6.Political Parties Flashcards
The Conservatives under David Cameron
-More than being judged as the ‘New Tories’ or as ‘the subtle continuation of Thatcherism’ it can mostly be seen that Cameron was opportunistic
-Cameron’s opportunism can be seen in his promise of a referendum on the EU before the 2015 election as the party was still divided on the issue and facing an electoral challenge from UKIP
Labour under Jeremy Corbyn
-The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in September 2015 came as somewhat of a surprise to the general public
-Corbyn was only made it on the ballot a number of MPs felt the ballot lacked breadth, Corbyn then went on to win the leadership with 60% of first preferences which was impressive
-Corbyn’s ideological track record of being a rebellious backbencher during the New Labour era made it difficult for him to demand/command the loyalty and support of his Labour MPs
-Under Corbyn’s socialist attitude, the party became ‘dangerously out of touch with the electorate’ and faced deep divisions from factions within the party
Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg
-From 2007, under the leadership of Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems developed a programme that included more orthodox Lib Dem policies including constitutional reform and the protection of civil liberties, as well as the prospect of significant tax cuts
-This repositioning on tax marked a triumph of ‘Orange Book’ liberals over the social liberals, as well as making the possibility of a Conservative – Lib Dem coalition more conceivable
-Orang Book liberals – Drew on ‘classical liberalism’ influenced by the neo-liberalism of Milton Friedman and other endorse Thatcherite economics
-Social liberals – Drew on the ‘new’/progressive liberalism of Keynes and reject Thatcherite economics
Political Parties Structure - Labour - Local Branches of Labour
-For all new recruits to the Labour party the Local branch (BLP) (e.g. High Wycombe Labour Party).
-The Local Branches of the Labour party are essentially the grassroots activists of the Labour Party.
-They are primarily responsible for organising the Local Labour Party, campaigning on Local Issues, putting forward candidates and sending their best representatives to the CLP.
Political Parties Structure - Labour - Constituency Labour Party
-The CLP is responsible for ensuring that the Constituency parties are following the Party line
-Also plays a vital role in checking that all Labour candidates at any election are suitable
Political Parties Structure - Labour - National Executive Committee
-The National Executive Committee is the ruling body of the Labour party. This body contains Labour members from all sections of the party including MP’s, Councillors, Trade Unions and CLP’s (elected every year).
-When Labour is at a party conference, members vote on the annual policies. At other times it is the responsibility of the N.E.C. to run the Labour Party.
-This mainly involves the funding and monitoring of the party nationally. The N.E.C ensures that policy is followed Nationally and that internally disputes are resolved.
Political Parties Structure - Labour - Policy Formation
-Labour party policy development process is designed to involve members, local parties, trade unions, socialist societies, elected representatives as well as the wider community.
-Policy is developed through the National Policy Forum (NPF). This is a body of over 150 representatives from all the major groups of the Labour Party, from constituency parties and regions to affiliated trade unions, socialist societies, MPs and councillors. Its role is to shape the Party’s policy agenda, drawing up policy documents for agreement.
-NPF representatives are placed onto one of eight policy commissions that examine specific policy areas; each commission is co-convened by a Shadow Secretary of State and an NEC member
Political Parties Structure - Labour - Leadership Selection
-Candidates must secure the nomination of 10% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to qualify for the ballot
-Candidates must secure the nomination 5% of the Constituency Labour Party
-Party members vote on a one member, one vote basis under and alternative vote system on multiple candidates
Political Parties Structure - Labour - Candidate Selection
-The N.E.C gives a list of ‘Approved Candidates’ to the Constituency Labour Party.
-The Constituency Labour Party draws up a shortlist from this Approved list.
-Constituency Labour Party members vote for their preferred candidate on shortlist (OMOV).
-The N.E.C either agrees with the CLP choice or imposes its own candidate.
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - Local Party
-The Local Branch of the Conservative party performs a similar role to their Labour Counterparts.
-They are predominantly involved in grassroots local events and recruiting and organising the Conservative Future Movement (aimed at members under 25).
-They are designed to reflect Council boundaries and as such are responsible for picking candidates to be local councilors.
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - Conservative Associations
-Again the Conservative Associations play a similar role to the CLP’s of Labour
-They are mainly responsible for ensuring that the Branches are behaving and that candidates are following the policies appointed from Conservative HQ.
-They are also mainly responsible for putting candidates forward for Parliamentary Election.
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - CCHQ
-Conservative Campaign Head Quarters is where all the magic happens.
