University of Hertfordshire - Can't rely on cut of the cloth

Politicians may have donned red, blue and yellow ties to denote their party affiliations during the election campaign but, according to an academic, political colours no longer hold the sway they once did. Katrina Navickas, lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire, looked at political clothing in England during the period 1780-1840. She found that while many of today's political symbols have their origins in the 18th century, parties no longer stand for many of the principles that the symbols originally represented. She also linked reports of political apathy among today's electorate to efforts to use clothing as a means of political communication 200 years ago.