Glossary of terms from the 2019 United Kingdom general election

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The 2019 United Kingdom general election of 12 December 2019 saw many new pieces of politics-related jargon enter popular use.

Contents

Terms

Brelection
A portmanteau of Brexit and Election that was coined as an informal term for the 2019 election, since its outcome would determine the course of the Brexit process. [1]
Brexit election
See Brelection for details.
Brexit Party
A new political party formed in early 2019 led by Nigel Farage in order to contest the 2019 European Parliament elections. The Brexit Party stood their candidates down in seats won by the Conservative Party in 2017, with a campaign focus on Labour leave seats in the North of England. The Brexit Party did not win any seats. [2]
Corbynmania
First coined in 2015, Corbynmania is a term used to describe enthusiastic support for Jeremy Corbyn, who was leader of the Labour Party during the 2019 election.
Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019
An Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for the holding of the 2019 election; the legislation was required under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. [3]
"Get Brexit done"
A Conservative Party slogan urging people to vote for them in order to complete the Brexit process. [4]
Labour's red wall
A term used to describe the Parliamentary constituencies in the Midlands and northern England that historically vote for Labour. [5] The terms "red wall" and "Labour's red wall" came to prominence during the 2019 general election when many traditionally Labour supporting constituencies in these areas elected Conservative Members of Parliament for the first time. The election saw a landslide win for the Conservatives, and thus Labour's red wall was described by commentators as having crumbled. [6]
Leave constituency
A constituency that voted to leave the European Union during the 2016 EU referendum. [7]
Red wall
Remain constituency
A constituency that voted to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum.
Safe seat
A constituency which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both.
Target seat
A constituency which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. A marginal seat that is a key target of attention from the political parties. It is these seats that will decide who wins and who loses the general elections. According to BBC News, a quarter of all seats had a majority of less than 10%. Target seats included; Southampton Itchen, North East Fife and Richmond Park. [8]
Unite to Remain
A campaign and electoral pact during the 2019 election involving three parties that supported remaining in the European Union: the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party of England and Wales, and, in Wales, Plaid Cymru. Its stated goal was to avoid the spoiler effect and maximise the number of MPs elected who would oppose Brexit. [9] The pact did not work, as the remain alliance suffered a net loss of 1 seat, and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson lost her own seat.
Workington man
Named after the Cumbria town of Workington, the term "Workington man" was used to describe the stereotypical key target voter who could determine the election result. Workington, a Labour seat held by the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Sue Hayman was taken by the Conservatives in the general election. [10]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Jenkinson</span> British Conservative politician

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red wall (British politics)</span> Constituencies that typically vote Labour

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Workington man is a political term that has been used by polling companies in the United Kingdom. Named after the Cumbria town of Workington, the term was first used ahead of the 2019 general election. Workington man describes the stereotypical swing voter who it was believed would determine the election result. Their support of the Conservatives in the 2019 election helped the party break the Labour Party's Red Wall of safe seats.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea wall (British politics)</span> British political term

The Sea wall is a term used by psephologists to refer to 108 constituencies along the UK coastline, generalising them as marginal. They formed before the July 2024 election a majority of Conservative pluralities, so seats, many or most marginal enough to be vulnerable to Labour according to opinion polls. As to the Red and Blue walls, the Sea wall overlaps both and was used in some coverage of the 2024 general election. From the 2019 general election to July 2024, Labour held 24 of these seats.

An election took place in the Essex constituency of Clacton on 4 July 2024, as part of the 2024 United Kingdom general election. Nigel Farage, the newly re-appointed leader of Reform UK and the former leader of the UK Independence Party, won the election with 46.2% of the vote and successfully entered Parliament after seven previous attempts. As "figurehead of the country's populist right", Farage brought Clacton to international attention.

References

  1. Editorial, Reuters. "EU agrees 'Brextension', UK ponders 'Brelection'". uk.reuters.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  2. Hope, Christopher; Louloudis, Theodora (1 February 2019). "New Brexit party has more than £1m in pledges and slate of over 200 candidates, including Nigel Farage". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  3. "UK set for 12 December general election after MPs' vote". BBC News. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. Frayne, James (14 December 2019). "'Get Brexit done' is perhaps the greatest example of a golden slogan in my lifetime". The Telegraph via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. Harris, John (2 December 2019). "Labour's 'red wall' is looking shaky. But the problems started decades ago". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  6. Wainwright, Daniel (13 December 2019). "How Labour's 'red wall' turned blue". BBC News.
  7. "UK General Election: NI's 18 constituencies profiled". 2 December 2019 via www.rte.ie.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Barnes, Peter; Jeavans, Christine (13 November 2019). "Where are the seats that could turn the election?". BBC News. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  9. "Unite to Remain: how likely are the three parties' voters to support the alliance?". British Politics and Policy at LSE. 11 November 2019.
  10. "Tories win Workington for first time in 40 years". BBC News. 13 December 2019.

See also