ABSTRACT
A core concern for this book has been to seek out how population ageing and the manner in which it has been mediated, is influencing the conduct of democratic politics and elections. In order to appreciate the political response to the age transformation of the electorate, the central purpose of this chapter is the identification of how older voters have been portrayed and framed by the main political parties in Britain. It uses discourse and thematic analysis to examine the emerging rhetorical constructs and narratives that provide the structures within which the political implications of ageing are being negotiated. A collection of campaign and political texts such as speeches, manifestos and website copy published during the period 2005-2010 were analysed.
