Political parties

Question 1

The functions and features of political
parties - Features

Answer 1

The United Kingdom is a representative democracy, which means that we vote for
MPs to make decisions on our behalf. They are then made accountable to us in
regular general elections. In theory, it would be possible for voters to elect
independent politicians with their own individual manifesto commitments, but
since the English Civil War British politics has gradually developed according to a
party system. In elections we generally select from a choice of political parties that
represent the spectrum of political ideas from left to right.

A political party comprises members who share a similar political ideology. This
does not mean that they will agree about every political opinion, but their basic
political ideology will be similar. For example, Conservatives are united in their
belief that taxes should be kept as low as possible because it is the individual’s money
rather than the state’s, while members of the Labour Party believe in the importance
of the government encouraging social justice.
However, within a party, different factions will emphasise different elements
of its ideology. Right-wing Conservatives, for example, are likely to favour as
small a state and as low taxation as possible, which put them at odds with the
Johnson government’s increase in taxation to pay for extended public investment.
The left wing of the Labour Party, represented by Momentum, strongly favours
nationalisation and uses the language of class conflict, which is far removed from Sir
Keir Starmer’s more inclusive ideology and recognition of the free market.

Question 2

1 The political spectrum in the UK - left and right

Answer 2

Left-wing political ideas

• Those on the left of British politics have a positive view
  of the state and a collectivist view of society
• They believe that the government should reduce
  inequality and encourage social cohesion by providing an
  extensive welfare state
• The wealthier in society should pay a higher share of the
  cost of this through redistributive taxation. The government
  should also play a major role in the economy through the
  nationalisation of key industries
• Left-wing politicians have generally enjoyed a close
  relationship with the trade union movement since the
  unions also represent the economic interests of the
  working class
• Socially, the left embraces multiculturalism. It is also
  socially libertarian and so supports giving alternative
  lifestyles equal status with more traditional ones

right

• The right wing of British politics focuses more on the
  importance of giving the individual as much control over
  their own life as possible
• Right-wing politicians reject left-wing attempts to
  encourage greater equality and believe that the
  free market operates best when there is as little
  government interference as possible
• Governments should aim to keep taxation as low as
  possible and trade union influence needs to be limited in
  order to encourage the smooth operation of the market
• Companies operate most efficiently when there is
  competition, so nationalised firms are best privatised
• Although economically libertarian, the right wing is
  socially conservative and so emphasises the importance
  of a shared national identity and encourages traditional
  lifestyles

Question 3

adversary and consenus politics

Answer 3

Consensus politics

• Consensus politics means that there
  are many philosophical and policy
  similarities between the main political
  parties. The opposition may therefore
  be able to support some government
  policies
• In the 1950s the shared commitment of
  the Labour chancellor of the exchequer,
  Hugh Gaitskell, and the Conservative
  chancellor of the exchequer, R.A.
  Butler, to full employment and a mixed
  economy led to the invention of the term
  ‘Butskellism’
• Tony Blair embraced traditionally
  Conservative principles such as the free
  market and low taxation during his time
  as Labour leader (1994–2007)

adversary politics

• When politics is adversary, this means
  that the main parties are divided by
  fundamental philosophical and policy
  differences
• The opposition will routinely oppose
  the policies of the government since
  they are so ideologically and practically
  opposed to them
• The early 1980s provides a good
  example of adversary politics since
  the socialism of Labour leader Michael
  Foot (1980–83) was fundamentally at
  odds with the free-market reforms of
  Margaret Thatcher. As Labour leader,
  Jeremy Corbyn (2015–20) pursued
  socialist policies that placed Labour in
  direct conflict with the Conservative
  Party

Question 4

Functions - selecting candidates

Answer 4

A key function of a political party is to select candidates to fight local, regional,
mayoral and general elections. In order to contest a general election, applicants have
to be a member of the party and then go through a national selection process to
become an approved candidate. If they pass this, they can apply to a constituency
party that will then choose the individual it considers has the best chance of
increasing the party’s share of the vote.
Once a candidate wins a seat, they can claim to have an electoral mandate to
represent that seat in the House of Commons. However, the local party does not
have to automatically endorse its MP as the candidate for the next general election
if their views are too opposed to those of local activists. Instead, it can open up the
field to other candidates. This mechanism is rarely used.
In 2022, the Labour MP Sam Tarry, who had been sacked as a shadow minister by
Sir Keir Starmer on the grounds that he was out of touch with the leadership, was
deselected by his Ilford South constituency.

Question 5

functions - Providing the personnel of government

Answer 5

By providing candidates for election to public office, political parties contribute the
personnel for government. This can be in a local, devolved or national executive.
For example, in 2010 the membership of the parliamentary Conservative and Liberal
Democrat parties provided the membership of the coalition government.

Question 6

fucntions - Electing a leader

Answer 6

The members of a political party also play an important role in the election of the
party leader. In the Conservative Party, for example, the parliamentary party will
agree on two MPs, whose names then go forward to party members to decide
between. In 2022, the party membership voted for Liz Truss (57%) over Rishi
Sunak (43%). However, the influence of party members can be side-stepped. This
was the case in 2016 when Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the contest, ensuring
that Theresa May became Conservative leader, and prime minister, unopposed. This
was strikingly also the case in 2022, when Conservative MPs united behind Rishi
Sunak as party leader, so preventing the party membership from electing another
leader after the Liz Truss debacle.
Under Ed Miliband, the Labour Party also adopted one member, one vote. The
current rules state that if an MP can secure the backing of 10% of the parliamentary
Labour Party, their name will go to the party membership to vote on (

Contender
Sir Keir
Starmer
Rebecca
Long-Bailey
Share of
the vote (%)
56
28
Lisa Nandy 16

Question 7

fucntions - Policy formulation (the manifesto)

Answer 7

Political parties determine the policy commitments that will be put in the party
manifesto. In the Labour Party, a National Policy Forum consults with party
members over the development of policy. Before the 2017 general election the
National Policy Forum and the elected National Executive Council worked closely
with the leadership and senior members of the parliamentary party to ‘aggregate’
a manifesto that fairly represented the political opinions of the Labour movement.
At all levels the party will ensure that members, elected representatives, affiliated
organisations and, where practicable, the wider community are able to participate
in the process of policy consideration and formulation.
Clause V, Labour Party Rule Book (2018)
The Conservative Party also encourages consultation and discussion among
its membership, although the manifesto is more likely to be drawn up by senior
members of the party. More decentralised parties such as the Liberal Democrats and
the Green Party give the party membership the final decision over what appears in
the party manifesto.

