Political Parties

Question 1

What are political parties and how do they differ from pressure groups?

Answer 1

A political party is a group of people drawn together by a similar set of beliefs, known as an ideology, even if they do not have identical views - on some issues they may be deeply divided.
Most parties aspire to form a government so adopt an agreed programme of policy commitments, linked to their core ideas. Some parties are defined by a single issue (for example, UKIP’s overriding cause has been withdrawal from the EU), but they will usually develop policies on other issues to broaden their support base.
Parties are different from pressure groups. Pressure groups may represent a single sectional interest or be concerned with a narrow range of ideas, such as the environment. Pressure groups may try to influence parties to adopt their ideas, but do not usually enter their own candidates at elections.

Question 2

Functions of political parties

Answer 2

-REPRESENTATION:

-PARTICIPATION:

• RECRUITING OFFICE HOLDERS
• FORMULATING POLICY:
• PROVIDING GOVERNMENT

Question 3

Debate around party funding in the UK

Answer 3

MPs are paid from general taxation (their basic annual salary in April 2016 was £74,692). They are also allowed to claim expenses to cover the cost of running an office, living in Westminster and their constituency, and travelling between the two. However, in the UK there has been resistance to state funding of parties (a practice that happens in some other countries). Instead parties must meet most of their election costs from the voluntary subscriptions of their membership and from fundraising events in MPs’ constituencies. However, there is special state provision to support the activities of the opposition in Parliament, known as Short money.
Party funding has been a controversial area because of the suspicion that powerful interests offer financial support in return for political influence (see the Case study). While the Conservative Party has historically been seen as the party of big business, Labour has traditionally been funded by the trade unions, which played a major role in founding the party and shaping its policies. During the ‘New Labour’ years (1994-2010) this was to some extent replaced by donations from successful individuals as Labour became friendlier towards the business community. The Liberal Democrats (the least well-funded of the main UK parties) often criticise their opponents for being bankrolled by the wealthy. The large parties have been accused of offering political honours, such as places in the House of Lords, to their most generous benefactors, a practice that seems to run counter to principles of democracy and openness.

Question 4

Blair reforms to party funding and how successful

Answer 4

In an attempt to overcome the perception that party funding had become an undemocratic feature of the UK political system, the Blair government passed the 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act.
As a result of the 2000 act:

• an independent electoral commission was set up to supervise party spending on election campaigns
• the amount that a party could spend was capped at £30,000 in a constituency
• donations of more than £5,000 (nationally) or £1,000 (to a constituency party) had to be declared, and parties had to publish details of donations at regular intervals
•donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll were banned.

This did not, however, put the issue of funding to rest. In the ‘cash for peerages’ scandal in 2006, it transpired that several wealthy individuals who had loaned money to the Labour Party had been nominated for honours. It seemed as if the party was exploiting a loophole in the law, which only regulated outright gifts. Blair was interviewed by the police and two of his aides also faced questioning. Although no charges were brought, the affair cast a shadow over Blair’s last months 1 in office. It was later decided that loans would be subject to the same rules as donations, and spending limits for parties were revised in the run-up to the 2010 election.

Question 5

Case study: Tony Blair and Bernie Ecclestone (party funding)

Answer 5

Blair faced criticism within months of becoming prime minister in 1997 following the revelation that Bernie Ecclestone, the motor-racing boss, had donated £1 million to Labour. It was alleged that there was a connection between this and a delay in implementing a ban on tobacco advertising in Formula One racing. Blair was forced to justify himself in a TV interview, in which he famously described himself as ‘a pretty straight sort of guy’ and the money was subsequently returned.

Question 6

Potential reform of party funding in the 2000s

Answer 6

In 2007 a report by a former civil servant, Sir Hayden Phillips, proposed to address the problem of private donations by moving towards a system where parties are funded from taxpayers’ money.
However, no subsequent government has acted on this recommendation. Pressure to make public spending cuts under the coalition government meant that this was not the time to place an additional burden on the taxpayer.

Question 7

Potential reforms to party funding in 2010s

Answer 7

A suggestion supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats at the 2015 election was to impose limits on individual donations to parties. This debate was complicated by issues of party-political advantage because the Conservatives, who stood to lose most from such a move, wanted to place corresponding restrictions on Labour’s trade-union backers. The Conservative government’s
2016 Trade Union Act obliged new trade-union members to choose whether to ‘opt in’ to making payments towards the political levy. This was expected to lead to a significant drop in the funding received by the Labour Party from the unions.

Question 8

Arguments for state funding of parties

Answer 8

-Parties play an important role in representative democracy, so deserve public funding
-Public funding would remove the great disparity in resources available to different-sized parties
- If the state matched donations ov bartv members, it might encourage participation by the public and recruitment to parties
-It would curb the possibly corrupt influence of private backers on party policy

Question 9

Arguments against state funding of parties

Answer 9

-Increased state funding could lead to calls for greater state regulation, possibly reducing parties’ independence
-It is hard to decide how much support a party should have to qualify for funding
-Public funding could isolate parties from the wishes of the voters
-Taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties of which they disapprove

Question 10

Origins of Conservative Party with traditional conservatism

Answer 10

The Conservative Party can trace its origins back to the Tory Party of the late 17th century, an aristocratic grouping that first came together in defence of the historic privileges of the Crown and the Church of England as powerful landowning institutions. By the 1830s, under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel (Prime Minister 1834-35 and 1841-46), it was evolving into a party dedicated to the defence of property and traditional authority against the threat of revolution. Peel stressed the importance of gradual reform in order to protect, or conserve, established institutions - hence the term Conservative. The party was remarkably successful in the late-19th and 20th centuries, broadening its support by appealing to the middle classes as well as the land-owning aristocracy.

