Dead man: the most important voter in British politics

已故之人:英国政治中最重要的选民

Editor's Picks from The Economist

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2025-04-16

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It's been nearly a decade since the Brexit referendum, but Britain's major political parties still pander to voting demographics from that era. The only problem is that most of the imagined voters have since died. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
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  • The Economist Hello, this is Alok Jha,

  • host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.

  • Welcome to Editor's Picks.

  • We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.

  • Please do have a listen.

  • British politics revolves around an imagined voter.

  • It is this voter who stops Labour moving too close too quickly to Europe,

  • even if practically every Labour voter would support rejoining the European Union or EU,

  • forget faffing about with a veterinary deal or a customs union.

  • It is this voter who stops the Conservatives offering much to people in their former heartlands of well-to-do southern England.

  • And it is the prospect of this voter's departure to the likes of reform that gives both Labour and the Conservatives the heebie-jeebies.

  • Where does this voter live?

  • In the graveyard, usually.

  • Sift through the British election study and one demographic is of particular interest to Westminster's inhabitants,

  • those who dropped dead after the 2019 election.

  • If...

  • Like everyone else in British politics, one is looking for right-leaning,

  • leave-voting non-graduates with particularly authoritarian views to attend a focus group,

  • then the best place to find them is the morgue.

  • To understand British politics, one must understand dead man.