-CCHQ are responsible for organising the activities of the National Conservative party, they also decide policy (through the party leader) and ensure that this policy is quoted and used by the Local Conservative organisations.
-CCHQ used to have the final say on Parliamentary candidates for an election. However, thanks to David Cameron’s that has all changed.
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - Leadership Selection
-Backing of at least 20 Conservative MPs needed to qualify for the ballot
-Conservative MPs vote in a series of ballots to narrow the field of candidates down to 2
-Party members then vote on a one member, one vote basis under to decide which of these 2 candidates becomes the winner
-Leadership election in 2022 saw the switch of Sunak in favour of winning in the MP votes but Liz Truss winning the vote between the Conservative Party members
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - Candidate Selection
-One way in which the Conservatives vary massively from Labour is the way in which they select candidates to stand in Parliamentary Elections. Since he was elected leader of the Conservatives in 2005, David Cameron has introduced new methods.
-The A-Lists (2005) – When Cameron became leader, he introduced these new lists. Branch parties must seek out a diverse range of candidates within their communities. These lists are then submitted to the Associations and CCHQ to decide whether to interview or not.
-Hustings (2009) – In more than 100 seats candidates were selected using hustings. These are public meetings in which all Conservative Party members are invited. The prospective candidates will debate a range of issues. Members will then vote for the one they prefer to stand as their election candidate.
-Open Primaries (2009) – This has only been used to select the candidate for Totnes so far. In Open Primaries all members of the local community are invited to vote to decide which candidate they want to stand in the next general election. All 68,000 locals were eligible to vote, and it cost the party £38,000
Political Parties Structure - Conservatives - Policy Formation.
Of the three main parties, the Conservative Party grants least influence to members in the formulation of policy
The party leader dominates the Conservative Party and, in opposition in particular, the party operates as ‘an essentially top-down organization’
Indeed, the Conservative Party’s vesting of power and autonomy in its leader as almost the polar opposite of the Labour Party’s model of organisation, while noting that with this power comes very clear personal responsibility; compared to Labour, the Conservative Party tends to be ruthlessly effective in removing leaders who do not deliver.
Liberal Democrats - Leadership Selection
-Nominating Candidates – Candidate must be: An MP, Nominated by 1 other Lib Dem MP, Supported by 200 Lib Dem members across at least 20 different local parties.
-Party members vote on an alternative vote, one member, one vote basis on multiple candidates
Liberal Democrats - Becoming a candidate
-Candidates write to their federal party (either England, Wales or Scotland) to express an interest
-Once accepted by Federal Party, candidates contact their local party.
-Local Party then selects a shortlist of candidates from the applicants.
-Members of the Constituency party chose a candidate from the shortlist (OMOV).
Candidate selection success for the party
2015 Conservative Tim Yeo was denied support in contesting the South Suffolk seat by his local party for pro-EU views showing candidate selection succeeded in selecting a good candidate for election winning
Candidate selection failure for the party
-Former Tory MP Ahmad Khan has been sent to prison in 2022 for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008 showing candidate selection failed to select a good candidate, damaging the party as Labour then took the Wakefield constituency in a by-election
Providing the personnel of government successful
1997 Labour government Gordon Brown was chancellor of the exchequer and introduced the minimum wage. This policy is now upheld by all major political parties and would not be scrapped only the amount provided would increase or decrease.
The health secretary were renowned for having the lowest NHS wait times in history
Introduced free tv licenses for those over 75 which has continued to this day. This was done by
Providing the personnel of government failure
2004 David Blunkett was Home Secretary and was accussed of fast-tracking the visa application for his child’s nanny
2005 as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions broke minsiterial code by wrongly using official HoC notepaper to make a personla objection to a planning development near one of his London homes
Electing a leader success
In 2005 Cameron received a majority of party parliamentary support and the party membership voted for him with an absolute majority meaning he would have the backing of the Party and members so could be an effective leader that people would get behind.
Electing a leader failure
In 2015, Corbyn narrowly won the Labour parliamentary backing of 10% but won an absolute majority of the membership vote so became leader. This meant MP’s wouldn’t back him making him an ineffecitve oppostion and leader.
Policy formulation helping party’s share of votes
2013 Cameron promised to give a refernedum on EU membership which secured the party win as it took votes away from UKIP as Cameron felt threatened
Policy formulation hindering party’s share of votes
Lib Dems agreeing to pass legislationg tripling univeristy tuition costs despite the manifesto saying the opposite. This resulted in their seats going from by 52 seats in 2015 leaving them with 5
Party campagins furthering party’s share of votes
Momentum (part of Labour) used social media in 2017 to their advantage which helped attract young voters. They achieved a majority of 18-44 voters in 2017 and 2019.