Question 11

How did one nation conservatism emerge and when did it peak

Answer 11

A development from traditional Conservatism was one-nation conservatism, originally associated
with one of the party’s most colourful leaders, Benjamin Disraeli (Prime Minister 1868 and 1874-
80). The name came from a passage in one of Disraeli’s books, Sybil, in which he contemplates the growing division between rich and poor in the mid-19th century, produced by the development of industrial capitalism.
The ‘one-nation’ philosophy sought to bridge the gulf between the classes through a paternalistic social policy. The
‘natural leaders of society would accept an obligation to act benevolently towards the disadvantaged, in return for acceptance of their right to rule. Disraeli, and later Conservative leaders who shared his approach, sought to win popular support by means of social reform and a ‘patriotic foreign policy, designed to strengthen national unity.
One-nation conservatism peaked in the generation after the Second World War, when the party broadly accepted the changes introduced by the Labour administration of 1945-51: the mixed economy, a welfare state and government action to maintain a high level of employment. They prided themselves on a pragmatic, non-ideological approach, maintaining the party contest between themselves and the Labour Party, while undoing few of their opponents’ policies when they held office. Post-war Conservatism balanced an attachment to free enterprise with state intervention in economic and social policy.

Question 12

When did Thatcherism emerge?

Answer 12

Margaret Thatcher (Conservative Party leader 1975-90) gave her name to a more sharply ideological form of Conservatism. ‘Thatcherism’ was linked intellectually with the rise of a school of thought known as the New Right. It sought to reduce state intervention in the economy, while restoring order to society in the face of rising challenges from militant trade unions and other groups on the left. Its radical policy agenda rejected the instinct of One Nation Conservatives to seek compromise.

Question 13

Key themes of Thatcherism

Answer 13

• Control of public spending, combined with tax cuts to provide incentives for business leaders
and to stimulate economic grown.
Privatisation of industries and services taken into state ownership. to promote improvement and wider consumer choice through competition.
Legal limits on the power of trade unions. to deter industrial action
• A tough approach to law and order, with increased police and judicial powers.
• Assertion of British interests abroad, in relation to the challenges posed by the Soviet Union and
other external threats.
• A desire to protect national sovereignty against the growth of the European Community (European Union).

Thatcherites aimed to ‘roll back the state’ and encourage individuals to take more responsibility for themselves. However, in practice the popularity of the National Health Service and the need to maintain a framework of state welfare provision limited the scope for radical reform.

Question 14

Conservative Party under Major

Answer 14

Margaret Thatcher was a dominant but divtsive figure who aroused both admiration and hostility within and beyond her party. Following her departure in November 1990, the party struggled for a decade and a half to develop an identity independent of her. Thatcher’s immediate successor, John Maior (Prime Minister 1990-97) to some extent represented the continuation of Thatcherism, with the privatisation of coal and railways, but he projected a less confrontational image. After a narron general election victory in April 1992, his premiership was troubled by growing divisions over Europe. A moderate pro-European, Major sought without success to reconcile two competing party factions - hard-line Eurosceptics wanted stronger resistance to what they saw as the encroaching power of the European Union, while a smaller pro-European group sought to keep British influend over a now rapidly integrating continent. These divisions, together with a series of scandals and a growing sense of exhaustion on the part of the government, contributed to a devastating general election defeat in May 1997.

Question 15

Why was the party unsuccessful under Blair?

Answer 15

The next three leaders of the party failed to unseat a triumphant Tony Blair, who successfully held the centre ground of British politics to win two more electoral victories for Labour in 2001 and 2005. William Hague, lain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard failed to distance themselves sufficiently from Thatcherism, which the public identified with a now discredited past. All three seemed unable to move the party beyond an association with traditional issues such as Europe, immigration and law and order. With an ageing membership and outdated policies, the party faile to appeal to an increasingly diverse society.

Question 16

Cameron’s new thinking

Answer 16

Only with the election of David Cameron as leader in December 2005 did a serious attempt to
‘detoxify’ the Conservative brand begin. Cameron brought the fresh thinking of a new generation
- respectful of Thatcher but aware that Britain had changed considerably since she had left office.
He learned from the way in which Blair had reinvented the Labour Party to win support beyond its traditional core vote. Cameron identified himself as a ‘liberal Conservative’, tolerant of minority groups and different lifestyles. He showed an interest in the environment, which was assuming greater importance as a political issue, even if his critics accused him of staging superficial photo opportunities, such as posing with husky dogs on a visit to a melting glacier in Norway. He also demonstrated that he valued public services such as the NHS, on which the majority of the population relied.
Both Cameron and his successor, Theresa May, maintained that they stood on the side of ordinary people, rather than just the interests of a well-off elite. Where Thatcher had presented the Conservatives as the party of thrusting individualism, Cameron emphasised the bonds between people, arguing the case for co-operation between the state and the voluntary sector in building the ‘Big Society’. The morally authoritarian tone of Thatcherism was replaced by, for example, support for the legalisation of gay marriage. In many ways the new approach seemed like an updated version of ‘One Nation Conservatism’.

Question 17

Conservative Party under coalition

Answer 17

Cameron’s moderate tone helped him to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats when he failed to win an outright majority in the May 2010 general election. Although there were tensions - for example, over reform of the voting system and the upgrading of Britain’s nuclear weapons system - he managed to work with his coalition partners for a full five years, before winning a slim victory and forming a purely Conservative government in May 2015.
Nonetheless there were important respects in which Cameron (and still more his party) remained close to the ideas of Thatcherism.

