2.1b Funding of UK Political Parties

Question 1

Types of Party Funding: Membership fees

Answer 1

Political parties receive funding from membership fees paid for by party members, however, this is not the major source of income for the main UK parties due to declining party membership.

The Conservatives membership income decreased to under £1 million in 2017.

The Labour party have seen a rise under Jeremy Corbyn in membership fees to over £16 million reflecting the rise in party membership since he became the leader.

Question 2

Types of Party Funding: Donations

Answer 2

Parties have become increasingly reliant on donations from individuals and organisations, and receive the majority of their funding from donations.

Question 3

Types of Party Funding: Short money

Answer 3

Short money is the funds received by opposition parties that win two or more seats in the House of Commons at the general election or win one seat and gain more than 150,000 votes.

Short money is designed to cover party administrative costs and to allow for effective scrutiny of the government.

Labour currently receive the most Short money because they are the opposition party with the most seats.

Question 4

Examples of Party Funding: Jeremy Corbyn and party funding

Answer 4

Under Jeremy Corbyn, there has been a move towards a large amount of party funding coming from smaller donations made by ordinary members of the party with over £18 million received in 2017.

There has also been a rise in income from trade unions under Corbyn, with the trade union Unite donating £4.5 million in the 2017 general election.

Question 5

Examples of Party Funding: New Labour and party funding

Answer 5

Historically the Labour Party was mainly funded by trade unions.

There were efforts made by previous Labour leaders such as Tony Blair to decrease trade union influence within the party.

Under New Labour, the Party was increasingly funded by large donations from a small number of wealthy individuals such as Lord Sainsbury and Bernie Ecclestone.

Question 6

Examples of Party Funding: Conservative Party funding

Answer 6

The Conservatives receive the majority of their funding from wealthy donors such as Ehud Sheleg and Lord Bamford.

In 2017 it was revealed that large amounts of party funding for the general election came from hedge funds and bankers.