Question 8

Manifesto and mandate

Answer 8

manifesto ]

• A political party will publish its manifesto during a
  general election campaign. This sets out what it will seek
  to achieve if it is able to form a government
• If a party wins a parliamentary majority in a general
  election, it can claim the legitimacy to carry out its
  manifesto commitments
• These manifesto promises will form the core of
  the monarch’s address at the beginning of the new
  parliament

mandate

• If a political party has won a general election, it can be
  said to have a mandate to govern the country. This means
  that it has the authority to try to enact its manifesto
  commitments. Having won a majority in the 2019 general
  election, Boris Johnson’s government could legitimately
  fulfil its manifesto commitment to enact legislation
  withdrawing the UK from the EU
• If no party has achieved a parliamentary majority, then
  a coalition (2010) or a minority (2017) government will
  be established. In these circumstances the principle
  of the mandate does not operate smoothly since the
  government cannot rely on an unequivocal electoral
  mandate from the public
• A government can also claim a ‘doctor’s mandate’,
  which means that it can propose measures not
  included in its manifesto in response to changing
  political circumstances. For example, within weeks of
  being elected in 2019, the Johnson government had
  to introduce legislation to respond to the Covid-19
  pandemic

Question 9

functions - Campaigning

Answer 9

The way in which political parties campaign during elections plays a key part in
the democratic process. Party activists will deliver leaflets, canvass voters on the
doorstep and arrange political events so that voters understand the choice between
the candidates. Political parties are increasingly using the internet and social media
to engage with voters between, as well as during, elections. They also invigorate
democracy by campaigning on local issues.

Question 10

functions - Representation

Answer 10

Political parties also play a key representative function by ensuring that everyone in
society (barring certain groups – see pages 17–20) can have their say. In the 2019 general
election, 75.7% of those who voted felt that their political opinions were represented
by the Conservative Party (43.6%) or the Labour Party (32.1%). There is also the
opportunity to vote for a range of other political parties, ensuring that even those
with the most radical political opinions have the chance of being heard. The Scottish
Parliament, the Parliament for Wales (Senedd), the London Assembly and the Northern
Ireland Assembly are elected using proportional representation, which gives minority
and nationalist parties a greater opportunity to achieve representative influence.

Question 11

Debate
Do political parties help or hinder representative democracy?

Answer 11

help

Representative democracy could not function
without political parties. If politicians simply
represented their individual views, it would
be very difficult to establish a government
since its members would not be united by one
political ideology

hinder

Political parties reduce voter choice by requiring voters to
associate themselves with the manifesto of a political party even
though that manifesto might not fully represent their political
views. For example, in 2017 you might have voted Labour
because you fully supported the party’s policies on taxation
and yet regarded their policies on nationalisation and defence
much less favourably. A political party often can only partially
represent one’s political views, so limiting the individual’s choice

help

• Political parties develop/aggregate coherent
  political programmes through discussion.
  The way in which political parties then issue
  manifestos enables voters across the whole
  country to make the same rational choices
  about who they will vote for.

hinder

• The freedom of action of MPs is reduced because although they could argue that they have their personal mandate,
  the party whips expect them to support the programme of their political party. As Benjamin Disraeli once said, ‘Damn
  your principles. Stick to your party.’ Political parties can be criticised for suffocating genuine debate in a representative
  democracy by monopolising political decision making

help

Political parties select suitable candidates to
stand for public office. Without political parties,
wealthy individuals with populist agendas might
find it easier to access power, with potentially
dangerous consequences for UK liberal
democracy

hinder

• The way in which the main political parties benefit from
  disproportionate funding also ensures that they can
  monopolise political decision making

Question 12

fucntions - Mobilising consent for government

Answer 12

Without political parties, it would be difficult to form effective governments in
representative democracies with large populations. Individual politicians, each with
their own unique political opinions, would find it virtually impossible to establish
governments quickly and effectively. Parties combine elected politicians into
recognisable groups, which creates favourable conditions for the establishment and
survival of government.

Question 13

How parties are funded

Answer 13

The way in which political parties are funded is highly controversial. In some countries
the state itself funds its political parties. However, in the UK political parties have
always relied on a great deal of private funding, although they do have some limited
access to public funds to subsidise policy development and parliamentary scrutiny.
A leading criticism of the private funding of political parties is that wealthy vested
interests can ‘bankroll’ a political party to achieve their own political objectives.
l Policy development grants allocate £2 million to all the main parties so that they
can employ policy advisers.
l Short money, named after the Labour politician Ted Short, is allocated to the
opposition parties for their work in the House of Commons based on the number
of seats they have (Table 2.5). The leader of the opposition is also funded almost
£800,000 for the running of their office.
l Cranborne money, named after the Conservative peer Lord Cranborne, subsidises
the work of scrutiny carried out by the opposition parties in the House of Lords.
These subsidies do not cover campaigning and election expenses. For these, a
political party depends on the subscriptions of its party members, as well as individual
donations from benefactors (Table 2.6). The Conservative Party has traditionally
received large-scale donations from big businesses that see a Conservative
government as being in their best interests.

Opposition party
Labour Party
Scottish National Party
Democratic Unionist Party
Liberal Democrats
Green Party
Plaid Cymru
Short money
£6,602,347
£1,117,489
£195,870
£903,753
£181,907
£104,683
Social Democratic and Labour Party £104,683

Individual
donation
Labour - 159k
Brexit - 4.1m
Green- 232k
conservatives - 13.2m
lib dem - 1m

Company
donation
conservative - 5.9m
Liberal
Democrats - 241k
labour - 201k
brexit - nil
green - 10k

Trade union
donation
labour - 5m

donations Total
other donations
conservative - 108k
labour - 10.5k
total
conservative - 19.3m
lbaour -5.4m
lib dem - 1.2m
brexit - 4.1m
green - 242k

share %
conservative - 63%
labour - 17.5%
brexit - 13.5%
lib dem - 4.1%
green - 0.8%

Critics of this way of funding political parties point out that it provides the Conservatives
with a massive advantage over other political parties. For example, during the period
of the 2019 general election, 63% of all donations went to the Conservative Party. The
£4.2 million the Brexit Party received from a small number of individual private donors
further suggests the disproportionate influence that the very wealthy can have in UK
politics. It was also striking that during the 2019 general election, 93% of donations
to the Labour Party came from trade unions, which some suggest makes Labour too
closely associated with trade union interests. Parties that lack these close financial ties
are significantly disadvantaged in terms of the private funding they receive.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 states some rules
concerning party funding. These are designed to encourage greater transparency
and fairness.
l An independent Electoral Commission was established to record and make
public how political parties are funded.
l The amount a political party can spend in a constituency during an election is
limited to £30,000.
l Political parties must register large-scale donations (over £7,500) with the
Electoral Commission and must not accept donations from non-UK citizens.

