8 - Political Party's Flashcards
What party system do minor parties want
Multi - party system
What year was the conservative party created
1834
What conservative leader created one-nation conservatism
Benjamin Disraeli (Leader 1868-81)
How many years were the conservatives in charge in the 20th century
67 years
What idea dominated the conservative party before 1979
one - nation conservatism
Who adopted compassionate conservatism and what was it
Adopted by david cameron
Combined thatchers free-market and liberal social and environmental issues
Example of the conservative party showing traditional conservative values
johnson’s “War on woke” with home secretary Priti Patel saying taking the knee was “Gesture politics”
What did the conservative party accept before thatcher came in
Post-war consensus
What was thatcher impatient of in the conservative party
high taxation
Powerful and disruptive unions
Economic stagnation
Example of thatchers confident foreign policy
The 1982 falklands war
What did Cameron aim to do when he came in charge in 2006
Detoxify their image
What did Theresa May’s 2017 manifesto include
Bringing back fox hunting
Removal of free school - meals for 4-7 year olds
What did Johnson want to do in terms of policy after winning the 2019 election
He had many populist changes including:
More nurses and police officers
An Australian point system to tackle immigration
A commitment to not raise taxes
What year was the labour party formed
1906
What did the first labour party include
trade unions and left-wing political groups
What was labours origin
Aim was to represent working-class people in parliament
Rejected revolutionary socialism focusing on social democracy
Formed it’s first government in 1929 but din’t get its first majority until 1945
What did the 1945 Labour government do
Created the NHS
Created the welfare state
Nationalised many industry’s
What is social democracy
The democratic version of socialism, socialists win power within a democracy and introduce changes as high taxation, nationalism and a welfare state
What is Clause IV and when was it introduced
Introduced in the 1918 manifesto
Committed labour to nationalising businesses
What was Corbynism and when was it
While corbyn was in charge 2015-20
What described as a return to old labour
It advocated for nationalisation, increasing business taxes
What was the “Third way”
A new labour idea to centralised politics
What did labour move to after losing the 1979 general
Left wing politics
What did Blair do after becoming leader in 1994
Tried to triangulate labour policies - creating the third way
What did blair do to clause IV in 1995
Removed the parts including Socialist economic policy
What ruined Blair’s reputation in 2003
The invasion of IRAQ
What did new leader Ed Miliband do to labour
Moved it further left after Brown’s centralised government
What was Corbyn’s labour “story”
Was a rebellious backbencher in the Blair Government
Was criticised by papers for bring a radical socialist
Increased their seats in 2017 but dropping a lot in 2019
What is the origin of the Lib Dems
Was from the liberal party and the social democratic party
The Liberal party was one of the major parties until labour came after WW1
The SDP was formed in 1981 when 4 labour politicians didn’t like how left the party was going
In 1988 the two parties joined together
What was orange book liberalism
A book written by social liberals - these thinkers accepted the free market and did not significantly challenge thatchers economic polices
What is one of the Lib Dems priority’s
Electoral reform - They famously won 26% of the vote in 1983 but only got 26 seats
What did the lib-dems do in the 2005 general
Won their highest ever 62 seats
This was done by going against the iraq war
What did Nick clegg do as party leader from 2007
Gave them their first experience of government in 2010 with their coalition government
He increased tuition fees - the opposite of their manifesto and lost the student voters
The coalition increased economic austerity and reduced public spending - this lead voters to lose trust
They won 8 seats in 2015 and then Clegg resigned
What did the lib-dems do over brexit
Campaign for remain
In 2019 Leader Jo Swinson lost her seat after saying they would cancel brexit without a second referendum
What do current lib-dems want
Ed Davey was elected leader in 2021, his main priority’s were:
The economy including - Green jobs and Universal basic income
Main economic polices of labour in the 2019 general
Nationalisation
fee broadband for every home and business
Main health polices of labour in the 2019 general
a 4.3% yearly increase in spending
Investment into mental health
Free dental check ups
Main Tax polices of labour in the 2019 general
Increased taxes for high earners
Increase corporation and inheritance tax
Introduce a tax on second homes
Main environmental polices of labour in the 2019 general
Carbon neutral by 2030’s
Main economic polices of the conservatives in the 2019 general
negotiate new free-trade agreements with other countries
Support small businesses
Main Health polices of the conservatives in the 2019 general
50,000 new nurses
More Gp appointments
40 new hospitals
Free hospital parking
Increased charges for non-uk residents to use the NHS
