Minor Parties And Lib Dem Evidence Flashcards
Which two parties formed an alliance with each other to fight the 1983 and 1987 GE’s before forming the Liberal Democrat’s in 1988
The liberals and the SDP
How many seats did the Liberal Democrat’s gain in the 1997 election
46
How many seats did the Liberal Democrat’s gain in 2005
62
The Liberal Democrat’s in the early 2000’s: they were a centre-left party
They were opposed to the Iraq War, identity cards and tuition fees and wanted to introduce a new 50% tax rate for those earning over £100,000
Orange book liberals e.g.
Nick Clegg, one of the authors of the Orange Book, became party leader in 2007 and aimed to position the party so that it could conceivably work in a coalition with one of the other major parties
In their 2010 election, their manifesto included making the first £10,000 people earn tax free, scrapping university tuition fees for undergraduate students, changing the Trident nuclear missives system and backing constitutional reform.
In their 2010 election what did the Liberal Democrat manifesto include
In their 2010 election, their manifesto included making the first £10,000 people earn tax free, scrapping university tuition fees for undergraduate students, changing the Trident nuclear missives system and backing constitutional reform.
How many seats did the Lib Dem’s win in 2015
8
How many seats did the Lib Dem’s win in 2017
12
Controversial support from Lib Dem’s
In 2019 they supported the legalisation of cannabis
Since 2016 the SNP have been…
Since 2016 the SNP has been in power in Scotland either as a minority government or as the major party in a coalition government with the Scottish Greens.
The SNP’s majority in……. Led to the Westminster government agreeing to a Scottish Independence referendum that was held in ……..
2011
2014
How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2015 General Election
56/59
How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2017 General Election
35/59
How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2019 General Election
48/59
What did the SNP oppose in 2017 and 2019 and argue should be ended
Austerity
How many votes did UKIP get in the 2015 General election and how many seats did it get
3.9million votes
1 MP
When did Nigel Farage launch the Brexit Party
Nigel Farage launched the Brexit Party ahead of the May 2019 European Parliament elections to pressure for a hard Brexit deal and oppose Theresa May’s moderate withdrawal agreement.
In 2015, the Green Party won………….. across the UK but failed to win any more seats (only seat Caroline Lucas)
More than a million votes across the UK
In the 2019 European elections the Green Party won …… MEPs
7 and over 2 million votes
In the 2019 General Election the Green Party won …… % of the vote but just …… seat
2.7%
One
How many seats did Plaid Cymru win in the 2019 UK Parliament election
4 seats (0.5% of the vote)
Which party receives significant funding from trade unions?
Labour
Conservatives receive major funding from
Businesses and rich individuals
Who does FPTP benefit
Labour, Conservatives, SNP, the DUP and Sinn Fein
But it greatly harms the prospects of other minor parties such as UKIP/ The Brexit Party, the Liberal Democrat’s and the Green Party
PMs with charismatic
Boris Johnson 2019
Blair in 1997
Poor and unpopular leaders can have a detrimental impact on the popularity of political party by deterring voters e.g.
Theresa May 2017
Jeremy Corbyn 2019
Popular and charismatic leaders can be particularly important for minor parties who struggle to gain political prominence and voter attention in the context of two-party dominance
Nigel Farage and Nicola Sturgeon
Influence of leaders on party success can be overstated ………..
As local MPs play a key role and many voters are likely to vote for the same party irrespective or their leader.
Media newspaper example
Tony Blair
Tony Blair’s ability to court traditionally Conservative Party newspapers, including the sun, in the 1997 election is seen by many as an important factor in Labour’s landslide victory in that election.
Media damaging corbyn
Many who supported the Labour Party under Corbyn believe the party was presented extremely unfairly by the media when Corbyn was in power, which damaged Labour’s chances of winning the 2017 and 2019 general elections.
Voters voting for a party due to their main policy e.g.
The significant support received by UKIP in the 2015 general election was largely due to how their main policy of Brexit appealed to a large number of voters who were disaffected with their lives and the political system, seeing Brexit as offering a change.
Rise in SNP
Rise in SNP as a consequence of significant part of the Scottish public’s support for independence
Voters reward parties who deliver on their manifesto policies and manage the economy and government effectively, whilst punishing those who don’t
Dramatic drop in support for the Lib Dem’s after they participated in a coalition government with the conservatives.
By contrast labour won the 2001 and 2005 elections in part as a consequence of continued economic growth and effective public service provision when in power.
Divided parties seem weak, incompetent and lack effective leadership e.g.
- 1997 - conservative party’s damaging divisions over Europe were important in their poor electoral performance.
- failure of Labour Party in the 2019 general election, party as divided between the more left wing leadership and membership and significant sections of the parliamentary Labour Party, which was much more moderate, as well as over their second referendum policy.
