British politics saw significant ideological and partisan shifts between 1983 and 2016. New research examines polarization theories through repeated cross-section and panel data analyses, testing three prominent accounts.

Party Sorting Account: This theory posits that stable ideology drives changes in party support, leading to increased partisan polarization. However, findings contradict this expectation;

Elite Cue Account: It suggests only partisans follow elite ideological shifts closely. Yet, non-partisans show nearly identical trends; thus,

Ideological Polarization Model: This account emphasizes how general public redistributive ideology changes alongside elite polarization.

The study rejects party sorting and elite cue explanations because they fail to capture the observed patterns where initially ideologically similar non-partisans align with changing elite positions. This provides strong evidence for an ideological model of polarization, showing that shifts in redistribution beliefs among citizens are closely tied to elite cues across Britain's political landscape.