Question 14

Should the state fund political parties?

Answer 14

Tony Blair’s final year as prime minister (2006–07) was blighted by the ‘cash for honours’
scandal when it was suggested that certain Labour donors had been elevated to the House
of Lords because of donations to the Labour Party. Although there were no prosecutions,
there was so much public outrage that Blair commissioned the Phillips Report to
investigate the case for party funding reform. The Phillips Report (2007) concluded that
there was a strong case for political parties to be primarily funded through taxation and
for a limit of £50,000 to be put on donations from individuals and organisations.
However, these recommendations have not been acted upon. The Conservative
Party, as the largest recipient of donations, is unwilling to lose that advantage over
its rivals. Labour is also wary of reforms that would remove the financial support it
receives from trade unions.

Question 15

why do financial donaters have an advantage?

Answer 15

Membership of the Leader’s Group is open to those who have donated £50,000 to the Conservative Party. Members attend
regular lunches and dinners with senior members of the Conservative Party. There is no evidence that wealthy donors have
used this access to direct Conservative policy. However, critics claim the insider status that businesspeople can automatically
expect as a result of substantial donations discourages transparency and creates too close a relationship between Conservative
politicians and their financial backers.

Question 16

Debate
Should political parties in the UK be state funded?

Answer 16

yes

• Despite the cash for honours scandal (2006–07)
  there have been further examples of big donors to
  political parties being awarded peerages. In 2021,
  Peter Cruddas, a former Conservative co-treasurer who
  has donated £3 million to the Conservative Party, was
  recommended for a peerage by Boris Johnson. The
  public funding of political parties would remove the
  potential for claims of corruption and help to restore
  public trust in politicians

no

• In the 2019 general election, 87 political parties (many
  of them fringe or extremist) received more than 500
  votes. It would be controversial to decide which would
  receive funding and how much

yes

• During the 2019 general election, the Conservative
  and Labour parties were responsible for 80.5% of total
  campaign spending. This disproportionate influence is
  reinforcing a duopoly in the UK

no

• In a free democracy, people should be able to
  financially support any cause they wish. Political
  parties are no different from charities or pressure
  groups
• In 2019, despite the Brexit Party spending £4,150,000
  (13.5% of total spending), it won no seats. The Scottish
  National Party received £24,929 in donations (0.1%
  of total spending) and won 48 seats. This suggests
  that the disproportionate financial influence between
  political parties has little impact in terms of electoral
  success

yes

The cost of state funding of political parties would be
comparatively small (the Phillips Report recommended
£25 million). The required increase in taxation would
thus be comparatively small

no

All political parties raise money through charging
membership dues. If they were publicly funded there
would be less of an incentive for them to encourage
political activism and engage with the public

Question 17

The Conservative Party - traditional conservatism

Answer 17

The origins of the Conservative Party can be traced back to the English Civil War.
During this conflict, the royalist supporters of the monarchy and the established
Church of England resisted giving Parliament greater influence and providing the
public with greater freedom of worship. Those who supported the Crown were siding
with the status quo against what they feared would become violent and destabilising
change. This conservative fear of the violence that sudden change can unleash is
reflected in Thomas Hobbes’ masterpiece Leviathan (1651). Hobbes had lived through
the English Civil War and so knew first-hand what can happen when government
breaks down. His view of human nature was also very negative and so he argued
that if there was not a strong government to control its citizens and resist dangerous
innovation, anarchy would ensue, ensuring that property would not be safe, violence
would be endemic and ‘the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’.

The dynamic new egalitarian principles of the French Revolution (1789) based
on ‘liberty, fraternity, equality’ were in conflict with traditional conservative
principles. Horrified by the enthusiasm that some Britons were showing for
the French Revolution, the Whig MP Edmund Burke wrote Reflections on the
Revolution in France (1790), in which he warned about the consequences of too-
rapid change. For Burke, the idealistic desire to change the world was dangerous
and the safest course was always to approach problems pragmatically, respecting
authority and tradition.
Closely associated with the monarchy and the Church of England, traditional
conservatism was aware of humanity’s potential for ‘mob rule’ and so sought to
resist radical changes to the British constitution. By the nineteenth century, Toryism
was the party of:
l property
l pragmatism
l authoritarianism
l tradition
l stability.

Question 18

conservatism - One-nation conservatism

Answer 18

According to Benjamin Disraeli, traditional conservatism lacked the necessary
dynamic to inspire men. In his ‘Young England’ novels, especially Sybil (1845),
Disraeli, as an ambitious Tory backbencher, argued that conservatism must unite
the nation in a collective reverence for those traditions and institutions that had
made Britain great. Disraeli saw society as an organic body in which stability and
prosperity could be achieved only through all classes and individuals appreciating
their debt to each other and not putting their selfish interests above the wellbeing
of the community. In the most famous passage in Sybil, Disraeli warns against
Britain becoming ‘Two Nations’, ‘THE RICH AND THE POOR’, which is
why the inclusive conservatism he argued for became known as ‘one-nation
conservatism’.
Disraeli’s ‘one nation’ sentiments helped the Conservatives to reach out to the
working class. As prime minister, he supported extensive social reforms and by
closely associating itself with one-nation principles, the Conservative Party went on
to become the most successful modern vote-winning political party and the main
governing party for most of the twentieth century.
Conservative prime ministers such as Stanley Baldwin (1923–24, 1924–29 and
1935–37), Harold Macmillan (1957–63) and Edward Heath (1970–74) saw
themselves within this tradition and sought to govern in the interests of the whole
nation, accepting the government’s role in creating a more prosperous and inclusive
society.

Question 19

conservatism - the new right

Answer 19

By the 1970s, the effectiveness of one-nation conservatism was being undermined
by large-scale industrial unrest. Trade unions were increasingly demanding higher
wages for their workers, challenging the principle that a Conservative government
could successfully unite all sections of society. When, in 1975, Margaret Thatcher
defeated Edward Heath for the leadership of the Conservative Party, what became
known as ‘New Right principles’ became the dominant creed within Thatcherite
conservatism.
The New Right is an interesting combination of neo-liberalism and neo-
conservatism. It is neo-liberal because, unlike one-nation conservatism, it is based
on the principle that the economy best regulates itself with as little government
intervention as possible: that businesspeople and entrepreneurs create wealth, rather
than governments. This means that the role of government in the economy should
be limited to making conditions as favourable as possible for the successful operation
of the free market. This is what the classical economist Adam Smith (1723–90)
referred to as the ‘invisible hand of the market’. Government should do this by:
l keeping taxation to a minimum to provide people with greater opportunities to
take financial control of their lives
l reducing inflation and interest rates to encourage investment
l discouraging a ‘dependency culture’ based on too extensive a welfare state
l limiting the influence of trade unions since they disrupt the smooth operation of
the free market by demanding excessive pay claims.
However, the New Right is also influenced by neo-conservatism, which is
more closely connected with the authoritarianism, fear of disorder and a sense of
community associated with traditional conservatism. The New Right sees a positive
role for the state in encouraging social stability and security by:
l discouraging permissive and alternative lifestyles that threaten the traditional
family unit as the basis for social harmony
l giving the government extensive powers to fight crime and disorder
l protecting the national interest by pursuing a strong defence policy
l emphasising the nation state as the ultimate source of the citizen’s security
(because of this the New Right is sceptical of regional organisations, such as the
EU, which challenge the authority of the government).

