The “hollowed-out election,” or where did all the policy go?

Abstract

An increasing emphasis on personalities, at the expense of party policies, is a trend that has been apparent in UK General Elections for the past two decades. However, the 2010 election saw that trend reach new heights in what is here described as a “hollowed out” election. This article, based on research that investigates the news agendas of the parties and contrasts these with those of the media and the public, seeks to demonstrate the extent to which, with the exception of generalized debate about the state of the economy, there was an almost total absence of policy discussion by the parties and the media during the 2010 campaign. This is attributed to three factors: the impact of the first-ever leaders' televised debates, ideological convergence between the parties, and the fact that the two issues of greatest concern to the public—government spending cuts and immigration—were issues that the parties felt were “too hot to handle.”