Main tax polices of the conservatives in the 2019 general
No increase to income tax, vat or national insurance
Clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion
Main environmental polices of the conservatives in the 2019 general
carbon free by 2050
Main economic polices of the Lib-dems in the 2019 general
Support small businesses , catering,leisure and the arts
Main health polices of the Lib-dems in the 2019 general
Add one percent to income tax to fund an extra 7 billion investment a year
Prioritise mental health
Main tax polices of the Lib-dems in the 2019 general
increase corporate tax slightly
Simplify tax systems and replace business rates system
Main enviromental polices of the Lib-dems in the 2019 general
Carbon neutral by 2045
Functions of political parties
Representation
Participation
Recruitment
Policy
Government
What is the local and national structure of the conservatives
Each constituency has a conservative association who run election campaigns
The national conservative conventions makes decisions for the voluntary party
The 1922 committee is made up of backbenchers
The board of the conservative party is the governing body of the party
What is the local and national structure of the labour party
Each constituency has a constituency labour party(CLP)
The national Executive committee is the governing part of the party
14 trade unions are affiliated to labour
Many socialist society’s are affiliated to the labour party
What is the national and local structure of the lib-dems
The lib-dems use a federal structure
Members belong to a local party, a regional party and a national party
The federal board is the governing body of the lib-dems
There is a parliamentary party if the HOC made up by lib-dem MP’s
How many members did the conservatives have in 2021
200k
How many members did the labour party have in 2017 and 2020
552k in 2017
496k in 2020
How many members did the lib-dems have in 2019
115k
How do the conservatives vote their party leader
Mps vote on leadership candidates until there are 2 left, then the whole party votes on the last 2 candidates
How do labour vote their party leader
The parliamentary Labour party (PLP) makes nominations: Candidates need 20% of the PLP to vote them to proceed
Candidates need support from 5% of the local parties and trade unions
All members then vote on candidates
How do the Lib-Dems vote their party leader
A candidate must be a mp and have support of at least 10% of other MP’s and at least 20 local parties
All members vote once candidates are found
Why was labours “registered supporters” controversial
In 2015 Labour made it so supporters could pay £3 to vote in the leadership election,
more than 100k joined and 84% voted for corbyn
What party gives more power to mp’s in the leadership process
The conservatives as then it’s less likely for them to argue with the leader
What % of mp’s voted for corbyn
15.5%
What is the procedure to choose parliamentary candidates
Potential candidates are approved by the central organisation of the party
The local party selects candidates from the central party list
Constituency members vote to select the parliamentary candidate
What are priority lists
Centrally prepared lists of priority candidates eg women and different ethnicity’s are offered to local party’s during election time
What are public hustings
Events where parliamentary candidates answer questions in front of a crowd
How do the conservatives establish party policy
Top-down process: the leader’s team decides what policy’s go in the manifesto
Delegates at the party do not vote on policy
How do the labour party establish party policy
The national party forum agrees on the direction of the policy
Polices are then voted on at the party conference
The leader can use personal authority to get policy through
How do the Lib-Dems establish party policy
The federal policy committee develops policies to be put to the party conference
Any member can make a policy proposal
The conference votes on all the polices and all members can vote
is there a lot of income for party’s via membership fees
No - income has reduced since the 1980’s
Is there a lot of money in small donations from individuals
A fall in memberships also meant a fall in small donations
Example of a large donation to a party
Tony blair’s labour was criticised for accepting a 1m donation from bernie ecclestone in 1997 and then giving f1 an exemption from the ban of tobacco advertisements at sporting events
Example of a large donations to the conservatives
Members of the elite “Leaders group” of conservative donors gave over 130m to the party between 2010-19, they were given private access to the pm and other ministers
How much money did the conservatives get via donation for the 2019 general
13m from individuals
6m from businesses
What % of donations to the labour party were done via trade unions in 2019
93% with just over 5m
How can trade unions control labour
By adjusting the funding
After corbyn left they reduced their funding by 10% to show they didn’t like the direction they were going
Why was state funding made
To counter the financial advantage enjoyed the government or parties with big funds
What is short money
Money given to he opposition parties in the HOC to cover administration costs and to enable effective scrutiny of the government