Question 20

New Right - key term

Answer 20

New Right
conservatism is rooted
in classical liberalism
because it seeks to
reduce the influence
of government in the
economy and over
people’s lives. It also
derives from traditional
conservatism because
of its emphasis on the
importance of achieving
security through law and
order and strong defence.

Question 21

conservatism - Current Conservative ideas and policies

Answer 21

During the prime ministership of Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) a powerful criticism of the Conservative Party was that it had focused too much on free-market principles and allowed society to become divided. Its authoritarianism and lack of commitment to social justice prompted Theresa May in 2002 to admit that for many people the Conservatives had become the ‘nasty party’. When David Cameron became prime
minister of a coalition government in 2010, he proved to be extremely socially
progressive, supporting same-sex marriage legislation, promoting what he called a
Big Society and introducing a National Citizen Service to encourage young people
to support their communities. However, in 2010, the UK was severely in debt because of the global economic crisis (2007–09). As a result, David Cameron and his chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, committed to an austerity programme in which public spending was cut dramatically. The Cameron governments (2010– 15 and 2015–16) thus combined a one-nation emphasis on social cohesion with a
more Thatcherite emphasis on good financial housekeeping.

Although the Conservative Party has a Eurosceptic tradition reaching back to Enoch
Powell in the 1970s, in recent years the Eurosceptic wing of the party, represented
by the European Research Group (ERG), has begun to wield significantly more
influence within the party. Pressure from the ERG helped force David Cameron
to call a referendum on EU membership and subsequent Conservative prime
ministers (Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak) have positioned
the Conservative Party as the party ideologically committed to Brexit and the full
restoration of state sovereignty.

Consequently, the pro-European tradition within
the Conservative Party, represented by one-nation Conservatives such as Kenneth
Clarke, Michael Heseltine
has come close to extinction.

Following Theresa May’s failure to enact legislation to take the UK out of the EU (2016–19), Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority in the 2019 general election. His success in winning so many ‘Red Wall’ seats in traditionally Labour heartlands
encouraged the Conservatives to refocus on public spending as a way ‘of levelling up’ society. Johnson’s enthusiasm for large-scale spending projects such as HS2 and his support for the NHS, including an extra £36 billion over 3 years paid for by a 1.25% increase in National Insurance (2022) and an increase in corporation tax from 19% to 25%, demonstrated a strong faith in the enabling state.

Consequently, under Johnson the Conservative Party abandoned much of the
economic neo-liberalism and social conservatism of Thatcherism, with a greater
focus on one-nation principles of economic and social inclusion, reminiscent of
Harold Macmillan. During Liz Truss’ brief premiership, there was an attempt
to dramatically lower corporation tax back to 19%, reverse the 1.25% increase
in National Insurance and abandon the 45% top rate of taxation. Although her
supporters welcomed these policies as economic neo-liberalism unleashing the
economic potential of business, they proved deeply controversial within the party.
All were quickly reversed, with Rishi Sunak adopting higher tax economic policies much more in keeping with the Johnson government.

Question 22

Will the real Margaret Thatcher please stand up?

Answer 22

Liz Truss’ supporters claimed that her chancellor of the exchequer’s decision to cut the basis
rate of taxation by 1p proved the government’s Thatcherite economic credentials. After all,
in his first 1979 budget, Thatcher’s chancellor of the exchequer, Geoffrey Howe, drove down
the top rate of income tax from 83% to 60% and the basic rate from 33% to 30%. However,
to argue that Thatcherism was all about tax cuts is misleading. Thatcher was also deeply
committed to balancing the budget through policies of fiscal responsibility and economic
good housekeeping. Thus, Howe’s 1981 budget dramatically increased indirect taxes to drive
down the deficit, in contrast to Truss’ claim in October 2022 that it was the ‘right time’ for the
government to borrow more.
Critics claimed that Kwasi Kwarteng’s ‘give away budget’ — with cuts to both the base rate of
income tax and a sudden removal of the 1.25% increase in national insurance and a freeze on
corporation tax at 19% — had more in common with the ‘dash for growth’ launched by Edward
Heath’s chancellor of the exchequer, Anthony Barber, in 1972 than the Thatcherite commitment
to balancing the budget. The resulting ‘Barber Boom’ led to a dramatic rise in inflation,
necessitating a sharp hike in interest rates. So although Truss may have come into office laying
claim to Thatcher’s legacy, her policies had a distinctly Heathite flavour. Although Rishi Sunak
was much less anxious to be seen as a Thatcherite, some critics suggest that his commitment to
balancing the budget through tax increases may actually have been truer to Thatcher’s legacy.

Question 23

Modern-day Conservative policies - The economy
(one-nation/
Thatcherite)

Answer 23

It is difficult to state with any certainty where the Conservative Party stands ideologically in relation
to the economy. The Johnson government’s commitment to high public spending to level up society
reflected a ‘big government’ approach to the economy, reminiscent of the one-nation government
of Harold Macmillan (1957–63). Public spending in 2021 was 42% of the economy, on a par with
spending in the 1970s, although the government’s response to Covid-19 will have contributed to
this. To finance increased public spending in 2021, the then chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi
Sunak, announced a significant increase in corporation tax and national insurance. After a brief
flirtation with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting dash for growth, the Sunak government
responded to the recession with higher taxes and dramatic cuts in public spending, reminiscent of
the ‘good house-keeping’ policies of Margaret Thatcher in the early 1980s. This suggests that the
Conservative Party is in a period of transition over whether its priority should be encouraging growth
or balancing the budget

Question 24

Modern-day Conservative policies - Welfare
(one-nation/
Thatcherite)

