Political views of academics

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Should be noted that in the UK private universities are pretty much unheard of, so academics of all stripes favour the left for reasons of self-preservation. They are also very dependent on EU funding and £££ from foreign students, so they don't fall into the Eurosceptic parties with enthusiasm.

Anyway here's some British stats :

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/almost-half-of-sector-to-back-labour-the-election-poll-suggests/2019944.article

This article suggests only Business and Law attract a significant Tory vote (19%), and even then they are level to the Greens - and well behind Labour.

Other odd stuff:

- maths and hard sciences aren't particularly enthused with Labour, but have a significant contingent (15%) in favour of Lib Dems even in 2015. Those wacky SCientists! Relatively low amount of Greens as well - a consequence of nuclear/GM/animal testing shenanigans maybe?
- I would have assumed the Engineers would have been somewhat right-leaning compared with the rest, but no, they have very similar Green and Labour numbers to the Social Sciences.
- most sectors are very lefty, but those associated with the public sector are more likely to be solidly Labour (Medicine and Education both check in at around 50% Labour); than the Arts and Humanities who experiment with the less "statist" Greens.
- the significant wedge of Tory Health people isn't analysed but I'm willing to bet they're linked with dentistry and plastic surgery.
- lol at the impressive 0% of Tory creative arts.
- nobody is attracted very much to the right-wing populists of UKIP to the extent they are unceremoniously shoved into "other".

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Why is nursing Republican? Nurses are more monolithicly Labour than teachers over here.

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Doctors by and large despise all change done to any medical system anywhere at any time (aside from stuff like "more money!!!"). They opposed the formation of the NHS over here and then abruptly changed their mind and swung the other way after about ten years. Because Tories typically push the strange reforms (agency staffing, increased amount of private-sector drafted middle-management and the insanely complicated NHS reform bill of last parliament) they will go with the party that treats them well (they also dislike Tory anti-immigrant views which would leave the hospitals understaffed . I was mainly confused at the Nurses being GOPhers, because they are typically fairly low paid and vulnerable to being replaced by agency staff and "cost-cutting".

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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016028961500080X

if your institution provides access to papers, this paper published recently is pretty interesting reading.