Even in the 21st century, social class is a part of being British. We talk of living in a post-class era but, in reality, our backgrounds affect our life chances and even just the way we interact with each other. We have a sense of our own class and make assumptions about others with class in the back of our minds.
In a recent documentary about their rise to fame, David and Victoria Beckham squabbled about the latter’s claim to come from a working class family. She was derided across the internet for the claim, too.
Is Victoria Beckham working class? You may scoff at the very thought. But then consider when she stopped being working class and you start to see the problem. If a wealthy British person who owns her own business is not working class, when did she cease to be so? Are her parents still working class if she is not?
For much of the 20th century, class identities were clearer. There was also a strong, clear relationship between class and political preference. After all, one of the two main parties was established explicitly to represent the labour movement. It was loudly and proudly a political manifestation of the working class.
There were of course exceptions but, by and large, if someone knew your class, they could make a fairly safe guess as to how you would vote. That is no longer true.
This is what I’ve been exploring in the podcast series Know your place: what happened to class in British politics on The Conversation Documentaries. All episodes are available now.
Over the course of five episodes, I’ve spoken to leading politics experts to find out why Labour can no longer take the working class vote for granted but also why the Conservatives can’t either.
In part one, The class shift, I explore when the relationship between class and voting broke down in Britain and why.
Part two, A history of class politics, looks back over the course of a century to understand why Tony Blair decided to move Labour away from the working class – and why this was such a watershed moment.
In part three, What class means now, we explore how class is defined and measured and find that our internal ideas of what it means to be working or middle class no longer fit traditional measurements – and nor do our jobs.
Part four, A working class parliament? examines the link between representation and political change and asks: will Britain’s new-look parliament herald meaningful reform?
And in part five, The real class divide, we discover that the true class divide in British politics is not which party people choose, but whether they vote at all.
Follow The Conversation Documentaries to listen to Know Your Place: what happened to class in British politics. The Conversation Documentaries, formerly called The Anthill, is the home for in-depth documentary podcast series from The Conversation.
Know Your Place: what happened to class in British politics is produced and mixed by Anouk Millet for The Conversation. It’s supported by the National Centre for Social Research.
Newsclips in the trailer from Keir Starmer, ITV News, PoliticsJOE and Angela Rayner MP.
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