Paul Bickley and George Lapshynov unpack their first two Religion Counts briefing papers for the Church Times 17/05/2024

IT WAS James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political adviser, who said that, when it came to elections, what mattered was “the economy, stupid”.

It is a safe bet that, in the results of the recent local elections, the Conservative Party paid the price for public perceptions of economic failure. The results more or less confirmed what almost everybody was already expecting: that, when the General Election comes, the Conservatives are likely heading out of office, and Labour is probably heading in.

If anything took the shine off Labour’s strong performance, though, it was an issue that had nothing to do with the economy. Multiple council seats were lost, as was control over councils in Oldham and Kirklees, because of the so–called “Gaza effect”. This has triggered wider speculation about whether Labour’s path to power could be more difficult than expected. People are now asking, what will the Muslim vote do?

Read the full article here.

On Theos’ Religion Counts series

This paper is part of a larger series of work written by experts exploring the links between religion, values, identity, and democracy in countries around the world. Theos working on a further briefing papers on the impact of religion on voting patterns in the UK. Watch this space and follow Theos on social media to be updated on their release.

Learn more about our Religion Counts work here.

Could you help uncover the impact faith can make in this election year by giving to our Religion Counts election appeal?

Interested in this? Share it on social media. Join our monthly e–newsletter to keep up to date with our latest research and events. And check out our Supporter Programme to find out how you can help our work.