Political Parties Flashcards
3 examples that the UK does NOT have a Two-Party system
1) Smaller Parties have affected election results e.g. Lib Dem coalition 2010
2) Between 1970 and 2005, con0lab vote share has declined from 90% to 70%
3) Rise in smaller parties - SNP wins 56% in Scotland, UKIP with 4m votes in 2015
3 examples that the UK DOES have a Two-Party system
1) Post-2019 Election, Con/Lab hold 87% of seats with 76% vote share
2) Although the SNP won a surprising 56 seats in 2015, it is not nearly enough to promote national change. Especially as in May 2015 because the Conservatives had such a vast majority
3) the FPTP system plays favourably into the hands of larger parties
What does the Political Parties, Elections and Referednums Act (2000) do ?
- Limits spending of Political Parties to just 30k per constituency
- Regualtes Campaign Expenditure; e.g. EU fined 70k for breacing electoral law
Explain and analyse 3 features of party funding.
1) Membership Subscription: Fairest and most transparent method of funding
Large numbers paying small amounts ensure no single donor gets extra influence
Issue = Party membership by themselves cannot fund a campaign or post ads etc.
2) Individual Donors: Potential for Corruption
3) State Funding: Parties can receive public funds through Policy Development Grants (2m annually)
Short (commons) and Cranbone (Lords) money which is paid to opposition parties to help with effective scrutiny of government
Free airtime and free postage for one piece of campaign literature during elections
One Major individual Donor to Labour
During Blair years, Bernie Ecclestone (head of F1) pays 1m
Labour delay tobacco ban so it is advertised at F1; many people think the donation was a reason for this
One Major Individual Donor for the Conservative Party
2019 election campaign - 5.75m in large donations - inc 200k for Russian wife
3 reasons that the State SHOULD fund Political Parties
‘Clean’ Money - no potential of corupption - Con party has recieved 10m from tiny group of super rich bankers since Johnson took over
Greater Equality between parties - Conservatives significantly outraised their opponents during 2019 election - 16m v 5.4m
Encourage all support - if funding was matched to small donations, it would encourage parties to seek more money from all their supporters, not just the wealthiest - Kwasi Karteng ‘mini-budget’ abolsihed tax for millionaires
3 reasons the State should NOT fund political parties
Taxpayer money elsewhere - voters should not fund parties with which they disagree, there are better ways to spend taxpayers’ money, such as health and education - lab ppl paying for con
Isolation - Parties could become isolated from ‘real world’ if links and donations with interest groups were cut
Hard on Small parties - Funding based on existing share of the vote merely strengthens the larger parties and makes it harder for smaller parties to get off the ground
The Suns switch to support Labour in 1997 generated an estimated ? votes
525,000 votes
The Suns switch to support the Conservatives in 2010 generated an estimate ? votes
550,000
Social Media allows for what?
More targeted audiences. e.g. Parties can now see who clicks on their articles (women)
Four factors that affect the Outcome of an Election
Relevance and Attractiveness of Main Policies - Cons approach to Brexit ‘Get Brexit Done’ favoured over Labour’s more convoluted Brexit policy
Leadership - Strong Communication and good personality; May seems robotic compared to Corbyn Charisma which resonated with youth
Party Unity - Johnson sorts out May disarray by removing whip of 21 rebel MPS, while labour remain heavily factionalised and dogged by accusations of Anti-Semitism (Number of MPs Resign)
Electoral System - FPTP favour bigger parties; e.g. Lib Dems received over 11% of vote but awared just 1.7% pf seats: Cons get over 43% of vote but 56% of seats
