{"id":36099,"date":"2019-12-12T17:24:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T17:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=36099"},"modified":"2019-12-12T17:24:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T17:24:13","slug":"battle-of-the-red-tops-as-voters-go-to-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/battle-of-the-red-tops-as-voters-go-to-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the red tops as voters go to polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK’s best-selling red top tabloid newspapers urge their readers to vote on election day<\/strong><\/p>\n

The right-wing red top\u00a0The Sun<\/em> and its left-wing tabloid opponent the\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em> urge their readers to vote Conservative and Labour respectively – in what both are calling the most important election for many generations.<\/p>\n

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Today’s Sun splash. Image copyright: Scott Mathew (Voice of London)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Tory-backing\u00a0Sun<\/em> advises its readers to vote Conservative so as to prevent a “Corbyn-led Marxist government” from taking office.<\/p>\n

It seems to be appealing to its core readers – the industrial working-class – a segment of the electorate who in days gone by were largely Labour-backing, but who in large swathes backed Margaret Thatcher and then John Major’s Conservatives during the 1979-1992 period. It says:<\/p>\n

“You may never have done so before [voted Tory]. But it has NEVER<\/strong> been more important. The stakes have never been this high.”<\/p>\n

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Today’s Mirror splash. Image copyright: Scott Mathew (Voice of London)<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Canary Wharf-based\u00a0Mirror<\/em> makes a more emotional appeal to its core readership – who are also largely from the traditional working-class and lower-middle classes.<\/p>\n

It features eight images that show its perceived injustices it blames the Conservative government for. Their themes include:<\/p>\n

Cuts to the NHS<\/p>\n

Scrapping free TV licences for the over-75s<\/p>\n

The Grenfell Tower fire – safer housing and accommodation<\/p>\n

The scrapping of the bursary for trainee nurses<\/p>\n

The latest poll out from YouGov puts the Tories on 43% with a projected seat estimate of 339; the Labour party on 34% with seat projection of 231; the Liberal Democrats on 12% with 15 seats estimated; with the Brexit party on 3% – expected to win no seats, despite topping the polls in the European Parliament elections earlier on in the year.<\/p>\n

Words: Scott Mathew | Subbing: Michelle Del Rey | Featured image credit: Depositphotos<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The UK’s best-selling red top tabloid newspapers urge their readers to vote on election day The right-wing red top\u00a0The Sun and its left-wing tabloid opponent the\u00a0Daily Mirror urge their readers to vote Conservative and Labour…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":36115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t