Laura Serra
@lauraserra.bsky.social
postdoctoral researcher at @lsegovernment.bsky.social with an interest in all things elections, age and generations assistant editor of @electoralstudies.bsky.social more about my work here: https://lauraserra.co.uk
New publication out in @epsrjournal.bsky.social! We know young voters vote for different parties and hold different attitudes than older citizens. What we know less about: whether they also care differently about political issues. Using novel experimental survey data, I show: they do! 👇
“Nothing else matters?” Salience differences between young and old | European Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
“Nothing else matters?” Salience differences between young and old
cambridge.org
🗳️ Electoral Reform Alert 🗳️ Yesterday, the Italian Lower House approved a new electoral reform, now headed to the Senate. This would be the fifth major reform of the electoral system in Italy since 1993, and it could bring an even more radical right-wing party into the next government coalition. (1)
Don't think people realise quite how deeply split by age current voting intention is. This is the latest YouGov for under-50s: Green: 26% Lab: 18% Reform: 14% Tories: 12% LD: 11% And over 50s: Reform: 36% Tory: 22% Lab: 16% LD: 12% Greens: 9%
With the UK govt in turmoil, you might be wondering what happens when parties change leaders... and we have just the paper for you! Check out this note by Ron Johnston, Todd Hartman and Charles Pattie on how leaders can shape perceptions of parties and attract or repel voters. bit.ly/4wwoOTF
Social media is no longer social. Most of it is passive viewing of videos and pictures from people we've never met. But we're still studying social media like it's 2010. We've entered the post-social media era — and research needs to catch up. osf.io/preprints/so... preprint w/ Richard Rogers
🚨 New research alert 🚨 Check out this paper by Thiago do Nascimento Fonseca, @deborathome.bsky.social and @guedesneto.bsky.social on how financial incentives can boost diversity. Brazil’s party funding reform increased nominations of women and Afro-descendants, but funding gains were uneven ⬇️
🌟 The UK Youth Poll 2026 is here! 🌟 Young people no longer think their lives will be better than their parents’. They want better politics & financial stability. 📊 Read the #UKYouthPoll2026 now: www.ukyouthpoll.com @glasgow.ac.uk @nationwideuk.bsky.social @focaldata.bsky.social
fantastic evening at the House of Commons yesterday celebrating the launch of the @johnsmithcentre.com UK Youth Poll 2026! looking forward to digging into this excellent data
Varie testate scrivono che la vittoria del NO sia stata "trascinata" dai giovani ma, dati alla mano, il contributo più ampio è arrivato dagli anziani. E se i giovani non avessero votato affatto, avrebbe comunque vinto il NO. lauraserra.co.uk/il-no-e-stat...
Il NO è stato “trascinato” dagli anziani, non dai giovani
Dopo l’esito del referendum si è diffusa con grande rapidità una lettura del risultato secondo cui il NO sarebbe stato “trascinato dai giovani”. È una narrazione intuitiva, accattivante e politicam…
lauraserra.co.uk
Varie testate scrivono che la vittoria del NO sia stata "trascinata" dai giovani ma, dati alla mano, il contributo più ampio è arrivato dagli anziani. E se i giovani non avessero votato affatto, avrebbe comunque vinto il NO. lauraserra.co.uk/il-no-e-stat...
Il NO è stato “trascinato” dagli anziani, non dai giovani
Dopo l’esito del referendum si è diffusa con grande rapidità una lettura del risultato secondo cui il NO sarebbe stato “trascinato dai giovani”. È una narrazione intuitiva, accattivante e politicam…
lauraserra.co.uk
my latest piece on the voting age reform, where I reiterate why the measure is a fundamentally good thing, respond to criticism that it redefines what “children” are in UK law, and highlight the importance of ensuring effective, rather than just nominal, enfranchisement ⬇️⬇️⬇️
LSE British Politics and Policy@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social · 5mo ago💡Votes at 16 should be just the start, by @lauraserra.bsky.social. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
my latest piece on the voting age reform, where I reiterate why the measure is a fundamentally good thing, respond to criticism that it redefines what “children” are in UK law, and highlight the importance of ensuring effective, rather than just nominal, enfranchisement ⬇️⬇️⬇️
LSE British Politics and Policy@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social · 5mo ago💡Votes at 16 should be just the start, by @lauraserra.bsky.social. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Da leggere se si e' indecisi, ma forse anche se si e' decisi. lauraserra.co.uk/perche-dico-...
