What effect do leader visits to constituencies have on a party’s vote?

Abstract

David Cameron spoke recently about the possibility of holding the debates before the campaign period because ‘the election campaign should be about travelling around the country, listening and talking to people’. Ed Miliband wants Labour to talk to 4 million people. But do leader visits have an impact? Alia Middleton examines the evidence from 2010 and finds that visits made to constituencies by party leaders can have an impact on local results