Where Do They Go and Why, How Do They Vary and What Is Their Impact: Assessing Leaders’ Campaign Visits in England 2010–2019

Abstract

Leaders’ visits are now an integral part of British general election campaigns. Yet, outside of a few cross-sectional explorations of leaders on the campaign trail, it remains under-explored. Here, we redress this imbalance. Using a unique data source collected by the authors over the four most recent British general elections, we explore where leaders visit, what determines these visits and whether the reasons have changed over time. For the first time, we also put forward an original typology of leader visits in England. Our findings detail how the type of visit varies over time according to the electoral context, by respective campaign strategies, closeness to election-day and how it is often shaped by the personalities of the leaders themselves. In the final part, our evidence suggests that leaders’ visits impact party support although the effects vary for parties across elections.