Party campagins being ineffective in increasing party share of votes
UKIP despite having wanting to leave the EU for a considerable amoutn of time and cmapiging for it the Conservatives adopted this and took the impetus away from UKIP so only won 1 seat in 2015. This is beacuse Conservatives are more likley to form a government
Political parties successfully representing
In the 2017 general election 82% felt their political opinion was represented by the Conservative Party 42% and the Labour Party 40%
Political parties failing to represent
FPTP means smaller parties voices aren’t well represented. In the 2015 election UKIP had the 3rd largest share of the vote but only 1 seat because of dispersed support. Therefore, the current voting system presents parties from representing.
Political parties mobilising consent for government successfuly
2019 Conservative government had an 80 seat majority so could effectively govern and push their political agenda. This successfully moblised the government who could then pursue a strong Brexit deal
Political parties fail to mobilise consent for government
2010 coalition government meant there was a lack of strong support and compromises had to be made on policies in order to evoke change
Political parties help representative democracy
- Political parties select suitable candidates to stand for election and to select their leader from. Without such mechanisms a representative democracy would not be able to function properly.
- Opposition political parties can hold a government to accountable for its policies in a way that would be impossible for individual representatives
- Political parties develop and aggregate coherent political programmes through discussion. This enables voters across the whole country to make the same rational choices about whom they will vote for
Political parties hinder representative democracy
- Political parties give excessive power to the party membership. By selecting the party leader, the membership effectively determines the choice of who will be PM in the general election
- The freedom of actions of MPs is reduced because, although they have their own personal mandate, the party whips will expect them to support the view of their political party - criticised for suffocating genuine debate by monopolising political decision making e.g. Fracking vote Liz Truss the problems within the Conservative party
- Political parties reduce voter choice by requiring voters to associate themselves with the manifesto of a political party even though that manifesto may not fully represent their political views.
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - Yes - The rise of the Lib Dems
-Between 1970 and 2005 the share of the national vote won by Labour and Conservatives decreased from over 90% to under 70%, largely due to the Lib Dems
-Only the first-past-the-post electoral system prevented the Lib Dems from gaining seats
-Apart from the 2015 slump its been the Lib Dems loosening the grip of the two main parties, they peaked at 10% of seats in 2005 and 23% of the national vote in 2010
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - Yes - Lib Dems in government
-The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition 2010-2015
-A small party found itself with genuine power as Nick Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister, the Cabinet had 16 Conservatives and 5 Lib Dems, and each cabinet committee had a chair from one party and a deputy chair of the other
-It tried (and failed) to advance constitutional reforms with the 2011 AV referendum and the 2011 Fixed Term Parliament Act being repealed 2022
-In 2013 the Lib-Dems also vetoed a review of constituency boundaries, which stood to benefits the Tories
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - Yes - The rise of national parties
-In the 2010 and 2015 elections, around 1/3rd of all votes went to parties other than Conservatives or Labour
-While in 2001 the nationalist parties won just 27 seats between them, in 2015 this rose to 80
-Following the 2015 election, a total of 11 different political parties held seats in Parliament
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - No - First-past-the-post voting system
-Following the UK rejection of the AV electoral system in the 2011 referendum, a voting system which plays into the hands of large political parties has been preserved
-Additionally FPTP is problematic as in the 2015 general election the SNP won 56 seats on 5% of the vote while UKIP won only 1 seat with 13% of the vote
-It is difficult to see the creation of a multi-party system without reform to the voting system
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - No - Parliamentary culture
-Parliament is largely designed to facilitate a two-party confrontational style of political debate
-There is only one official opposition party, only one seat directly opposite the PM, and only one confrontation that capture the public eye
-Of the 20 ‘Opposition Days’ in Parliament, 17 are given to the second biggest party with just three between all other parties
Does the UK now have a multi-party system - No - Elective dictatorship of the PM (The limited impact of the SNP’s rise)
-As amazing as the political fortunes of the SNP were in the 2015 general election, its majority of Scottish seats in the Commons cannot be seen as a national change in party politics or voting behaviour
-The clear Conservative majorities in 2015 and 2019 have meant that the MPs of the SNP have had little impact
Poppy’s multi-party system debate
P1 yes - rise of the lib dems
P2 n0 - the fall of the lib dems
P3 yes - the rise of minor parties
P4 no - parliamentary culture
P5 yes - The SNP dominance in Scotland (won 56/59 seats in 2015)
P6 no - FPTP, not the same in other devolved countries
Impact of minor parties on UK politics - UKIP
-UKIP influence on Conservative Party Policy - In the lead up to the 2015 general election, the rise of UKIP was causing alarm in the Conservative Party
-To remove the threat of UKIP, David Cameron decided to take a more Euro-Sceptic policy and in January 2013 announce that the Conservatives would hold a referendum on EU members if they got in power
-However, In the 2015 general election over 3.8 million votes (almost 13% of the vote), but they only got 1 seat
UKIP membership 2015
In the run-up to the general election, there was a surge in membership reaching nearly 50,000. Made it the 4th largest party in the UK in terms of membership
Impact of minor parties on UK politics - DUP
?
