Infographic: Weighing their words
Looking back at the UK’s general election of June 2017, the main parties’ manifestos seemed to play an unusually important role in the outcome. While the Labour Party’s portfolio of pledges seemed to kick-start their surge in popularity, it was quibbling over the Conservatives’ social care agenda as outlined in their manifesto – and particularly over whether Theresa May’s subsequent promise to cap the so-called ‘dementia tax’ policy amounted to a “clarification” or a “U-turn” – that saw them stumble badly on the campaign trail.
Words counted in this election – and so, for a definitive picture where each party’s priorities lay, we decided to count their words. Scroll over the infographic below to reveal exactly how many manifesto words the contenders dedicated to the main policy areas, from healthcare to housing and from Brexit to multiculturalism. It’s often remarked that politics is just a game, but our calculations have finally uncovered exactly which game it is. It’s ideological Tetris…
This infographic was published in DG#27. Pick up a copy in our online shop or take out an annual subscription using the promotion code ‘SLOWPOST’ and you’ll get our current issue for free.
