Party funding

Question 1

ways political parties are funded in the UK:

Answer 1

• membership subscriptions
• fundraising events
• donations from supporters
• loans from individuals/banks
• Up to 2 million pounds per party available as grants from Electoral Commission
• if opposition - money gained from commons/lords

Question 2

difference between large and small parties in funding

Answer 2

larger parties are much more likely to receive donations as they have the numbers to make an impact with those donations.

Question 3

Labour and Conservative funding

Answer 3

labour used to be mainly funded by TUs, Consrvatives funded mainly by large donations of wealthy individuals

Question 4

act for funding to be regulated

Answer 4

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums act 2000

Question 5

how is funding regulated?

Answer 5

under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums act 2000:
- People not on UK roll cannot make donations - limit foreign influence
- Limits placed on how much can be spent on parliamentary elections
- Donations over 500 pounds must be declared - transparency
- Donations over 7500 pounds should be placed on electoral register.

Question 6

what happened in 2009?

Answer 6

further regulation of the Political parties, elections and referendums act following the MPs expenses scandal

Question 7

controversy in funding

Answer 7

• large donations - the donator has power and influence over how that money is spent - unaccountable and not transparent
• corruption - if the donator gets knighthood or peerage - Lord Cruddas from BOJO after donated £500,000
• decline in party membership so more reliant on donations - opens doors to corruption

Question 8

suspicious activity Conservatives

Answer 8

between 2015 and 2017, the Conservative party received 11.3 million pounds from prominent figures in the financial sector and 3.6 million pounds from property companies, as well as one individual, Angus Fraser, donating 1.1 million pounds too

Question 9

solutions as alternatives to party funding

Answer 9

• restrictions on donations to parties
• restrictions on how much a party can spend
• restricting donations to individuals only
• replace all funding with state grants for parties, paid out of general taxation

Question 10

short money

Answer 10

money distributed to all opposition parties to fund their parliamentary work in HoC - dependent on how many seats they have

Question 11

cranborne money

Answer 11

money distributed to all opposition parties in the HoL. Spent on research and administration to help them scrutinise government work.

Question 12

criticism of short and cranborne money

Answer 12

paid using taxpayers money