Parties (P1)

Question 1

What are the 5 main roles of political parties?

Answer 1

-Policy formulation
-Representation
-Participation
-Organisation of government
-Recruiting leaders

Question 2

What are the three main ways parties generate funds?

Answer 2

-Membership Fees
-Donations
-Grants (Short, Cranborne, EC)

Question 3

What were the consequences of the 1997 Ecclestone Scandal?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What is short money?

Answer 4

Introduced in 1974 by Edward Short, allocated money to opposition depending on number or seats and votes (2+ seats, 150k+ votes)

Question 5

What is the purpose of short money?

Answer 5

-Make party funding more democratic
-Help conduct research for policy
-Travel to campaign
-Staff wages

Question 6

What party funding is allocated for Sinn Fein?

Answer 6

Receive no short money due to abstentionism (don’t sit in Parliament), gain representative money instead

Question 7

What is Cranborne money?

Answer 7

HoL equivalent of short money, set up in 1996, Lords Leader of Opposition and Opposition Chief Whip are paid through public funds

Question 8

Why are Short Money and Cranborne Money important?

Answer 8

Essential for opposition parties to carry out functions (scrutiny/research) in Parliament, main stream of funding

Question 9

What was the Bernie Ecclestone scandal?

Answer 9

-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

Question 10

What was the Cash for Honours scandal?

Answer 10

-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

Question 11

Since 1979, how many votes have Lab and Con taken?

Answer 11

Over 65% - demonstrating a clearly entrenched two party system

Question 12

What are the core ideologies in traditional Conservatives?

Answer 12

-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)

Question 13

What are the core ideologies for Labour?

Answer 13

-Equality of Opportunity
-Larger state interference, higher taxation to support lower classes

Question 14

What are the core ideologies for the LDs?

Answer 14

-Human rights
-Strong yet limited government
-Strong state in foreign affairs

Question 15

What is the One Nation Caucus of Conservatives? (ideas, impact, MPs)

Answer 15

-Centre-right, Paternalism, Pragmatic, Organic society
-Removed promise of leaving EU without a deal from 2019 manifesto
-Tobias Ellwood and Tom Tugendhat

Question 16

What is the European Research Group in the Conservatives? (ideas, impact, MPs)

Answer 16

-Right-wing
-Refused to support May’s Brexit plans which led to her resignation

Question 17

How much short money is allocated for leader of the opposition?

Answer 17

£1.03 million

Question 18

Since 1979, Lab and Con have taken over ___ of votes

Answer 18

65%, 77.6% in 2019 - showing a clear entrenched two party system

Question 19

How can it be argued that the UK is not a two party system?

Answer 19

-Class and partisan dealignment
-Rise in minor parties
-Multi-party in devolved regions

Question 20

How have class and partisan dealignment shown the UK is not longer a two party system?

Answer 20

-Con relied on Libdem in 2010 for a majority and ‘supply and demand’ with DUP
-56/59 Holyrood seats to SNP in 2019
-2010, 2017 not single party majority

Question 21

How have a rise in minor parties shown that the UK is no longer a two party system?

Answer 21

-UKIP 13% vote 2015, Con held a referendum due to their support
-Libdem as ‘kingmakers’ in 2010
-Reform 14% vote 2024

Question 22

How many members did Labour have in 2015

Answer 22

450k , raised £9.5million

Question 23

How many members did the Conservatives receive during their leadership contest?

Answer 23

350k , shows political participation and satisfaction with current state party funding by having strong links to voters

Question 24

How are parties dependence on donors shown?

Answer 24

Labour given £9.8million in 3 weeks to 2024 election day, Lord David Sainsbury (given peerage in 1997) donated £12million to Labour from 1996 to 2006

Question 25

How have parties been shown to create policy based off voter issues?

Answer 25

-Sunak pushing through Rwanda plan in Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill 2023 after it can considered the most important issue -Post office scandal had over 170 petitions which gov responded with inquiry and Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill

Question 26

What was Johnsons wallpaper scandal?

Answer 26

Fined £17.8k for failing to disclose over £50k donation from Lord Brownlow - claimed to be 'a gift to the nation'

Question 27

Examples of wealthy donors

Answer 27

-Sainsbury donated almost £10m to Labour upcoming 2024 GE -Made a peer in 1997 and donated £12m to Lab from 1996 to 2006

Question 28

Examples against having full SPF

Answer 28

-Corbyns membership inc to 450k, raised £9.8m in 2015 (SPF would weaken links to voters, less participation) -LOOpp given £1.03m most likely Lab/Con (entrenches two party system) -90% believed MPs somewhat or fully decide based on donors in 2016, and expenses scandals (Lack of public support)

Question 29

How are minor parties disadvantaged using 2024 examples

Answer 29

all parties except main two made up 42% of the votes - showing wasted votes under FPTP

Question 30

How much SPF do parties receive per seat/votes?

Answer 30

22k per seat, £44 per 200 votes - small parties gain some funding although can be improved