Political Parties

Question 1

Roles of political parties in the UK

Answer 1

-Representation: represent the views of the members.
-Political engagement and participation: promote political participation by encouraging citizens to engage with the democratic process and giving them the opportunity to exercise power within.
-Political recruitment: assess the qualities of those seeking election to public office and cast aside those who are unsuitable.
-Policy formulation: discuss/develop policy proposals before presenting them to voters.
-Stable government: without the House of Commons would be a gathering of individuals driven by political ambitions. Parties present the voters with a clear choice whilst providing order following the general election.

Question 2

Dominant party system

Answer 2

-Several parties exist but only one holds government power.
-Thatcher’s government in 1979 - 1997. New Labour in 1997 – 2010.
-Main parties have become more central and try to attract the floating voters.

Question 3

Multi-party system

Answer 3

-Many parties compete for power and the government consists of a series of coalitions.
-Parties such as green/liberal democrats saw a rise of votes in 2023.
-SNP became the ‘third party’ from 2015 due to the result of the 2014 referendum.

Question 4

Single-party system

Answer 4

-Only one party dominates, bans other parties, and exercises total control over candidacy at elections.
-Does not exist in the UK.
-Nazi Germany in the 1930s, North Korea and Russia.

Question 5

Two party system

Answer 5

-Two equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little chance.
-Only conservative or labour party have been controlling party in the house of commons since 1945.
-2015 – 67% of the votes went to labour/conservatives and won 89% of the seats.
-Only labour/conservative prime ministers since 1929.

Question 6

Labour under Gordon Brown (2007-2010)

Answer 6

-Chancellor for 10 years prior.
-Economy went weak under him.
-Forced to nationalise several high street banks whilst overseeing a return to the ‘tax and spend’ approach because of the 2008 bank crisis.
-Hard fought reputation for economic competence was surrendered.
-Members felt his commitment to social justice was greater than Blairs.

Question 7

Labour under Ed Miliband (2010-2015)

Answer 7

-Ran against his brother David Miliband, dobbed ‘red ed’ by the media.
-Narrow victory relied on the backing of trade unions.
-Struggled to establish a coalition of voters large enough to carry the party back into office in 2015.
-Sweeping defeat led to a party period of introspection.
-Many factions for ‘new labour’ and ‘next labour’.

Question 8

Labour under Jeremy Corbyn (2015-2019)

Answer 8

-Very left wing committed socialist.
-Won surprisingly with 50% of the votes.
-Many factions formed between ‘old’ and ‘new’ labour.
-Ideological positioning and rebellious backbencher track record made it difficult for him to demand/command the support of fellow labour MPs.
-Corbyn’s vision looked at policies the party had pursued pre-new labour (1970s/early 80s).
-Full employment & economy that works for all.
-Secure our NHS and social care.
-National education service open to all.
-Cut income and wealth inequality.
-Action to secure an equal society.
-Spoke out against ‘new labour’.

Question 9

Labour under Kier Starmer (2020-…)

Answer 9

-Hadn’t been an MP that long but had been director of public prosecutions of the UK from 2008-2013.
-Won his seat of St. Pancreas in London in 2015 and became party leader withing 5 years.
-Seen as a middle group member of the party who could reunite the factions behind on leader.
-Labour has been consistently in the lead in opinion polls since beginning of 2022 due to the failing of the conservative government during a global crisis.
-Still divides opinion as not being tough enough on issues such as Israel-Hamas, considered boring and not an exciting candidate.

Question 10

One nation conservatism

Answer 10

-Rooted in pragmatism and a belief in gradual improvements founded on experience and existing institutions.
-Paternalist conservatism = favoured pluralism and held that while authority should be centralised, the state should be benevolent.
-Wanted slow gradual change.
-Support for universal welfare state.
-Increasing European integration.

Question 11

Thatcherism

Answer 11

-‘New Right’ – monetarism, free market economics, deregulation.
-New style in the 1970s as ‘liberal conservatism’: focused on the economy.
-Marked the death of the post war consensus and the rise of adversarial politics.
-Favoured the importance of the induvial over the needs of society.
-Deregulation in the field of business.
-Privatisation of publicly owned industries.

Question 12

The Conservatives under David Cameron (2010-2015)

Answer 12

-Initially sought to lead the party away from areas where the party was deeply divided (E.G Europe) and towards those where it could gain electoral advantage (E.G Environment).
-Set about ‘detoxifying’ the conservative brand – the desire was reflected in the 2010 general election pledge to fix ‘broken Britain’.

Question 13

The Conservatives under Theresa May (2016-2019)

Answer 13

-Her time in office was focused on Brexit.
-Marked a shift away from Cameron’s policies.
-The 2017 manifesto stated a policy to test fuel allowances, when determining the costs, they would need to pay for elderly care. Labour labelled this as ‘dementia tax’.
-May planned to allow the reintroduction of grammar schools.

Question 14

Class style votes

Answer 14

-Conservative party was the traditional working class/low-income voters. Jeremy Corbyn was seen as to left wing.
-2015-2019: the conservative party picked up a lot of ‘traditional’ labour seats/working class seats.
-‘Class dealignment’ – don’t necessarily vote based on class.
-Labour were more university educated ‘middle class wages’ voters.

