| Summary: | This article examines changing patterns of voting for parties on the left in the UK and Europe. It shows that while combined support for social-democratic, left and Green parties remains strong, the composition of the left's electorate has radically changed. Increasingly, left parties rely on a coalition of new middle-class voters and traditional and new working-class constituencies. This coalition is relatively cohesive on questions of economic redistribution, but divided on social and cultural issues. Recent instability in Labour's electoral coalition reflects broader structural trends facing left parties across Europe.
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