Perché dico SI alla riforma della magistratura
Io voto SI al referendum sulla riforma della magistratura. Non per ragioni di schieramento politico, ma perché – guardando al merito – sono modifiche necessarie. 1) Separazione delle carriereL’Ital…
lauraserra.co.uk
Following the Green Party's victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour is facing a more serious challenge on its left than on its right. @lauraserra.bsky.social and Jenevieve Treadwell trace the movement of voters to the left. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
The Greens, Your Party and Labour’s left challenge | LSE British Politics
With the creation of Your Party and the Green's soaring popularity, Labour is facing a more serious challenge on its left than on its right.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
In a new pre-print, @fraraffaelli.bsky.social and I ask: what are the effects of anti-immigration appeals that portray migrants as a threat to a native group (e.g. the working class or Christians)? TL;DR: people change their *identity* to back up their attitudes to migrants. osf.io/preprints/so...
a) a century is not a long time in the context of the UK parliament and the law b) it's only a century old if you count the 1911 Parliament Act and ignore the 1949 Parliament Act which amended it c) Parliament Acts are established parts of the UK system- reporting them as "old" is a weird framing
Sky News@news.sky.com · 6mo agoHow a century-old Act could help assisted dying supporters override the Lords
This is just ridiculous. There is no political space for a party that has the same positions as Reform. This space is taken. There is a space for a centre-right political party in the UK, but it’s currently vacant: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Centrist ideas no longer wanted in Conservative party, says Kemi Badenoch
Party leader tells MPs that one-nation Tories doubting her rightward direction ‘need to get out of the way’
theguardian.com
In case you missed it, here is mine and Jen’s latest piece on how Labour’s vote is fragmenting across two of its strongholds: London and the youth ⬇️
LSE British Politics and Policy@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social · 8mo ago💡New! With the creation of Your Party and the Greens’ soaring popularity, @lauraserra.bsky.social and Jenevieve Treadwell trace the movement of voters to the left, and argue that Labour is facing a more serious challenge on its left than on its right. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
💡New! With the creation of Your Party and the Greens’ soaring popularity, @lauraserra.bsky.social and Jenevieve Treadwell trace the movement of voters to the left, and argue that Labour is facing a more serious challenge on its left than on its right. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
The Greens, Your Party and Labour’s left challenge | British Politics and Policy at LSE
With the creation of Your Party and the Green's soaring popularity, Labour is facing a more serious challenge on its left than on its right.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Overall, we find that immigration looks important in polls because it’s highly salient, not because it outranks daily concerns. Polling captures the salience, but requires a bit of digging to see the whole picture of public priority. You can read more here!: www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/...
Measuring What Matters — Labour Together
Knowing what issues are most important to the public is the bedrock of understanding voters. Ironically, its own importance can’t go understated. This report applies some overdue methodological experi...
labourtogether.uk
The only Legitimate Concerns about asylum seekers are concerns for their well being and safety. For a rich country like ours to incessantly whine about these people as if we are their victims is perhaps the single most pathetic spectacle in British politics over the past quarter century.
🚨 New paper with Maria Grasso on generational shifts in political values. Despite talk of rising age polarisation, we show that gaps in attitudes are stable or even narrowing. Economic attitudes move in cycles, while social values have become more liberal – mainly due to generational replacement.
Political Socialisation in the UK: Describing Generational Changes of Values - International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society
A growing bulk of research examines intergenerational shifts in attitudes and the extent to which they are attributable to new cohorts of voters being socialised under different socioeconomic and cult...
link.springer.com
🚨 🆕 analysis w/ @turnbulldugarte.com: most British young men reject the far right @ukandeu.bsky.social Despite media claims, 71% of young men & 75% of young women say they’d never vote Reform UK. The gender gap exists, but it’s steady across ages—not youth-driven. 🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/most-british...
Most British young men reject the far right - UK in a changing Europe
Emilia Belknap and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte explain their analysis on the demographics of Reform UK voters in the UK. They argue that while the dominant narrative is that young men are the most likely ...
ukandeu.ac.uk
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