Chapter 2 Political Parties Flashcards
Functions of political parties
- Selecting candidates - a candidate which is both in line with his local and party values.
- Providing the personnel of government - candidates for election can then be the makeup of a government.
- Electing leader - the Conservative party select two Mps and allow members to vote. Since 2010, Labour adopted one member one, one vote.
- Policy formulation - manifesto is key to informing voters of your plan for government.
- Campaigning - allows voters to know the choice between parties as well as provide clarity on local issues
- Representation - political parties play a key part in representing the view of people from the entire political spectrum.
- Mobilising consent for government - without political parties it would be difficult to form effective governments. Parties combine elected politicians into recognisable groups.
Function of political parties examples
2022 Sam Tarry was sacked as a shadow minister due to being out of touch with the leadership.
2023 Jamie O’Driscoll was deselected from Mayor of the North East
September 2023 Angela Rayner was selected as shadow deputy pm
Nick Clegg elected as MP 2005 to deputy PM 2010
2022 party membership voted for liz Truss (57%). Later that. year MPs united behind Rishi Sunak to elect him as the sole leader.
2020 Keir Starmer elected on 56.2%
In 2019 75.7% of voters felt represented by either the Conservatives or Labour.
How parties are funded
- Policy development grants allocates £2 million to main parties
- Short money is allocated to opposition parties
- Cranborne Money subsidises House of Lords.
- Individual donations - for example, Frank Hester has given £15mn to Conservatives. Conservative party received £19mn in 2019. Labour received £5.4mn
- Independent electoral commission - records funding and limits it to £30,000 spent per constituency.
State funded political parties pros
- Two party domination - during the 2019 election Con and Lab responsible for 80.5% oof spending.
- Would stop the influence of special interest groups - Lab trade unions and Conservative big business.
- Public funding creates more level playing field allowing for greater choice of smaller parties.
- Prevent big donor peerages - 2021 Peter Cruddas who had donated £3mn was given peerage by Boris Johnson.
- The cost is small - the cost would be £25mn as recommended by the Phillips report.
State funded political parties cons
- In a free democracy, people should be able to financially support any cause they wish. It is a case of freedom of expression and political parties are no different from charities or pressure groups.
- Allocation of funds to parties would be controversial and potentially unbalanced.
- Philosophically, it could suggest political parties are servants of the state and therefore not politically independent.
- In 2019, 87 political parties received more than 500 votes it would be controversial to decided who would receive funding
- There is not necessarily a link between funding and seats. In 2019, Brexit party received £4.1mn but no seats. The SNP received £24,000 but won 48 seats.
- Political parties raise funds through membership dues. If they were publicly funded there would be less incentive to engage people politically.
Established political parties - Conservatives
- One-nation conservatism - Benjamin Disraeli argues that Britain might become ‘two nations’ of the ‘rich and poor’. Reaching out to working class is an integral part.
- New Right - combination of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism.
Current Conservative ideas
- Cameron - social progressivism (gay marriage, big society, National Citizen Service). Economic conservatism 3.2bn year cut to Universal credit, by 2015 annual deficit had been cut in half
- Theresa May - pro-Eu and the Jams.
- Boris Johnson - focus on levelling up society, large scale spending for HS2 and increase in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.
- Liz Truss - attempt at reversal but of National Insurance 1.25% and tax rate to 19% for corporations
- Rishi Sunak - tax cuts to national insurance before election.
Established political parties - Labour
- Old Labour - working class politics, compromise between Democratic socialists and social democrats.
- New Labour - came into office with Tony Blair. Policies were to keep top rate of tax and viewing the state as an enabler.
Current Labour ideas
- Deliver 2 million more NHS appointments a year
- Great British Energy a new publicly owned energy company
- Update the minimum wage to a living wage
- Free breakfast club in every primary school
- Recruit 6500 new teachers through ending the VAT tax loophole on private schools
Current Lib Dem ideas
- Economy - Investing £100bn in green infrastructure. Increasing tax by 1p
- Welfare - restore university maintenance grants.
- Law and Order - community policing and legislation of cannabis
- Foreign policy - internationalist and pro EU
Minor parties - SNP
Third largest party since 2015 (48 seats)
SNP substantial influence on weak governments.
For example, 2016 SNP voted with Labour and Conservative rebels against prolonging sunday shopping.
Yet, significant restraints over what SNP can do ,
For example, in 2022 UK supreme court decided against Nicola Sturgeon calling for another referendum. In 2023, Westminster blocked a Scottish Bill implementing self-indentification for people who wanted to switch genders.
Minor parties - Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru won 4 of the 40 welsh parliamentary seats in 2019. Has so far failed to break through the Labour stronghold and has instead done well with welsh speaking seats.
Has managed too for a coalition in the national assembly for wales from 2007 to 2011 with Labour with the agreement to give it further devolved powers.
2021 Coopeeration agreement on 46 proposals
Minor parties - Reform UK
UKIP began to broaden its support under the implication of the EU expansions of 2004 and 2007 bringing more migrants.
In the 2014 European election it won 24 seats, beating Labour and the Conservatives. In 2015, it won 12.5% of the vote and one parliamentary seat.
UKIP’s prominence forced David Cameron to include a manifesto promise of the Brexit referendum.
The party has shifted into Reform which targets working class voters on an immigration platform. - scrap VAT on energy bills, 15% corp tax after 5 years
Minor parties - Green Party
Scottish Green’s Bute House agreement important part of coalition and led to Youssef resignation and Swinney succession
2019 election saw greens win 3.6% of the votes.
Green’s have had influence through increasing awareness of climate issues. In 2019, there was cross party support for declaring a climate emergency.
invest £250bn over 10 years in council-led schemes to insulate 10 million homes.
The Green Party’s “One Pound Fare To Take You There” plan would introduce a £1 single fare on all local bus routes in the country and guarantee free travel for everyone under 22.
Caroline Lucas will be stepping down in her Brighton Pavilion seat.
74 council seat increase to 181 in 2024
Minor parties - DUP
DUP priority to keep Northern Ireland a part of the UK. DUP played large role in the Northern Ireland peace process. This has led to power sharing with the Sinn Fein. SF withdrew from Stormont from 2017 to 2020
Its 10 seats in the 2017 election was crucial to Theresa May forming a majority.
The DUP were able to negotiate £1bn in funding for their support for May.
21 for 28% seats in 2022