What is the policy development grants
Any party with 2+ mps are allocated 2m per year to help develop policies
What did the Political parties,elections and referendum act 2000 do
Spending limit in general election campaigns (30k per constituency)
Donations over 7.5k must be declared to the electoral commission
What did the Political parties and Elections act 2009 do
Allowed the electoral commission to investigate cases and impose fines
Increased the requirements for establishing the source of political donations
Example of a paper describing a Pm candidate
In 2019 the sun called jeremy Corbyn “The most dangerous man ever to stand for high office in britain”
How many times did Cameron and Murdoch meet within his first 15 months as pm
26 times
What are the conservative newspapers
The daily mail
The telegraph
What are the labour papers
The mirror
The guardian
How does a party’s leader affect electoral outcomes
Media coverage is done manly on the leader
How does funding affect electoral outcomes
A clear advantage to the conservatives
labour remains dependant on trade unions
Parties have to get donations to have a chance
How does policy’s affect electoral outcomes
appealing polices (New Labour) have good appeal
poorly crafted polices (May’s 2017 plans) wont get good votes
How does records affect electoral outcomes
Government’s are judged on their record
In 1997 Major was punished for sleaze
How does the media affect electoral outcomes
Support from key newspapers such as the sun is helpful
Social media is increasingly important
how can an electoral system affect electoral outcomes
FPTP favours party’s with concentrated geographical supporter eg, SNP
What polices do the SNP have
Independence for scotland
Increased public spending mostly on health
End austerity
Scrap trident
What is SNP’s impact on the political agenda
Won a majority in the 2011 scottish parliament elections
Won 56/59 seats in scotland in 2015
Won another landslide in 2019 with 48 seats
Third largest party in government
What polices do UKIP have
Keep the UK totally separate from the eu
Anti-immigration
Free speech, free markets
What is UKIP’s impact on politics
Made in 1993
Won the 2014 european parliament elections
Fears of tory voters swapping to ukip in 2015 the tory’s announced the eu referendum
Won 3.9m votes in 2015
Struggled for a purpose after brexit
Ukip won fewer than 29k votes in 2019 and got no seats
What polices do reform Uk have
Low-tax economy
Reform public sector, institution and electoral system
Opposition to covid restrictions and lockdowns
What impact do reform uk have on politics
Founded as the brexit party by farage in 2018
Won the european parliament elections with 31% of the vote
Chose to not contest conservative seats in 2019 so pro-leavers could get seats
Renamed in 2020
Key polices of Plaid Cymru
Independence for wales
Increased development in wales
Impact of plaid cymru on politics
Provided a clear voice for wales
Want more public spending
Struggles for media attention after getting 4 seats in the 2019 election
Key polices of DUP
Northern ireland to remain in the uk
Socially conservative - opposes same sex marriage and abortion
Impact of DUP on politics
Won 8 seats in the 2019 election
Supported the conservatives between 2017-19 in a confidence and supply deal, is gave them significant influence
Campaigned for brexit
Largest unionist party in Northern Ireland
Key polices of Sinn Fein
Special status for Northern Ireland’s relationship with the eu
Referendum to join both parts of ireland together
Impact of sinn fein on politics
Largest nationalist party in northern ireland
Sinn fein’s do not take up their seats in parliament as they don’t think they should be part of the UK.
the party was criticised during may’s minority government as their 7 seats could of helped remainers
Key polices of the Green Party
Environmental protections and a green economy
Investment in public services
Impact of the green party on politics
Provides an environmental perspective on all policy areas
Only won 1 seat in 2019
Encourages other parties to develop environmental polices
Helped by the Lib-Dems to win 2 marginal seats in 2017 by green supporters voting lib-dems to keep the tory’s out
What is a two-party system
Two significant political parties compete for power in a duopoly
A typical product of FPTP
Tends to result in single-party majority governments
Evidence of the Uk being a Two - party system
Either labour or the conservatives have been in charge since 1922
Since the 1930’s they seem the only party’s who could win
Labour and conservatives got 87% of the seats in 2019
Minority party’s are very rare
the 2017 election was a reintroduction to two-party system with labour and conservatives winning over 80% of the votes for the first time since the 1980’s
What is a multi-party system
Multiple significant political party’s competing
A typical product of proportional voting systems
tends to result in coalition and minority governments
Evidence of the uk being a multi - party system
in recent years smaller parties have played a key role: The lib dems in 2010
Smaller parties have had an impact: SNP has made is harder for the conservatives or labour to get a majority
Multiple party’s hold power across the uk and devolved nations