Impact of minor parties on UK politics - SNP
-The impact of the SNP upon politics is largely through their dominance of the Scottish Parliament and government
-It can be argued that the SNP’s current 44 MPs in Westminster have an impact on UK politics by being a fairly large bloc and representing the Scottish government in the UK Parliament
–The clear Conservative majorities in 2019 have meant that the 44 MPs of the SNP have had little impact
SNP membership 2014
Following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, membership of the SNP surged. Claimed to be over 100,000 when they have a population of just over 5 million
Should political parties be funded by the state - Yes - Reducing reliance on ‘big money’ interests
Corrupt donations
-Most convincing argument for state funding of political parties is to diminish the influence of ‘big money’ donations
e.g. There is also a ‘Leaders Group’ of donor within the Conservative Party of people who donate more than £50,000 a year and who enjoy exclusive dinners etc. with the Prime Minister, ½ of the Tories donations in 2014 came from this group
-The Labour Party is still heavily funded by unions with more than ¾ of Labours funds under Ed Miliband coming from union. The Unite trade union gave £657,702 in early 2017. At the same time, UNISON donated £376.242
Should political parties be funded by the state - Yes - Morality of asking taxpayers to fund political parties is not too bad
-The main objection to state party funding is the moral and practical argument that it’s wrong for the state to support political causes
-Given that in times of austerity ordinary people are less able to make political donations, it is precisely these times that state funding is needed to curtail the influence of ‘big money’
-The Committee for Standards in Public Life calculated that state funding linked to votes gained in elections would cost a mere 50p per voter per year
Should political parties be funded by the state - Yes - Promoting a multi-party system/ end disparity in funding
-It is also argued that state funding is needed to end the two-party dominance as small parties struggle for funding, therefore state funding would allow them to compete effectively on a national scale
Should political parties be funded by the state - No - Effective regulation already exists
-The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 capped local and national electoral spending and funding: Any overseas donation was made illegal, Parties must declare their donations regularly, every week during elections
-This was done as a response to the growing unease that the decline of broad party memberships would allow ‘big money’ to wield excessive influence
-Further legislation was introduced in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 which introduced even tighter measures, especially to regulate the tendency of donations to lead to ‘honours’
Should political parties be funded by the state - No - State funding would entrench existing party dominance
-A system of funding based on votes won or seats won would allow established parties to enjoy the majority of available funds and collude to prevent other parties threatening their income stream
-Supporters of the current system of party funding argue that it allows for dynamism:
-In the 2019 election campaign, Lib Dems spent almost £14.5 million (more than Labour) but won only 11 seats – Despite the failure of the spending, it shows that smaller parties can still manage to outspend larger ones with the current system
- In 2015 Labour has £51.2 million (yet lost) so funding doesn’t solely determine the result
Should political parties be funded by the state - No - Hinders the right to freedom of association
-In these trying economic times, do the people really want tens of millions of pounds on political parties
-The 2009 Parliamentary Expenses Scandal has already shown public distaste for MPs wasting taxpayers money so there is likely little support for what will amount to a direct transfer of money from the governed to the governing
Effective regulation and greater transparency have provided the much needed checks on spending without using the ‘nuclear option’ of state funding
Conservative party ECONOMY
One Nation - 2016 chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne introduced a national living wage which represents a significant intervention in the economy to protect the poorest in society
New Right - Since 2010 the Cameron government pursued austerity measures to reduce the national deficit demonstrating the party’s continued commitment to the new right principle of good housekeeping
Conservative party LAW & ORDER
One Nation - Follows the principle of being more inclusive and progressive with the early talk of replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 with a new UK Bill of Rights without further elaboration in the party’s 2010 manifesto
New Right - Coronavirus Act 2020 allowed police to detain anyone they suspected to be ‘potentially infectious’ for up to 14 days, expanding the power of the police massively as this could be interpreted to give police officers unlimited freedom to detain anyone, on a scale previously unseen
Conservative party WELFARE
New Right - Wants to discourage a dependency culture as seen In September 2022, the Sunak government announced welfare benefits would not rise in line with inflation, meaning an effective fall in welfare payments by 6%
One Nation - believes we should protect all those in society, seen in the Coronavirus Act 2020 including powers to halt the eviction of tenants during COVID
Conservative TRADITION
New Right - values consitutional traditions so opposes further reforms to the House of Lords as it is unncessary
One Nation - Cameron committeed the party to supporting Gay marraige demonstrating the party’s new committment to tolerance and inclusivity
Conservative FOREIGN AFFAIRS
New Right - the emphasis on the central importance of the nation state has meant that Eurosceptisim has become increasingly influential within the party. During the 2016 referendum, 138 Conservative MPs signaled they would vote to leave the EU compared to only 10 Labour MPs
One Nation - Cameron’s emphsis on a ‘Big Society’. Introduced a National Citizenship Qualification as a way of acknowledging the importance of our shared membership society?