Question 18

Cons Economic party during coalition

Answer 18

Economic policy Cameron’s priority was to reduce the budget deficit inherited from the previous Labour government. In traditional Conservative fashion Cameron and his Chancellor, George Osborne, accused their predecessors of irresponsible over-spending, which they blamed for the financial crisis of 2008. Their response in office was to insist on a programme of public spending cuts, dubbed austerity, to maintain the confidence of the financial markets and prevent Britain’s borrowing costs from rising. The budgets of Whitehall departments (with some exceptions, such as health, schools and international aid) were cut by up to 25 per cent.
The concept of the ‘Big Society’ had never been properly defined, and some now came to regard it as a smokescreen for cutting costs, by withdrawing the state from the provision of public services.

Question 19

Cons Welfare policy under coalition

Answer 19

• Welfare policy The coalition’s policies were intended to cut costs and encourage those receiving benefits to be more self-reliant. Osborne distinguished between hard-working ‘strivers’ and undeserving ‘shirkers’, whom the government sought to penalise. The ‘universal credit’ system, which merges a number of in-work benefits in one payment, is intended to simplify the welfare system and encourage low-income people to take up employment. The coalition also implemented a radical overhaul of the NHS, allowing the private sector to compete with state hospitals.

Question 20

Cons Law and order policy under coalition

Answer 20

•Law and order In opposition Cameron seemed to take a more liberal attitude towards law and order, calling for more understanding of young offenders in a speech dubbed ‘hug a hoodie’ by the media. In office he tried to follow a balanced approach to crime. He supported tough sentencing for certain crimes, especially after the August 2011 London riots, but promoted a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ to reduce the problem of reoffending by people leaving prison unprepared for life on the outside. The coalition government rewarded private firms and charities that helped criminals in their rehabilitation, using a ‘payment by results’ scheme.
Cameron’s policies on law and order resembled Tony Blair’s insistence that government must be
‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime

Question 21

Cons Foreign policy under coalition

Answer 21

• Foreign policy Cameron’s approach was consistent with Thatcherism in most important respects, featuring strong links with the USA, support for air strikes against Islamic terror group in Syria and Iraq, and a pragmatic Euroscepticism. Cameron tried, as Thatcher did in the 1980s, to fight his corner in the EU. He renegotiated the terms of British membership before holding a referendum, in which he championed the ‘Remain’ side. He resigned in July 2016 after the referendum resulted in a majority vote to leave the EU. Theresa May adopted a similarly tough approach to getting the best available deal from the remaining members of the EU in the
‘Brexit’ negotiations

Question 22

Pre-war history of Labour Party

Answer 22

The Labour Party was founded in 1900 by a group of socialist societies and trade unions. It was known until 1906 as the Labour Representation Committee, revealing its original purpose - to get more working class MPs into Parliament, where they could push for improved working and living conditions for the working class. Politically active working people had tended to support the re Liberal Party, but by the dawn of the 20th century it was felt that they needed a party specifically concerned with their interests. Within the party’s 1918 constitution, Clause 4 committed it to campaign for the ‘common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange: the is state was to take over or ‘nationalise’ key industries and services, to run them in the interests of the community rather than for profit alone.
The first Labour government took office in 1924 under Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald but it was a short-lived administration that did not command a parliamentary majority. The same was true of the second Labour government (1929-31), which was frustrated and divided by the onset of economic depression following the disaster of the Wall Street Crash. Not until 1945 was a majority Labour government, headed by Clement Attlee, able to make important changes. These included the nationalisation of coal, railways, power, steel and civil aviation, a comprehensive system of social security inspired by the wartime Beveridge Report and a National Health Service, free at the point of need.

Question 23

Labour Party 1945-1979 history

Answer 23

Post-war Labour governments between 1945 and 1979 described themselves as socialist but in practice they were social democratic: they did not try to abolish capitalism, but aimed to manage it so that it did not exploit the workforce. Social democrats emphasised the importance of welfare policy in redistributing wealth and creating a fairer society. A good example of the social democratic approach was the creation of comprehensive schools, intended to promote greater equality of opportunity.

Question 24

Labour Party 1979-election of Blair history

Answer 24

The defeat of the last ‘Old Labour’ Prime Minister, James Callaghan, at the 1979 general election, heralded a division between moderate social democrats and more left-wing elements, who captured the party under the leadership of Michael Foot. Labour lost the 1983 election on a hardline socialist programme calling for further nationalisation, increased taxation and spending, the abolition of Britain’s nuclear defences and withdrawal from the European Economic Community, which the left viewed as a capitalist organisation. Following this catastrophic defeat and the election of a new leader, Neil Kinnock, drawn from the party’s centre-left, the slow work of rebuilding began.

To broaden its support, the Labour Party began to move away from the its hard left position of the early 1980s. This involved a gradual recognition that, as the old industrial base of the country disappeared and people became more affluent, policies that appealed solely to the traditional working class would not be enough to win a general election. It took two more defeats, in 1987 and 1992, and the election of a forceful new leader, Tony Blair, to complete this process. The party dropped unpopular policy proposals, crucially revising Clause 4 of its constitution in 1995 so that was no longer committed to nationalisation. The role played by the trade unions in the party was downgraded, and the party leadership developed links with the business community. At the same time Labour became more pro-European as the EU adopted policies that protected workers’ right such as the Social Chapter.

