Why were the Conservatives (UK) unable to win a majority in 2010?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

To think aloud this has made me realise how much our electoral map has changed in the last 10 years; surely the differences between 2010, 2015, 2017 & 2019 are of the biggest & most erractic set of changes without a change in the franchise?

And as the shifts between elections have not been in any one firm direction each time, well, we can expect this to continue. Of course none of this should really be a surprise: social surveys show that less than half of the electorate has any identification with any party and that those voters who do are more conditional in their support than was once the case. It might now be useful for observers of British politics to pay closer attention to how elections work in Canada...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

but it was also partly down to Labour narrowly holding several northern/midlands seats that the Tories could have won with a campaign more targeted towards them (think Bolton West, Middlesbrough South, Newcastle-under-Lyme etc.) and less towards metropolitan liberals.

Potentially, although it is worth noting that Labour in 2010 had an image and a platform that was much more aligned with the median voter in those sort of constituencies than under Corbyn.