The physical attractiveness of front-runners and electoral success

Past research has impressively shown that the physical attractiveness of politicians influences their electoral success. A large part of the existing literature analyses single-member constituencies in parliamentary elections, presidential elections and open lists in proportional representation systems. In contrast, relatively little is known about the effects of the physical attractiveness of front-runners in multiple member constituencies. This paper fills the research gap. Taking the 2004 European Parliament elections as an example, it analyses the influence of front-runners’ physical attractiveness on the electoral success of their respective parties and combined lists. Voter behaviour is captured by real-life election results in the 64 constituencies of the 2004 European Parliament elections. The attractiveness of the front-runners is estimated according to the Truth-of-Consensus Method. Twenty-four students were shown portrait photographs of the candidates and were asked to rate each candidate’s attractiveness. The attractiveness score of a candidate is then computed by averaging the different ratings he or she has received. Multilevel analyses show that front-runners’ attractiveness substantially influences election results.