Answer 24

When the Blair government introduced a minimum wage in 1997, the Conservatives claimed this
was unacceptable interference in the free market. However, in 2015, the Conservative chancellor
of the exchequer, George Osborne, introduced a ‘living wage’ to provide extra support for the least
well paid. In 2021, Johnson established a new secretary of state for levelling up, housing and
communities. Like all Conservative leaders since David Cameron, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak also
emphasised the Conservative Party’s commitment to the National Health Service.
However, the Universal Credit system, which is based on the principle that the more you earn,
the fewer benefits you receive, suggests an anti-dependency approach more associated with
Thatcherism

Question 25

modern-day conservative policies - Law and order
(Thatcherite)

Answer 25

Recent Conservative governments have committed to strict enforcement of law and order. The
Investigatory Powers Act 2016 passed under Theresa May gives the government enhanced powers
of surveillance to protect national security. The Johnson government committed to increasing police
powers over public protests in legislation such as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.
The appointment as home secretary of strident critics of liberalism such as Priti Patel and Suella
Braverman has further demonstrated an uncompromising Thatcherite approach to law and order

Question 26

modern-day conservative policies - Foreign policy
(Thatcherite)

Answer 26

The Johnson government’s negotiation of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU (1 January 2021)
demonstrated a New Right commitment to sovereign borders. In 2020, Boris Johnson announced a
£16.5 billion increase in UK defence spending — the biggest boost in defence spending since the
end of the Cold War. In 2021, the UK joined a new defence alliance with Australia and the United
States (AUKUS) to counter China. In 2021, a carrier strike group was also sent on a world tour,
training with allied forces and sailing through the disputed South China Sea. This highlights the
Conservative Party’s commitment to a strong national defence policy designed to protect British
interests and demonstrate the UK’s continued military outreach. Truss and Sunak have been
similarly hawkish, providing strong opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, criticising China
for its human rights record and seeking the closest possible ties with the USA

Question 27

A Thatcherite Home Office?

Answer 27

Although the Conservative Party has significantly increased taxes to pay for greater public spending, it has remained much
truer to Thatcherite principles on issues such as immigration, law and order and national identity. When the UK exited the
EU and free movement between the EU and the UK ended on 1 January 2021, the Home Office introduced a points-based
immigration system to limit immigration to those with skills most valuable to the UK. As home secretary (2019–2022), Priti
Patel firmly positioned herself on the right, explaining, ‘I’ve always felt the Conservative Party is the party of the police and
police officers. Quite frankly, with more police officers out there and greater police presence, I want criminals to literally feel
terror at the thought of committing offences.’ The Conservative reaction to Black Lives Matter demonstrations and direct
action has also been generally negative, with Boris Johnson condemning the toppling and defacing of enslavers’ statues
as unacceptable criminal damage. When she became home secretary, Suella Braverman similarly outraged liberal opinion,
telling the 2022 Conservative Party conference that, ‘We need to get back to common sense policing, empowering the
police to tackle the real issues facing the public – not policing pronouns on Twitter or non-crime hate incidents.’

Question 28

Conservatives in conflict?

Answer 28

Since the resignation of David Cameron in 2016, the Conservative Party has
struggled to politically define itself, with significant divisions apparent on a range
of issues.
l As prime minister, Liz Truss’ willingness to borrow to finance tax cuts
and avoid public spending cuts provoked outrage from fiscally responsible
Conservatives, whose priority is to balance the budget and maintain confidence
in the pound.
l Although Truss was eager to slash taxes to encourage growth, the Johnson
and Sunak governments have been much more prepared to keep taxes high to
maintain public services.
l Following Theresa May’s memorable warning in 2002 that the Conservative
Party risked being seen as the ‘nasty party’ for being too illiberal and reactionary,
Cameron committed to making it more inclusive and progressive. Since then,
home secretaries, such as Priti Patel and Suella Braverman, have once again
adopted more socially conservative policies, strenuously attacking what they see
as being ‘political correctness’ and emphasising their toughness on law and order.
l Although Cameron was determined to make the Conservatives more
protective of the environment, when she became prime minister, Truss quickly announced that she was ending the ban on fracking and wanted to expand
North Sea gas and oil extraction. When he succeeded her, Rishi Sunak
immediately reimposed the ban on fracking.

Question 29

the labour party - old labour

Answer 29

The Labour Party was established in 1900 to represent the interests of the working
class. Although its membership has included Marxists, it has never been a Marxist
party since it is not committed to the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist free
market. Instead, Labour has traditionally been a compromise between democratic
socialism and social democracy. Democratic socialists, in the tradition of Beatrice
Webb, believe that the capitalist state will inevitably be replaced by a socialist state
as the working class achieves political power. According to Webb, this represents
the ‘inevitability of gradualism’. Conversely, social democrats, such as Anthony
Crosland, have argued that a more socially just and equal society can be achieved by
reforming existing capitalist structures.
At the core of Labour’s socialist ideology is the principle of collectivism, whereby
we achieve more by working together for the common good than by competing
according to our own interests. Labour governments have traditionally sought to
create a more just and inclusive society through:
l nationalisation, whereby the government runs key industries in the interests of
the workers and the nation
l redistributive taxation so that the wealthier in society pay a greater share of
taxation
l supporting an extensive welfare state
l fostering close links with the trade unions since these, like Labour, were
established to protect and advance the interests of the workers.
The prime minister of the first majority Labour government (1945–51) was Clement
Attlee. His governments are nostalgically remembered by many in the Labour Party
as a high point of democratic socialism.

l In 1948, the health secretary, Aneurin Bevan, introduced the National Health
Service, providing free healthcare for the nation.
l Approximately 20% of the economy was nationalised, including core industries
such as steel, electricity and coal, as well as the Bank of England.
The Labour governments of Harold Wilson (1964–70 and 1974–76) also attempted to
create a fairer and more equal society based on government-led economic expansion.
In 1963, Wilson argued that Labour would unleash the ‘white heat of technology’ in
government and, as prime minister, he sought to associate Labour with progressive
policies and industrial modernisation. Philosophically his approach to government
was underpinned by Anthony Crosland’s Future of Socialism (1956), which envisaged
a more equal society being achieved through redistributive taxation, comprehensive
education and a mixed economy.
l In 1965, the deputy prime minister, George Brown, announced a National Plan
for economic growth that would expand the economy by 25% by 1970.
l The maintenance grant was introduced to make it easier for young people from
poorer backgrounds to attend university.
l The Open University was established to further open higher education to those
from poorer backgrounds.
l Wilson’s governments were also committed to the expansion of comprehensive
education at the expense of the grammar schools as a way of encouraging a more
inclusive and less elitist society.
l Acts of Parliament were passed to encourage a fairer and more inclusive society,
such as the Race Relations Act 1968, which made discrimination in the workplace
illegal, and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
l To pay for a generous welfare state, taxes on the wealthier dramatically increased
under Labour. In 1979, under Wilson’s successor, James Callaghan (1976–79), the
top rate of taxation reached 83%.

