Background
Although the Labour Party is sometimes considered the "natural choice" for the working class, there has traditionally been a group within that class who have voted Conservative, who are distinct from the "Essex man" phenomenon.
After World War II, there was considerable social change in south-east England. Working-class families were encouraged to leave the war-damaged slums in inner London and move to newly built council-owned properties in the suburbs and "new towns" in the home counties, including Basildon and Harlow in Essex.
With the decline of manufacture and skilled manual work in the 1980s, this group increasingly looked to middle-class professions for employment or became self-employed. Their children enjoyed housing, education and employment opportunities far removed from the experiences of their parents.
Read more about this topic: Essex Man
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