Question 15

The Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg (2007-2015)

Answer 15

-Developed a government programme that included more orthodox Liberal Democrat policies on issues such as constitutional reform and the protection of civil liberties & prospective significant tax cuts.
-Repositioning on tax marked the triumph of the ‘orange book’ liberals over the ‘social’ liberals making the possible coalition in 2010 with the conservatives more conceivable.
-Orange book liberals: ‘classic liberalism’ – endorsed Thatcherite economics – took the party more centre right.
-Social liberals: ‘new’ or progressive liberalism – rejected Thatcherite economics.
-In 2010, they received 23% of the vote due to Cleggs performance in the leader’s debate.

Question 16

Have we seen the end of ‘ideology’ over pragmatism of political parties?
Yes

Answer 16

-The three main parties are social democratic in nature; concerned with making piecemeal changes to arrangements.
-Ideological wings of each of the three main parties have been marginalised.
-Significant overlaps in the stated policies of the three main parties.
-Increased emphasis on presentation and personality over substance.

Question 17

Have we seen the end of ‘ideology’ over pragmatism of political parties?
No

Answer 17

-The three main parties have distinct ideological traditions and committed care support.
-Ideological dividing lines became more apparent in the wake of the global financial crisis.
-2015 election of Corbyn as Labour leader returned to a style of ideologically polarised politics not seen since the early 1980s.
-Rise of smaller ideological/single issue parties and pressure groups suggest ideology still matters significantly to the electorate

Question 18

Conservative party manifesto 2015

Answer 18

-Economy: 40% of tax per £1 if earning £50,000.
-Home affairs: aims to keep annual net migration in thousands.
-Education: create 500 free schools by 2020.
-Health: increase NHS spending by £8bn above inflation.
-Environment: invest £500m to make most cars zero emission.
-Foreign: replace trident with four submarines.
-Constitution: devolve further powers to Scotland and Wales.

Question 19

Labour party manifesto 2015

Answer 19

-Economy: raise minimum wage to £8 an hour by 2019.
-Home affairs: 1,000 new border staff.
-Education: cut university tuition fees to £6,000 a year.
-Health: 20,000 more nurses, 3,000 midwives and 8,000 GPs.
-Environment: freeze energy bills until 2017.
-Foreign: a minimum, credible, independent nuclear deterrent.
-Constitution: replace House of Lords with an elected senate.

Question 20

Liberal Democrat party manifesto 2015

Answer 20

-Economy: deal with deficit by 2017/18 by cutting/raising tax.
-Home affairs: scrap police and crime commissioners.
-Education: guarantee qualifies teachers.
-Health: increase NHS funding by at least £8bn by 2020.
-Environment: double renewable electricity by 2020.
-Foreign: end continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.
-Constitution: bring in votes for 16-year-olds and the STV system.

Question 21

Similarities of how leaders are elected into the labour, conservatives and the liberal democrats party

Answer 21

-Labour and Liberal Democrats vote on ‘one member one vote’ and both use alternative vote system.
-Candidates must be a sitting MP, Labour party candidates must have 10% support of all MPs.

Question 22

Differences of how leaders are elected into the labour, conservative and liberal democrats party.

Answer 22

-Conservative party use a series of ballots, usually from 6 candidates where MPs vote in 4 rounds until the final two MPs are chosen and then conservative members vote between the final two.
-MPs need at least 20% fellow MPs to support them.
-Labour party candidates need 17% of MPs support.

Question 23

All women shortlist

Answer 23

-A labour party initiative which requires a constituency party to draw up an entirely female shortlist form which their parliamentary candidate will be chosen.
-Shortlist of only women for ‘safe seats’ to help the Labour party elect more women in parliament. This saw a significant rise in female MPs after the 1997 general election victory to New Labour.
-Compared not the US there are 224/650 (35%) female MPs in parliament and 153/590 (25%) in US congress.

Question 24

How is party policy established?

Answer 24

-Usually done at their annual party conferences which usually take place every year.
-Party leader and two politics aides were said to have constructed the entirety of the parties 2010 manifesto.
-Dominic Cummings is said to have written a lot of the ‘vote leave’ and 2019 campaigns.
-Alistair Campbell is said to have contributed a lot of ‘New Labours’ ideology from 1994 – 2003.
-Party manifestos around election time will have all the policies the parties are proposing.

Question 25

Should political parties be state funded?
Yes

Answer 25

-If taxpayers do not fund parties, they are funded by wealthy individuals and interest groups.
-State funding would allow politicians to focus on representing their constituents rather than courting potential donors.
-Parties, such as Liberal Democrats, could compete on an equal financial footing as funding would be based entirely on membership or electoral performance.

Question 26

Should political parties be state funded?
No

Answer 26

-Taxpayers should not be expected to bankroll parties they oppose.
-Politicians could become isolated from real-world issues if they are denied access from interest groups.
-Parties will always have unequal resources even with state funding, there are differences in membership levels, human and material resources.

Question 27

Next steps for party funding

Answer 27

-Each of the individual parties have their own agendas.
-Liberal Democrats want new laws due to them not being able to raise as much money as the Labour party or conservative party.
-Conservative party want to limit the influence of trade unions on donations to the Labour party, vice versa the Labour party want to limit the huge individual donations that the conservative party get form wealthy donors.