Question 30

the labour party - new labour

Answer 30

In the 1979 general election, James Callaghan was defeated by the Conservative
Party led by Margaret Thatcher. Following the election of Michael Foot as Labour
leader in 1980, the party moved decisively to the left. In the 1983 general election,
Labour’s manifesto committed the party to further nationalisation, increased taxation
of the wealthier in society, withdrawal from the European Economic Community
and unilateral nuclear disarmament. One Labour MP, Gerald Kaufman, famously
referred to the manifesto as ‘the longest suicide note in history’ and Labour’s share
of the vote collapsed from 36.9% in 1979 to 27.6% in the 1983 general election,
handing Thatcher a landslide victory.
The scale of the 1983 general election defeat shocked Labour into abandoning its
most socialist policies and, under the leadership of Neil Kinnock (1983–92) and
John Smith (1992–94), Labour moved towards the centre. However, it was the
election of Tony Blair as Labour leader in 1994 that most transformed the party.
Blair was strongly influenced by the principles of the ‘third way’, which was
developed by the political philosopher Anthony Giddens. According to Giddens,
the third way represented a compromise between the extremes of socialism and
capitalism. Labour governments ought not to commit to ideological principles such
as nationalisation, redistributive taxation and class conflict. Gone, too, was the socialist commitment to collectivism and equality. Instead, Labour should focus
on the establishment of a ‘stakeholder society’ based on the principles of inclusion
and communitarianism. Labour should enact policies that would encourage wealth
creation rather than wealth redistribution, as well as loosen its ties with the trade
union movement in a bid to become a less class-based party. In short, Labour should
work for the achievement of social justice within a prosperous capitalist economy.
So great was Blair’s impact on the Labour Party that it became known as New
Labour. A key moment in the development of New Labour was when, in 1995,
Clause IV of the Labour Party Constitution (1918) was modified so that the party
abandoned its commitment to nationalisation and accepted the economic benefits
of a free-market economy. As prime minister (1997–2007), Blair’s centrist policies
put him starkly at odds with more left-wing members of the party such as Tony
Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, who believed that New Labour was abandoning ‘real’
socialism.
‘Socialism for me was never about nationalisation or the power of the state … it is
a moral purpose to life, a set of values, a belief in society, in cooperation, in achieving
together what we cannot achieve alone.’
Tony Blair
l Margaret Thatcher’s chancellor of the exchequer, Nigel Lawson, had lowered
the top rate of taxation to 40% in 1988. Blair kept it at 40% on the basis that the
wealthiest in society are wealth creators and that the economy would grow faster
if their taxes were kept low.
l The state was viewed as an ‘enabler’ rather than a provider. State schools
were given greater independence from local authorities and tuition fees were
introduced so that students would have to contribute towards the cost of their
higher education.
l New Labour introduced tough new laws such as anti-social behaviour orders
(ASBOs) to combat crime.
l For Blair, a key element of New Labour was constitutional modernisation. In
1999, most of the hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords.
The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into British
law in the Human Rights Act 1998 and an independent Supreme Court was
established. Referendums paved the way for devolved legislatures in Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland, dramatically altering the location of power in the
United Kingdom.
l However, New Labour remained committed to social
justice and, like former Labour governments, tried to create
a fairer and more inclusive society. In 1997, for instance,
it introduced the minimum wage to help the lowest paid.
The government also significantly increased spending on
public services.
On the resignation of Tony Blair in 2007, Gordon Brown
became prime minister. In response to the global economic
crisis, his government (2007–10) attempted to stabilise public
finances by introducing a 50 pence top rate of taxation on
incomes over £150,000, as well as a bank bailout programme.
Although these policies were primarily a reaction to the
desperate economic situation, some political commentators
predicted that they spelled the end of New Labour.
When Brown was defeated in the 2010 general election, his successor, Ed Miliband
(2010–15), seemed to further distance the party from its recent Blairite past by
maintaining its commitment to a 50p top rate of taxation, demanding an energy
price freeze and drawing a distinction between ‘predatory’ finance capitalism and
the ‘producers’ in industry.

Question 31

Jeremy Corbyn (2015–20)

Answer 31

shift in the direction of the Labour Party. A keen participant in socialist gatherings
such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ annual festival, and with a deep-seated belief in
the importance of workers’ solidarity, Corbyn was added to the list of candidates
for the leadership by fellow MPs so that the left of the party would be represented
in the ballot. However, under Ed Miliband, the party had changed the rules by
which the Labour leader is elected to a one-member-one-vote system, and Corbyn
won an unexpected landslide victory.
Soon after his election, a new group within Labour, known as Momentum, was
established to sustain his leadership and encourage the spread of democratic socialist
principles within the party, such as more government control of the financial sector,
nationalisation and redistributive taxation. Momentum’s principles of socialist equality
and collective solidarity are inspired by Karl Marx’s optimistic vision of what human
beings can achieve by working together. The groups’ influence within the party could
be seen in the 2017 Labour election campaign slogan, ‘For the Many Not the Few’, in
which Labour increased its share of the vote by a stunning 9.6%.
However, in the 2019 general election, Labour support slumped and the party won
its smallest number of MPs since the 1935 general election (Table 2.8). Just as the
1983 general election landslide defeat prompted a complete reappraisal of Labour
philosophy and policy, so the scale of its 2019 defeat led to Labour moving back
towards the centre ground under Corbyn’s successor, Sir Keir Starmer (2020–).

2017 general election
40% of the popular vote
2019 general election
262 MPs
32.1% of the popular vote 202 MPs

Question 32

Current Labour ideas and policies

Answer 32

Sir Keir Starmer has distanced Labour from the democratic socialism represented
by Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum. However, it would be misleading to suggest
that Labour has re-embraced the principles of Tony Blair and New Labour. Instead,
Labour remains committed to achieving social justice through a mixed economy
rather than embracing capitalism and so its current philosophy probably owes more
to Anthony Crosland than to Anthony Giddens (Table 2.9). In his 2022 conference
speech, Starmer made clear that Labour still believed in redistributive taxation,
announcing that, ‘Trickle-down economics doesn’t work. Britain won’t be better
off just because we make the rich richer.’
Constitutionally, Starmer has sought to distance Labour from the Conservatives,
promising ‘the biggest-ever transfer of power from Westminster to the British people’,
involving an elected House of Lords and more power devolved to local authorities,
devolved governments, and English mayors. Reminiscent of New Labour’s modernising
plans for decentralisation, Starmer’s proposals are a far cry from the big government/
top-down approach to government often associated with traditional socialism.

