Looks in politics

Why did Labour lose the last election? This new paper suggests an alternative explanation:

We find that candidates on the right look better than candidates on the left. Second, we find a greater effect of good looks, in terms of more votes, for candidates on the right.

This comes from Finland, but it corroborates research in Australia (pdf) and the US (pdf), which has also found that good-looking candidates get more votes. It is consistent with the fact that beautiful people earn more than ugly ones, and with the finding (pdf, via) that folk are more likely to give to charity if asked to do so by a blonde rather than brunette. As Will said in The Greatest TV Show Ever Made: “I’m a man of strong principles, and one of those principles is that I’ll do anything a girl I fancy asks me to.”
What’s new here, though, is that the beauty premium is greater for right-wing politicians.  One reason for this, the authors suggest, is that people are more inclined (pdf) to trust good-looking people and to expect them to behave pro-socially. This instinct weakens the tendency for right-wingers to be regarded as the “nasty party”, and so makes voters more willing to support them. Paradoxically, though, other academic evidence suggests the trust we place in good-looking people is often misplaced.  Nick Clegg’s career fits this pattern.
One implication of all this is that the Tories would be well advised to ensure that Michael Gove keeps a low profile. This would be a unique example of their self-interest coinciding with the national interest.

Comments

[Anthony]

Definitive evidence we should have chosen David over the Fraggle.

[Phil Ruse]

Anne Widdecombe. Phwoarrrrrrrr...

[Dean]

Ridiculous, Anthony - Milibands look like rejected Henson creations.

Best bet would've been Burnham if we're judging solely on looks.

Best not to let him talk, though.

[Chris]

Eric Pickles is the exception that proves the rule... or something.

[plashing vole]

Funny - my friend decided that Gove looks like a fish and made me a bottle of Govefish oil. Pictures here:
http://plashingvole.blogspot.com/2011/01/guess-whos-back.html

So much for the idea that politics is showbusiness for ugly people. Perhaps rightists vote on looks because they're shallow and unconsciously believe in 'good breeding'. Perhaps rightwing politicians are better looking because they've never done any hard work, work short hours and can afford better food/cosmetics/clothes etc?

[MB]

So maybe there is MORE in Silvio Berlusconi than we think: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/28/silvio-berlusconi-single-man-showgirls ?

[Herbert]

I think I see what you mean: the lovechild of Edwina Curry and John Major would have conquered the world.

[Technomist]

I knwo that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but aren't there are a few passable lefties?

[Richard]

This is old news. Oswald Mosley used to say "vote Labour, sleep Tory".

[libertarian]

Perhaps you also ought to ask why lefties are ugly? Or why are better looking people right wing?

Whereas us who are neither right or left are absolutely gorgeous. Get yourself a libertarian

[BenSix]

Is the gratuitous blonde girl part of the government's new recruitment scheme? "We want members for our Coalition..."

[Mercy]

@Technomist, it's fairly obvious that most attractive public figures are left wing or at least liberal, purely because most artists and public media types are left-wing, and those are the public careers most selected for attractiveness. Compare the list of celebrity endorsements for democrat and republican candidates- but now compare the actual politicians, the trend reverses.

The article is talking about politicians though: either the set of candidates applying for right wing nominations is more attractive, or the primary/candidate selection mechanisms in rightist parties places a higher premium on good looks. I suspect it's the latter, a symptom the left's general disdain for electability and perceived shallowness

[Technomist]

Have you considered whether it could be a reflection of the respective sizes of the talent pools?

[Goodwinkins]

Well, seeing as the Tories are broke, this could mean George Osborne calendars out in time for next Christmas. Would they be zero-rated for VAT?

[Pat]

That's because socialists don't smile.....but they haven't a lot to smile about really.

[Tiresias]

`At 50, everyone has the face he deserves', as George Orwell remarked, so if righties are better-lookign than lefties it is perhaps because they are better people.

[mousewife]

I have also found that lefties smell a bit.

[chris y]

Funny - my friend decided that Gove looks like a fish

No. At least to those of a certain age, Gove looks like Archie Andrews. The body language is also strikingly similar.

[Tom Addison]

Jesus Christ who is she? And, um, is she legal?

[MB]

Miss Emily Jane Atack is indeed lovely and she turned 21 on December 18th. Good luck, lads.