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.
