Perception of immigration levels, rather than actual change in local areas, explains the UKIP vote

The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) received over 12% of the vote in the UK’s general election. Given the role that the issue of immigration played in the party’s campaign, Juta Kawalerowicz assesses whether there is evidence that UKIP support is channelled by local concerns over an influx of immigrants. She shows that the UKIP vote is not actually driven by experience of change in local areas, but is instead correlated with the perception of levels of immigration.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: United Kingdom general election, 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/united-kingdom-general-election-2015/

ESO: Background information: Increase in net immigration is bad news for David Cameron http://www.europeansources.info/record/increase-in-net-immigration-is-bad-news-for-david-cameron/

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