Parties Flashcards
What are the 5 main roles of political parties?
-Policy formulation
-Representation
-Participation
-Organisation of government
-Recruiting leaders
What are the three main ways parties generate funds?
-Membership Fees
-Donations
-Grants (Short, Cranborne, EC)
What were the consequences of the 1997 Ecclestone Scandal?
Established Political Parties, Elections and Referenda Act 2002:
-Set up Electoral Commission to regulate party finance
-Donations above £7500 must be declared and made public
-Constituency spending limited to £30k
What is short money?
Introduced in 1974 by Edward Short, allocated money to opposition depending on number or seats and votes (2+ seats, 150k+ votes)
What is the purpose of short money?
-Make party funding more democratic
-Help conduct research for policy
-Travel to campaign
-Staff wages
What is party funding is allocated for Sinn Fein?
Receive no short money due to abstentionism (don’t sit in Parliament), gain representative money instead
What is Cranborne money?
HoL equivalent of short money, set up in 1996, Lords Leader of Opposition and Opposition Chief Whip are paid through public funds
Why are Short Money and Cranborne Money important?
Essential for opposition parties to carry out functions (scrutiny/research) in Parliament, main stream of funding
What was the Bernie Ecclestone scandal?
-Donated £1mil to Labour in 1997
-Lab bans all sport sponsorships by tobacco but F1 is kept exempt, Blair apologised for mishandling
-Niell report recommended an end to foreign donations and a disclosure over £7500 as a result
What was the Cash for Honours scandal?
-2006 Chai Patel nominated for a peerage after donating £100k to Lab, secret loan of £1.5mil
-Con borrowed £16mil from 13 wealthy bankers
-Nothing legally wrong however the 16 month investigation embarrassed the gov
Since 1979, how many votes have Lab and Con taken?
Over 65% - demonstrating a clearly entrenched two party system
What are the core ideologies in Conservatives?
-Free market capitalism
-Pragmatism (“do what works”)
-Nuclear families and organic society
-Low taxation, privatisation, small state interference
-Paternalism (upper class lead lower)
-Noblesse oblige (privilege entails responsibility)
What are the core ideologies for Labour?
-Equality of Opportunity
-Larger state interference, higher taxation to support lower classes
What are the core ideologies for the LDs?
-Human rights
-Strong yet limited government
-Strong state in foreign affairs
What is the One Nation Caucus of Conservatives? (ideas, impact, MPs)
-Centre-right, Paternalism, Pragmatic, Organic society
-Removed promise of leaving EU without a deal from 2019 manifesto
-Tobias Ellwood and Tom Tugendhat