Question 33

Modern-day Labour policies - The economy

Answer 33

Following its landslide defeat on a left-wing manifesto in the 2019
general election, Labour has adopted a more centrist social democrat
approach to the economy. Labour is therefore no longer committed
to the nationalisation of energy firms. According to Sir Keir Starmer,
‘When it comes to common ownership, I’m pragmatic about this. I
do not agree with the argument that says we must be ideological.’
However, in 2022 Starmer’s promise of a publicly owned energy
company, Great British Energy, demonstrated a left-wing faith in
government-led enterprise.
In terms of taxation, Labour is still more likely than the Conservatives
to tax wealth. As Starmer put it, ‘Those with broader shoulders
should pay their fair share.’ However, Starmer has also been keen
not to alienate business, noting in a pamphlet for the Fabian Society,
‘The role of government is to be a partner to private enterprise,
not stifle it’

Question 34

Modern-day Labour policies - Welfare

Answer 34

Sir Keir Starmer’s promise of a Great Renewal of the NHS represents
a traditional left-wing commitment to the health service. Labour is also
committed to abolishing Universal Credit because they claim it traps
people in poverty. Labour’s commitment to removing the charitable
status of independent schools and channelling those funds into the
state sector and abolishing tuition fees represents a traditionally
socialist approach to education

Question 35

Modern-day Labour policies - Law and order

Answer 35

In his 2021 party conference speech, Sir Keir Starmer positioned
the Labour Party as being harder on criminals than the Conservative
Party, stating, ‘The fight against crime will always be a Labour issue.’
Labour has pledged to strengthen the law on crimes specifically
directed against women and girls and increase the number of police
on the street

Question 36

Modern-day Labour policies - Foreign policy

Answer 36

Labour has also re-emphasised the party’s traditional commitment
to NATO and an independent nuclear deterrent, which reaches back
to Clement Attlee. According to Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s support
for the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent is ‘non-negotiable’ and
when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he made clear
that Labour MPs should not join anti-NATO Stop the War Coalition
demonstrations. Labour is also committed to the AUKUS military
alliance designed to maintain the existing balance of power in the
Far East. This suggests that Labour foreign and defence policy
is much more assertive and interventionist than it was under
Jeremy Corbyn and is now more firmly focused on the UK’s national
security interests

Question 37

The Liberal Democratic Party - Origins — classical liberalism

Answer 37

Although the Liberal Democratic Party was established in 1988 and is the newest
political party in the UK, its origins go far back into British history. In the 1850s,
Whigs and radicals, who supported reform of Parliament and limits on royal
authority, and supporters of the former prime minister Robert Peel, who had split
the Conservative Party by repealing the protectionist Corn Laws, came together on
the issue of free trade. Under the leadership of William Ewart Gladstone, the Liberal
Party became a dominant force in British politics, advocating not only free trade but
lower taxes, balanced budgets, parliamentary and administrative reform, and a more
moral approach to foreign policy.
Gladstone had four periods of office as Liberal prime minister (1868–74, 1880–85,
1886 and 1892–94) and provided the party with a strong sense of moral purpose.
According to Gladstone, ‘Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence.
Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear’

Question 38

The Liberal Democratic Party - 1900 to today — modern liberalism

Answer 38

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Liberal Party became increasingly
influenced by the work of T.H. Green, John Hobson and William Beveridge, who
argued that the government must have adequate welfare provision for the most
vulnerable in society. According to this ‘New Liberalism’, individual freedom
and self-fulfilment required at least a basic standard of living, and during the
governments of H.H. Asquith (1908–16), old-age pensions and sickness and
unemployment insurance were introduced, which were partly paid for by higher
taxes on the wealthier.
The rise of the Labour Party from 1900 provided a powerful alternative to the
Liberal Party among the working class and following the resignation of David
Lloyd George as prime minister in 1922, the Liberal Party declined as Labour
and the Conservatives shared power between them for the remainder of the
twentieth century.
However, in the early 1980s the Liberal Party entered an electoral pact with former
Labour MPs who had established the Social Democratic Party. Campaigning together
as the Alliance, they fought the 1983 and 1987 general elections and merged to form
the Liberal Democrats in 1988.
As a united party, the Liberal Democrats enjoyed growing success under Paddy
Ashdown and as a result of Charles Kennedy’s principled opposition to the Iraq
War, won 62 seats on 22% of the vote in the 2005 general election. Although their
number of MPs dipped to 57 in the 2010 general election, their support proved
necessary for David Cameron to form a government — and so, under Nick Clegg,
they re-entered government.
The coalition agreement that Cameron and Clegg negotiated gave the Liberal
Democrats 5 seats in the cabinet, including Nick Clegg’s position as deputy prime
minister. This was the most influence the party had enjoyed in government since
David Lloyd George resigned as prime minister in 1922. However, in the 2015
general election, the Liberal Democrats won only 8 seats, creating another electoral
mountain for them to climb again.

Question 39

The Liberal Democratic Party - Current Liberal Democrat ideas and policies

Answer 39

Since the Liberal Democrats combine the values and principles of the Liberal and Social
Democratic parties, its ideas cover a broad spectrum. This has sometimes resulted in
an uneasy relationship between the social democratic left of the party that emphasises
the role of government in encouraging social justice and Liberal Democrats who
support a less-interventionist, more neo-liberal approach to the economy. Those on
the liberal side of the party are sometimes referred to as Orange Book liberals after a
2004 book of that title, which argued that the Liberal Democrats should reconnect
with their nineteenth-century commitment to free trade and free markets. Recent
Liberal Democrat leaders (Tim Farron, Sir Vince Cable, Jo Swinson and Sir Ed
Davey) have emphasised issues connected with social justice. However, core principles
of internationalism and constitutional reform provide the Liberal Democrats with a
coherent political ideology.
l As the most pro-European political party, the
Liberal Democrats fought the 2019 general
election on a pledge to re-join the EU. However,
in 2021 the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed
Davey, acknowledged that the UK would not be
re-joining the EU, although the party remained
committed to ‘the closest possible relationship
with our European partners’.
l The Liberal Democrats are committed to the
UK’s continued membership of the European
Convention on Human Rights as a core way of
protecting our civil liberties.
l There has always been a strong tradition
of parliamentary and constitutional reform
within the Liberal Democrats and so they are
committed to a democratic House of Lords
and support further devolution as a way of
making government more accountable to the
public. They also support the introduction of proportional representation at
Westminster to ensure that the House of Commons more fairly represents the
way in which the UK votes

Question 40

Modern-day Liberal Democrat policies - economy

Answer 40

A strong social democrat influence on the party can be seen in its
commitment to increasing income tax by 1p. The £7 billion this would
raise would then be ring-fenced for the NHS. The Liberal Democrats
would also invest £150 billion on green infrastructure over 3 years

Question 41

Modern-day Liberal Democrat policies - welfare

Answer 41

As a result of their commitment to social justice the Liberal Democrats
would restore the university maintenance grant to encourage young
people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university. They
would also provide free childcare for pre-school children

Question 42

Modern-day Liberal Democrat policies - Law and order

Answer 42

The Liberal Democrats’ support for community policing to discourage
crime and develop trust highlights its preventative approach to
law and order. Its commitment to the legalisation of cannabis
demonstrates the continued influence of John Stuart Mill and the
‘self-harm’ principle within the party

Question 43

Modern-day Liberal Democrat policies - foriegn policy.

