Representations of Economic Inequality and Redistribution in British Party Manifestos (2005 - 2024)

Drawing on a corpus of mainstream party political manifestos from UK General Elections between 2005 and 2024 (655,528 words), we explored representations of ‘economic inequality’ and redistributive mechanisms within the British liberal welfare regime. Our results suggest the limited relationship between objective measures of inequality and the semantics of economic inequality stems from differences in underlying concepts. Specifically, political communicators focused on ‘equality of opportunity,’ voicing concerns about discrimination and social mobility rather than wealth and income distribution. Redistributive mechanisms were shaped by beliefs about which groups are valued or devalued in society. Additionally, political parties were not neutral on economic inequality or redistribution; rather, these concepts were politicized and tied to blaming alternative parties for challenges in achieving the ‘British dream.’