Cameron asks parliament about air stirkes in Syria
Conservative party united or disunited
The party is not disunited as the Conservative Party put forward a welfare cap bill in 2022 which would limit government spending on benefits. All Conservative who voted for the bill voted in favour showing they are ideologically united/
However there are research groups such as the Northern Research Group aimed at boosting spending and investment in the north of England with more than 50 MPs, influential in creating the Leveling Up policy to spread opportunity more equally across the UK.
Labour party ECONOMY
Old Labour - believe in public ownership which was upheld in the 2017 manifesto as Corbyn suggested an extensive programme of renationalization (railways and water companies) as they should be run in public interest rather than government profit
New Labour - have they continued the idea free-market
Labour party LAW & ORDER
Old Labour - Corbyn emphasised social remedies to crime rather than tough prison sentences
New Labour - 2018 Labour Party Conference Corbyn stated that he wanted 10,000 more police officers on the streets in order to reduce the crime rates
Labour party WELFARE
Old Labour - Labour aim in the 2019 manifesto was to establish ‘National Care Service’ for England that works for everyone who needs it
New Labour -
Labour party FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Old Labour - Labour wanted to end the hostile environment towards migrants and to close all immigration detention centres in their 2019 manifesto
New Labour -
Labour factions
Momentum - on the far-left of the party and was created to support Corbyn as Labour leader. Members range from ‘Old Labour’ democratic socialist, to Marxist-inspired socialists. They believe in the redistribution of wealth, nationalisation, state regulation on the finance industry, large increases in the creation of subsided public sector housing, control of private rents, increase in the minimum wage, abandonment of the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent
‘Blairism’ and social democracy are social democrats and believe in ‘New Labour’. They sit more in the centre of the political spectrum with prominent member such as Stephen Kinnock, Hilary Benn. They fought against the leadership of Corbyn.
Blue Labour. The UK’s working-class does not favour left-wing policies on a whole but prefer many ideas associated with conservatism. Labour lost votes to UKIP in the 2015 general election. They are socially conservative- British values, anti large-scale immigration, campaigned for the UK to leave the EU, opposes the excess of big business. They support free-market but protection for UK industry from foreign competitors in order to protect ‘British jobs for British workers. Exists in Labour as it strongly supports the interests of the working class
Lib Dem ECONOMY
Core idea -
Newer idea -
Lib Dem LAW & ORDER
Core idea -
Newer idea -
Lib Dem WELFARE
Core idea - Liberal Democrats want to increase on NHS social care and set up a cross-party convention to agree on long-term funding which supports the idea that state welfare sets people free
Counter - Lib Dems treblled tution fees in the 2010 coalition government which does not give liberty to those who are impoverished
Lib Dem FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Core idea -
Newer idea -
Lib Dem factions
Orange Book Liberals wish to reconnect with their liberal roots. Support the restoration of free markets and the withdrawal of excessive state intervention. They urged the party to promote policies that enhance individual liberties. Mark Oaten and Chris Huhne were principal members of this faction
Social liberals are formal members of the Labour Party. Vince Cable the business secretary in the coalition government is a key example. Stresses policies concerning social justice, redistribution of income through taxation and welfare. At odds with the Orange Book as social justice implies greater state activity to promote social change