Question 25

Blair - Gordon Brown history

Answer 25

The party was rebranded as ‘New Labour” and, under the influence of progressive thinker Anthony Giddens, aimed to find a ‘third way’ between old-style socialism and free-market capitalism.
A strong emphasis was placed on managing the media to project a more modern image, and great efforts were made to ensure that Labour demonstrated unity and discipline. Aided by the disintegration of John Major’s Conservative government, Blair won a landslide victory in May 1997.
He was re-elected twice more before making way for the succession of his long serving Chancello and fellow architect of New Labour, Gordon Brown, in June 2007.

Question 26

Why was New Labour controversial?

Answer 26

The creation of New Labour aroused intense controversy. Many traditional socialists rejected these modernising efforts as a betrayal of their heritage. They felt that Blair was too much at home with business leaders and too enthusiastic for the values of the market. His building of close links with the US government, culminating in the 2003 Iraq War, further damaged his credentials as a progressive figure. On the other hand, Blair’s supporters argued that New Labour was a necessary adaptation to a changing society and that, in the words of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, it embodied ‘traditional values in a modern setting.

Question 27

Key features of New Labour in power

Answer 27

• Emphasis on wealth creation rather than redistribution The New Labour governments sought to reduce poverty but did not make the elimination of inequality a priority. For example, they introduced a national minimum wage, a long-standing ambition of the Labour Party, but at a less generous level (£3.60 an hour for adults) than the trade unions wanted. Blair in particular regarded individual aspiration to a better standard of life, achieved through a person’s efforts, as entirely natural.
People need to be aware of their responsibilities to the community as well as their rights
Blair sought to impose conditions on the receipt of welfare benefits, and brought in legal measures to deal with anti-social behaviour, known as ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders).
These could be imposed by a magistrate, banning an individual from particular activities or entering a specific area. In a famous soundbite, Blair declared that a Labour government must be ‘tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime’ - willing to punish criminal behaviour, while continuing to tackle poor social conditions.
Responsibility in handling the national finances The New Labour governments aimed to differentiate themselves from earlier social democratic administrations, by conserving resources before investing more in key public services. A major turning point was the increase in National Insurance contributions in 2002, which led to the largest ever rise in spending on the NHS.
• Enlisting the public sector to deliver public services For example, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts were awarded to private firms to build new schools and hospitals.
• Influence of liberal ideology on Labour thinking This showed in devolution - the transfer of central government functions to new representative bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and the passage of the Human Rights Act. However, New Labour governments proved willing to curb civil liberties in their campaign against crime and terrorism, extending the time that suspects could be detained before being charged, widening police powers and proposing the introduction of identity cards.

Question 28

Policy under Brown

Answer 28

The financial crisis and recession of 2008-09 led to a shift in policy by the Brown government.
• The Treasury pumped money into the banking system in an attempt to boost economic activity
• The government nationalised, or part-nationalised the most vulnerable banks in order to restore confidence.
• Brown broke an earlier promise not to raise income tax levels by creating a new 50 per cent band, to be paid by those who earned more than £150,000 a year - a sign that Labour wanted the better-off to assume some responsibility for dealing with the perilous economic situation.
• Brown proposed to maintain public spending, arguing that drastic cuts, recommended by Conservatives, would starve the economy of resources and prolong the downturn.
This led to claims that New Labour ideology had been abandoned. However, these were emergenc measures at a time of heightened concern for the future of the financial system, and were quite unlike the ideologically driven commitment to public ownership of the ‘Old Labour’ period.

Question 29

Labour Party 2010-15 history

Answer 29

The period of opposition from 2010 to 2015 saw the party take up a not-always-coherent position.
Under Ed Miliband’s leadership it maintained some elements of New Labour policies, while shifting slightly to the left. The new leader called for the restoration of the 50 per cent top rate of income tax, which the coalition had reduced to 45 per cent, and for a temporary energy price freeze.
However, it is important not to exaggerate the extent to which Miliband broke with the party’s recent past. The need to re-establish Labour’s reputation as a competent manager of the econom was an important concern for Miliband and his Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls. In practice they concentrated their attack on the most controversial aspects of the ‘austerity’ programme, such as the unpopular ‘bedroom tax’, rather than rejecting the coalition’s whole economic strategy.
Miliband tried to combine New Labour’s support for business with the defence of the party’s core working-class constituency by drawing a distinction between what he called ‘predatory’ and ‘responsible’ capitalism. In calling for a crackdown on tax avoidance, and more spending on the NHS, he was only echoing the coalition parties. His call for a 10 per cent starting income tax band for the lowest paid was a return to a policy originally introduced (but later scrapped) by Brown as Chancellor. At the 2015 election Miliband pledged to reduce the deficit every year of the next parliament. He insisted that Labour’s spending plans would be paid for without additional borrowing.
Notwithstanding the actual moderation of many of Miliband’s policy proposals, he was dubbed
‘Red Ed’, and many media commentators ascribed his defeat in the May 2015 election to his perceived hostility to the private sector and willingness to return to ‘tax and spend’ policies.
However, on the left of the party, by 2015 there was pressure for Labour to adopt a much more radical approach. Some party members attributed the landslide victory of the SP in Scotland, where Labour was left with just one Westminster seat, to the party being insufficiently left wing.
This was the background to the overwhelming victory of a staunchly socialist backbencher, Jeremy Corbyn, in the September 2015 leadership election after Miliband’s resignation.

