ABSTRACT
Studies of electoral cleavages tend to agree that class is important only in the absence of other major political cleavages such as language, national identity and religion. Where these are present, the class cleavage is generally less important. British elections, however, have often been seen as an exception, with class playing a much more important role than either religion or national identity. But the rise of nationalist voting in Scotland and Wales gives grounds for re-examining the situation. A comparison of voting in Scotland and England reveals the importance of religion, national identity and ethnicity as voting cleavages, in addition to class. While religion and national identity play a part, they do not necessarily replace class, but there are grounds to suspect that class has been overtaken by national identity as an influence on the vote in Scotland.
