétaire général dans la mesure où il traitait les affaires dans le sens qui était le plus favorable à l’administration locale ou à luimême. Une lecture comparée des fonds des archives des quatre départements illustre son rôle central et son autorité. Ces sources devront bien entendu être complétées par l’étude des correspondances avec les différents représentants nationaux. L’auteur a choisi de consacrer un chapitre à l’administration du Bas-Languedoc sous l’Ancien Régime dans le but de la comparer à ce qui va suivre, la période révolutionnaire sera subdivisée en quatre autres chapitres chronologiques : monarchie constitutionnelle, la Terreur, de Thermidor à la constitution de l’An III et enfin le Directoire. Les conclusions de l’étude souligneront notamment que, pendant les 10 premières années de la Révolution, le gouvernement local dans le Bas-Languedoc fut moins efficace que le système d’Ancien Régime qu’il remplaçait. Si l’importance du gouvernement local tout au long de la décennie est indéniable, la détérioration progressive de son mode de fonctionnement a rendu d’autant plus fatale la dictature du Consulat. Enfin, et en dépit peut-être de ces éléments « négatifs », Roger Duck démontre le rôle ô combien important rempli par les employés, la croissance du professionnalisme et le début de la Fonction Publique.