Question 30

Labour Party under Corbyn

Answer 30

It was remarkable that he was preferred by the party membership - and by a large margin - to either of the most experienced candidates, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper, who had served in the New Labour government. The most Blairite contender, Liz Kendall, won less than 5 per cent of the vote. Corby left-wing agenda meant that he struggled to create a united shadow cabinet, and opponents in the parliamentary party forced a second leadership contest in the autumn of 2016, which he won triumphantly. Never before had there been such a divide between the party’s MPs, who favoured a more cautious, centrist approach, and its rank-and-file membership, who warmed to Corbyn’s unconventional, anti-establishment style.

Question 31

Labour Policies under Corbyn

Answer 31

. Economic policy Jeremy Corbyn took the Miliband-Balls idea of increased investment in the economy further, calling for large-scale funding of industry and infrastructure, organised by a National Investment Bank. An important aim of this was to reduce regional inequalities. Corbyn called for the renationalisation of the railways, a policy the New Labour governments refused to adopt. Instinctively supporting intervention of an Old Labour kind, he demanded, for example, that companies publish pay audits with the aim of countering discrimination in the workplace.
Like Miliband he favoured restoration of the 50 per cent top rate of income tax. However, Corbyn was much more clear-cut in his opposition to austerity, characterising it as a ‘political choice’ that harmed the most vulnerable members of society, rather than an ‘economic necessity’.
• Welfare policy Corbyn strongly opposed benefit cuts. As a socialist he regarded the poor as the victims of capitalism, who are entitled to public support. He opposed the use of the private sector to deliver public services - a central aspect of New Labour. Thus he argued for a wholly state-run NHS. In order to promote lifelong education and training, he called for a ‘national education service’, and opposed student tuition fees. By contrast Ed Miliband confined himself to advocating their reduction from £9,000 to 6,000 a year.
. Law and order policy Corbyn was opposed to the more hard-line policies of the New Labour era, such as increased powers to combat terrorism and the introduction of identity cards. This became a less controversial policy area within the Labour Party: both Blairites and Corbynites found common ground in opposing government cuts to police numbers, which they described as jeopardising public safety.
•Foreign policy Corbyn consistently voted against the use of force, and favoured the withdrawal of the UK from NATO’s military structure and the abolition of the Trident nuclear weapons system, again placing him at odds with New Labour. He and his then Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, took opposing positions in the December 2015 Commons vote on military intervention against ‘Islamic State’ terrorism. The party was so divided on the issue that Corbyn had to allow his MPs a free vote. Corbyn followed the mainstream of his party in supporting continued British membership of the EU, emphasising its positive role in protecting workers’ rights, but more enthusiastic Labour pro-Europeans felt that he campaigned in a lukewarm manner in the 2016 referendum.

Question 32

Origins of Lib Dems

Answer 32

The Liberal Democrat Party was founded in 1988 but is descended from a much older political grouping. Its distant ancestors were the Whigs, an aristocratic faction who originated in the 17th century as opponents of the Tories. In the mid-nineteenth century they joined with a variety of middle- and working-class supporters of politicat and social change to form the Liberal Party. Classical liberals were committed above all to the freedom of the individual and wanted the state to play a minimal role in society. In the 19th century this expressed itself in support for free trade, the widening of the franchise, the extension of civil liberties to people who did not belong to the established Anglican Church, and the widening of educational opportunity. Their most notable leader, W.E. Gladstone (Prime Minister 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886 and 1892-94), also attempted without success to extend self-government to Ireland as part of the UK.
The ‘New Liberal governments of the Edwardian era (1906-14) adopted a range of social reforms, including old age pensions and National Insurance, in a bid to discourage working people from supporting the newly founded Labour Party. This was the beginning of modern liberalism: a recognition that many individuals could not be truly free on account of the inequalities produced by free-market capitalism. Freedom could no longer be defined merely as being ‘left alone’ but required an active state to support people and enable them to reach their potential.

Question 33

Decline of Liberal Party to formation of Lib Dems

Answer 33

In the decades after the First World War the Liberal Party declined rapidly, a victim of rivalry between its two most significant figures, H.H. Asquith (Prime Minister 1908-16) and David Lloyd George (Prime Minister 1916-22). The Liberals attempted to appeal to both middle- and working. class voters, but suffered from an inability to define their identity clearly in an age of growing polarisation on class lines between the Conservatives and Labour. In the post-1945 consensus era, Liberal Party representation fell to single figures.
The party experienced short-lived revivals in the early 1960s and again in the early 1970s. It was unable to make a breakthrough under the ‘first past the post’ electoral system, which favoured its larger rivals, whose support was concentrated in certain areas. However, in 1981 the Liberals received a boost from a division in the Labour Party that led a group of right-wing MPs to create the Social Democrat Party (SD). The SDP formed an electoral pact with the Liberals, fighting the 1983 and 1987 general elections as the Alliance. In 1988 the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrat Party.

Question 34

Lib Dem history up to coalition

Answer 34

The Liberal Democrat share of the vote grew modestly and in the 1997 election - aided by popular disillusionment with the Conservatives, tactical voting and careful targeting of seats - this translated into a parliamentary total of 46. By 2005 this had risen to 62 seats - an impressive achievement although not enough to make the Liberal Democrats a credible independent challenger for power. The one political reform that might have helped them become a major plays
- a change to a voting system based on proportional representation - was denied them.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently emphasised a number of themes including constitutional reform, civil liberties and internationalism, expressed for example in a positive attitude towards the European Union. However, in other ways they have not been in complete agreement on how to project themselves. In the period of New Labour government, especially under the leadership of Charles Kennedy, they were essentially a centre-left party rather than aiming to be equidistant between the two larger parties. They were opposed to the Iraq War, identity cards and student tuition fees, and in favour of a 50 per cent income tax rate on those earning more than £100,000.
Kennedy exemplified the priorities of the Social Liberals: those who were influenced by the tradition of generous welfare provision, which could be traced back to the wartime Beveridge Report. Another strand in Liberal Democrat thought was represented by the authors of the Orange Book (2004). They supported free market solutions to problems, and emphasised the party’s traditional commitment to the freedom of the individual, whereas Social Liberals took a more collectivist approach.
Nick Clegg, one of the authors of the Orange Book, became party leader in 2007. His approach was to position the party so that it could conceivably work with one of the two larger parties in coalition. Following the May 2010 general election this became a reality for the first time since 1945.
The political arithmetic dictated a coalition with the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats now in possession of 57 seats.

