BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Autumn is here, season of mists and unmellow conferences.

All the major parties will be gathering to network, speechify and hone their messages.

And this year, they know that they're unlikely to meet again before the next election.

But just as they will be trying to tell us the voters who

they are, they will be wondering who we are. Because one thing that is certain is that we won't be

exactly the same electorate that they faced back in 2019. We will have changed in experience,

in attitude. Quite a few of us will have died, new voters would have been added

to the roles. So as the election approaches, who are we now? Step into the briefing room,

today in large, to include an audience here at the BBC Radio Theatre, and together we'll

find out.

To chat us through this voyage of discovery,

we have Paula Surridge,

Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol,

Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics at King's College London,

and Rob Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University

of Manchester. Right, the first question is the question about class, because when I was

growing up, it was assumed that people would vote largely according to class, and that that

class had been transmitted through their families. So I can start with you, Rosie, first.

What role does class play now in determining political allegiance?

Well, there's a danger we could draw the wrong conclusion

from how much things have changed in that very short time since you were a little boy.

...