Immediate reactions to the UK General Election result have focused on inaccurate polls, shy voters, the rise of nationalism in the UK (SNP, UKIP), the UK’s wider relationships with continental Europe (including the EU), and the implications for mainstream political parties. Additionally, electoral reform seems to be in the air once more.

In this post, we try something different. It seems to us that “choice” was one of the key themes of the election. For example, the party leaders argued that we, the electorate, were confronted by an important choice at this election: between market forces vs the state, between the union and the nation, between economic stability and social justice. Here we make a strategic distinction between ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ choices. We argue that too often we are presented with 'thin' choices and that we need to uncover 'thick' choices.

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