Question 35

Lib Dem history 2010-2015

Answer 35

Clegg had envisioned the Liberal Democrats as moderating the policies of their coalition partner
- a less confrontational style of politics that proved difficult to achieve. The party was persuaded that because of the gravity of the financial crisis, it needed to demonstrate its credentials as a responsible party of government by going along with the programme of cuts advocated by the Conservatives. In truth, the smaller party was in a bind. Had it refused to enter the coalition, it would have been accused of running away at a time of national emergency, but by taking part in government, it incurred the unpopularity of association with a number of policies contrary to its centre-left heritage. Although Clegg secured a referendum on electoral reform in May 2011, the rejection of the Alternative Vote option, for which the Liberal Democrats campaigned, effectively buried the cause for a generation. The party’s preferred system was the Single Transferable Vote. but the leadership felt that the Alternative Vote was the maximum they could hope to achieve in the circumstances - a sign of their limited bargaining power within the coalition partnership. The ensuing disillusionment of party activists contributed to the Liberal Democrats’ heavy losses in the 2015 general election, which saw them reduced to a rump of eight seats.

Question 36

Lib Dem policies post coalition

Answer 36

The party membership elected Tim Farron as their leader after the 2015 defeat and the resignation of Nick Clegg. The choice of a left-leaning MP who had not served in the coalition seemed to indicate that the Liberal Democrats wanted to dissoclate themselves from their record in office.
It is not easy to decide where exactly to place them on the political spectrum. A policy statement on their website says that they aim to keep Britain ‘open, tolerant and united’ - but this does not distinguish them much from other mainstream UK parties.
Economic policy At the 2015 general election the Liberal Democrats emphasised their continued commitment to eliminating the budget deficit, the most important policy underpinning their coaltion with the Conservatives. However, it must be done in a way that was fair to the poor. in government they introduced a policy, to which the Conservatives signed up, of progressively raising the basic income-tax threshold so that more low income people were relieved of paying tax. They promised to ‘borrow less than Labour, cut less than the Tories. They stressed their environmental credentials more than their rivals, with a commitment to renewable energy and
the expansion of the Green Investment Bank they had helped to establish, to attract funding fo projects such as offshore wind farms.
Welfare policy In coalition the Liberal Democrats shared the Conservative objective of controlling spending on benefits, while prating pensions and extending free childcare to enabl parents to return to work. They differentiated themselves by pledging to curb benefits paid to better-off pensioners, in order to afford more support for the low-paid. On the NHS, just like the Conservatives and Labour, they pledged increased funding from 2015.
. Law and order The Liberal Democrats aim to see that civil liberties are not eroded as a
consequence of giving the authorities more powers to fight crime. In coalition they opposed the Conservatives’ plans for the so-called ‘Snoopers’ Charter’, the Communications Data Bill, the purpose of which was to allow the monitoring of Internet use. In their emphasis on the rehabilitation of prisoners, and the use of community service as an alternative to short-term prison sentences, they are close to the position taken by moderate Conservatives and Labour.
• Foreign policy The Liberal Democrats have consistently been the most enthusiastic of all the U parties for British membership of the EU. Perhaps the party’s most distinctive policy position in opposition was its reluctance to accept the result of the Brexit referendum. This contrasted with the views of both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn who, although they had backed the ‘Remain’ cause, stated that they would respect the popular verdict.

Question 37

Overview of recent emergence of smaller parties and their general aims

Answer 37

One of the most remarkable developments of recent decades has been the emergence of smaller parties that have challenged the dominance of the three older, traditional parties. It was a sign of this change when, in one of the televised debates held in the course of the 2015 general election campaign, no fewer than seven parties took part.

Two of these small parties, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the Green Party, have derived their importance from campaigning to promote a particular issue or group of related issues. They have no expectation of winning enough seats to form a government. Instead their aim is to force the larger parties to accept their agenda, either in whole or in part. In this sense they have behaved more like pressure groups than traditional political parties
The other small parties are regionally based. The Welsh Nationalist Party (Plaid Cymru), established in 1925, is officially committed to independence for Wales within the EU, but in practice has been more concerned with the preservation of a distinctive Welsh language and culture. The party has never had more than four MPs at Westminster at any one time (at the 2015 general election it had a total of three) but it has been more successful in the National Assembly for Wales. In 2007 Plaid Cymru became the second largest party in the Assembly and was in coalition government with Labour until it dropped to third place after the 2011 election.

Question 38

History of SNP

Answer 38

The Scottish National Party, founded in 1934, is a centre-left party whose main purpose is to secure independence for Scotland from the UK. The growing strength of the SNP helped persuade the Labour Party to take up the cause of devolution ahead of the 1997 general election.

The Blair government believed that granting devolution would ensure that Labour would remain the dominant political force in Scotland. Its strategy was to give the Scottish people just enough self-governing power to ensure that they did not vote for the 5NP. The strategy worked until 2007 when a talented nationalist leader, Alex Salmond, formed a minority 5NP government, transforming this into a small majority in the 2011 election, This was undoubtedly a maior reason why the Westminster government was prepared to support the extension of more powers to the Edinburgh administration (for example, over taxation and borrowing). The fruits of this were the UI
2012 Scotland Act and the holding of a referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014. 0
Towards the end of the referendum campaign, all three major party leaders agreed to abandon Prime Minister’s Questions at Westminster, in order to go to Scotland to present a united front fo staying in the Union. Although the independence option was defeated, it was clear that the issue P would not go away. A new SP First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, argued that as Scotland faced being taken out of the EU against its will, following the June 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum vote, the SNP was E entitled to hold another vote on independence in the near future.
Another area of concern has been the SP’s capacity to influence legislation at Westminster, especially after the 2015 general election, when it won 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats. The SNP’s official N position (unlike, for example, that of Scottish Labour MPs in the past) has been one of refraining o from voting on purely English issues, in order to underscore the nationalist argument that the twott countries should not interfere in each other’s internal affairs.
Since October 2015, the passing of the English votes for English laws (EVEL) measure has placed limits on all Scottish MPs at Westminster, but with important exceptions. In March 2016, SP MPs helped to defeat the Cameron government’s proposal for an extension of Sunday trading laws in England and Wales. The party’s argument was that the measure would affect Scottish workers because UK-wide employers would use it to set new, less advantageous rates of pay on both sides of the border. The SNP seems likely to continue to use its leverage at Westminster to keep the cas for independence on the agenda

Question 39

History of UKIP

Answer 39

UKIP began as a fringe nationalist party in 1991, and by the 21st century was associated with one man - Nigel Farage - and one issue: opposition to Britain’s membership of the EU. It owed its slowly growing national profile to a sense of dissatisfaction with the way in which the three main parties seemed constantly to accommodate themselves to the quickening pace of European integration. In the 2014 European elections UKIP gained a total of 24 MPs, making it the largest UK party in the European Parliament. It won 3.9 million votes in the 2015 general election, although under the first-past-the-post voting system this total returned only one MP.
UKIP is a radical right-wing populist party, whose supporters tend to be older, more traditional people who feel left behind in a rapidly changing world. They are often people with lower levels of education and job security, anxious about what they see as challenges to their way of life. For many, immigration has been a major concern. UKIP supporters saw the arrival of large numbers of Eastern Europeans, following the expansion of the EU in 2004, as a threat to ‘British jobs’ and to the native British way of life. Unlike the older British National Party (BNP), which was associated with overt racial prejudice, UKIP seemed a more ‘respectable’ option. Its most prominent figure, Nigel Farage (party leader 2006-09 and 2010-16), was a charismatic individual whose chummy, outspoken persona was one to which many ordinary people could relate. By not conforming to the image of mainstream ‘liberal establishment’ figures such as Cameron, Clegg and Miliband, he appealed to voters who felt disillusioned with the three main parties

Question 40

UKIP policies

Answer 40

‘Taking back control’ from the EU:
Membership of the EU damages the UK’s interests by subjecting us to the rule of an unaccountable European bureaucracy.
We should take back control’ of policies on trade, fisheries and other areas where national sovereignty has been shared with the EU
Following the June 2016 referendum, Brexit should be negotiated as quickly as possible, with no backsliding on defending UK interests

Restricting immigration:
What does UKIP stand for?
Main policy at the 2015 election
We need a points-based system to ensure that migrants with necessary skills get priority
There should be a cap on numbers of migrants entering the country.

Other policies:

Support for grammar schools - like traditional Conservatives
Scrap ‘green taxes’ which raise our energy bills - like the
Conservatives
We should increase spending on the NHS, but migrants and visitors to the UK must have private health insurance - indirectly link to suspicion of the EU and immigration

Question 41

Green Party history

Answer 41

The Green Party evolved from a party founded in 1973 as ‘PEOPLE, later changing its name to the Ecology Party before assuming its present identity in 1985. The Green Party won its first seat at Westminster in 2010, when Caroline Lucas became MP for Brighton Pavilion. The party won more than one million votes across the UK in 2015, but failed to win any more seats.
The Green Party is a centre-left party that is not only concerned with environmental issues, but also with reducing social inequality.

Question 42

Green Party policies

Answer 42

Environmental
issues;

We should phase out fossil fuel based energy and nuclear power
ano molement renewable solutions
Fracking is environmentally
disastrous and should be
stopped

Reducing social inequality:

The creeping privatisation of the NHS has tO end
We should abolish university tuition fees
There should be a wealth tax to fund the creation of new jobs
The minimum wage should be increased to a ‘living wage’ of £10 an hour by 2020

Question 43

Types of important models found in a liberal democracy

Answer 43

• A one-party-dominant system A number of parties, but only one has a realistic prospect of holding power.
• A two-party system Two parties compete for power at elections; other parties have no real chance of breaking their monopoly.
• A two-and-a-half-party system Two large parties are the main players, but are challenged by the growth of a smaller third party.
• A multi-party system A number of parties contend to form a government; coalitions become
the norm.

Question 44

Survival of the two party system in the UK

Answer 44

The classic era of the two-party system was the period 1945-74, when Labour and the Conservatives won, on average, a combined 91 per cent of the votes and almost 98 per cent of the seats at Westminster. This was clearly coming under strain from the mid-1970s, with a period of minority Labour government followed by two long periods of single party dominance: the conservatives from 1979 to 1997 and Labour from 1997 to 2010. The Liberals made modest gains, especially after forming an alliance with the Social Democrats in 1981, then merging with them to form the Liberal Democrats in 1988. Between 1979 and 2010, the two main parties’ combined average share of the vote fell to 73 per cent.
Nonetheless the two-party system survived, largely as a result of the distorting effect of the first-past-the-post voting system, wrich limits smaller parties’ ability to win seats. The two largest parties shared an average of 91 per cent of the seats, and they continued to monopolise government without the participation of the UK’s third party
The period of coalition government (2010-15) could be described as a two-and-a-half-party system. The Liberal Democrats secured 23 per cent of the vote in 2010 and enough seats to play a part in government, though only as the partner of a larger party in a coalition. Almost 35 per cent
of voters supported parties other than the conservatives and Labour in this election.
However, this proved a short-lived development. The 2015 general election heralded a return to business as usual at Westminster. The Liberal Democrats were devastated at the polls, losing all but eight of their seats. The most startling aspect of the 2015 contest was the landslide victory of the SNP in Scotland, where they took all but three of the 59 seats. However, the SN is a regional party, which is not a contender for power at Westminster, even if it is able to influence the outcome of some votes in the House of Commons. Essentially Westminster remains dominated by the two largest parties. As long as the first-past-the-post system remains in place, this is unlikely to change.

In Northern Ireland a fully proportional system, Single Transferable Vote (STV), is used to elect the assembly. Until January 2017, when the power-sharing executive collapsed owing to internal disagreement, the first minister and four other members were drawn from the largest party, the Democratic Unionist Party; the deputy first minister and three others were from the second-large party, Sinn Fein; and one post was held by an independent. From 2011-16 three smaller parties supplied some members of the executive. It would thus be fair to describe the regions of the UK?
having multi-party systems

Question 45

The devolved bodies: a variety of multi-party systems

Answer 45

The use of the Additional Member Svstem (AMS) for elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly has produced very different outcomes from the trends observed at Westminster A partly proportional system, it tends to increase the representation of smaller parties. Although the SP has been in power in Scotland for almost a decade now, it formed a minority government from 2007 to 201 and once again after the May 2016 election, Before 2007 Scotland was governed for eight years by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. Similarly in Wales there have been periods or minority Labour government, a Labourаliberal Democrat coalition and a Labour.Plaid Cymr.. coalition.

Question 46

What are party systems?

Answer 46

The way in which the political parties in a political system are grouped and structured.
Possible variants that could apply to the UK include one-party dominant, two-party, two-and-a-half party and multi-party systems.

Question 47

Factors that affect party success

Answer 47

• the strength of a party’s leadership
• the extent to which parties are united or divided between different party factions
• the role of the media in projecting a particular image of a party.

Question 48

How do parties provide representation?

Answer 48

Perhaps the main function of parties is to represent the views of people with a certain set of beliefs. Those who have a broadly right-wing outlook have historically been drawn to the Conservative Party; those with a left-wing frame of mind have tended to gravitate towards Labour. This representative function could be performed by lots of individuals or pressure groups, but the value of parties is that they bring order to the political system.

Question 49

How do political parties allow participation?

Answer 49

Participation In order to win power or influence, parties encourage people to participate in politics - to vote, join a party and to support it through funding to get its message across Parties vary in how far they allow their members to shape party policy, but all the main UK parties have procedures that involve members in selecting candidates to stand for local and national elections, and in choosing the party leader. For example, the Labour Party increased its membership by allowing supporters to join for an annual subscription of £3 (later raised to E25), a development that played a part in the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader in September 2015.

Question 50

How did Labour increase its membership under Corbyn?

Answer 50

For example, the Labour Party increased its membership by allowing supporters to join for an annual subscription of £3 (later raised to E25), a development that played a part in the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader in September 2015.

Question 51

How do parties allow the recruiting of office holders?

Answer 51

For a small number of people, party membership leads to recruitment as candidates for public office and thus participation in the UK’s representative democracy.
Candidates can learn political skills as campaigners and organisers. Parties also have the right to reject or ‘deselect’ candidates who fail to live up to their expectation - they cannot stand for that party in any upcoming election. Before the 2015 general election, Conservative activists in Thirsk and Malton (in North Yorkshire) and South Suffolk did not allow the sitting MPs to stand again as candidates.

Question 52

Parties’ role in formulating policy?

Answer 52

Parties generate policies that embody the ideas for which they stand. At a general election they put these proposals before the electorate in a manifesto, a document setting out their programme for government. For example, at the 2015 general election the NHS was a key battleground. The Conservatives promised to give people access to their GP 7 days a week, while Labour pledged that patients would be given an appointment within 48 hours. Parties can also be said to have an educative function, by communicating and explaining their ideas to the public (although they do this to win popular support, so are likely to distort opponents’ policies in their own interests).

Question 53

Example of policy promises being made to secure votes

Answer 53

For example, at the 2015 general election the NHS was a key battleground. The Conservatives promised to give people access to their GP 7 days a week, while Labour pledged that patients would be given an appointment within 48 hours.

Question 54

How do parties provide government?

Answer 54

The winning party at a general election has the opportunity to form a government. That party then controls the business of Parliament, with a view to passing its manifesto into law. The prime minister is not directly elected by the people, but is usually the leade of the largest party. A prime minister who loses the confidence of their party is vulnerable. For example, in November 1990 Margaret Thatcher lost the support of a large number of Conservative MPs, and failed to win a leadership contest outright. She resigned and was replaced by John Major, who was regarded as better placed to unite the party and lead it to renewed electoral success.