Answer 43

As an internationalist party, the Liberal Democrats want the strongest
possible relationship with the European Union. The moral principles
of the party can also be seen in its commitment not to cut overseas
aid. However, the Liberal Democrats support the UK’s independent
nuclear deterrent and NATO membership as necessary to protect
British security interests

Question 44

Emerging and minority parties in the UK

Answer 44

Since the Second World War, UK politics has been dominated by the Conservative
and Labour parties, with the Liberals/Alliance/Liberal Democrats providing an
alternative for those disillusioned with existing party dominance.
In addition to these three parties, several minor parties have achieved varying levels
of political success. The Communist Party of Great Britain lasted from 1920 to 1991
and in the 1945 general election won 2 seats at Westminster. At the other extreme,
the British National Party achieved 1.6% of the vote in the 2010 general election,
as well as returning two MEPs in the 2009 European Parliament elections. Since
then, however, its influence has steadily declined and in the 2019 general election it
fielded just one parliamentary candidate.
Other minority parties have been significantly more successful. For some this has
been because they have achieved influence in Westminster or regional government.
For others, it is because they have managed to set an agenda that the main political
parties have decided to follow.

Question 45

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - SNP

Answer 45

The Scottish National Party was established in 1934 and won its first parliamentary
seat at the Hamilton by-election in 1967. Until the 2015 general election, the highest
number of MPs the SNP had returned to Westminster had been 11 (October 1974).
However, in 2015, the SNP won an extraordinary 56 of the 59 Scottish constituencies
in the House of Commons on 50% of the popular vote in Scotland. In the 2017
general election it won 35 seats and in the 2019 general elections 48 seats. This means
that the SNP has been the third biggest party in the House of Commons since 2015.
As a result of these general election successes, the SNP plays a significant role in
contemporary British politics. Its Westminster parliamentary leaders, Ian Blackford
(2017–22) and Stephen Flynn (2022–), have gained a reputation for combatively
representing Scottish interests at Prime Minister’s Questions. The SNP’s large
number of MPs gives it the potential for substantial influence when the government
lacks a strong parliamentary majority. In 2016, the SNP voted with Labour and
Conservative rebels to defeat Cameron’s government (317/286) over its plans to
allow larger stores in England and Wales to open longer on Sundays. The SNP
claimed this would affect pay rates in Scotland, which justified it voting the bill
down. However, the influence of the SNP at Westminster has been limited by
the unwillingness of the Labour Party to work too closely with a party that has
supplanted it as the dominant political force in Scotland.
The most powerful influence of the SNP has been in the government of Scotland,
where its policies have made a dramatic impact.

l Scotland has maintained free university tuition by not adopting the tuition fees
that exist elsewhere in the UK.
l Prescriptions are free of charge, as is bus travel for under-22s and NHS dental
treatment for under-26s.
l 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in local council elections and were
allowed to vote in the Scotland independence referendum.
l The way the SNP government in Holyrood established its own response to the
Covid-19 pandemic significantly raised the governing profile of the Scottish
government at the expense of the UK government.
l In 2021, Nicola Sturgeon stated that victory in the Scottish parliament elections
gave the SNP a mandate to press for another independence referendum. In 2022,
she committed her government to holding this referendum in October 2023.
However, like the UK government, the Scottish government is constrained by
the UK Supreme Court. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled Sturgeon’s decision to
call another independence referendum illegal, since this was a power reserved to
Westminster. This may have contributed to Sturgeon’s surprise resignation in 2023.
In the Gina Miller case (2017), the court established that the Scottish Parliament did not have to be consulted over legislation withdrawing the UK from the EU, even
though Scotland voted decisively to remain in the EU.
It is important not to exaggerate the influence of the SNP. Scotland is a part of the
UK and this puts significant restraints on what the SNP can achieve in government
in Scotland. Although the SNP rejects nuclear weapons, national defence policy is
determined at Westminster and so Trident is still based in Scotland. In 2023, the
Westminster government blocked a Scottish government bill implementing self-
identification for people who want to change gender, since it claimed this conflicted
with the Equality Act, which has legal force across the UK.

Question 46

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - Plaid Cymru

Answer 46

Plaid Cymru dates from 1925 and won its first seat at Westminster
in the 1966 Carmarthen by-election. Unlike the success of the
SNP across Scotland, Plaid Cymru’s main basis of support has
been in the Welsh-speaking parts of Wales, and it has never
achieved an electoral breakthrough in Labour-dominated
South Wales, where most constituencies are located. In the
2019 general election Plaid Cymru won four of the 40 Welsh
parliamentary seats, which was the most seats it has ever won,
and so its influence at Westminster has always been minimal.
Plaid Cymru has achieved more success on the National
Assembly for Wales, and from 2007 to 2011 it formed a
coalition with Labour on the agreement that there would be a referendum giving
the Assembly further devolved powers. However, Labour’s dominant influence in
Wales has ensured that Plaid Cymru’s influence has been limited both at Westminster
and on the National Assembly.

Question 47

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP)/Brexit Party (reform uk)

Answer 47

The influence of UKIP on UK politics has been significant. Founded in 1993, it
had little impact until the 2004 European Parliament elections when it achieved
16.1% of the vote. Following the election of Nigel Farage as leader in 2006, it
began to broaden its support among the white working class by opposing not only
the UK’s membership of the EU but also further immigration. The implications
of the expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2007, and the resulting number of Eastern
Europeans coming into the UK, contributed to its growing electoral success. Farage’s
high-profile media presence and ‘plain speaking’ and ‘common sense’ criticism of
establishment politicians further added to UKIP’s influence. In the 2014 European
Parliament elections, UKIP beat both Labour and the Conservatives with 26.6% of
the vote and 24 seats.
The influence of UKIP in the Westminster Parliament has always been tiny,
however. In the 2015 general election, although it achieved an impressive 12.6% of
the vote, it won 1 seat. In the 2017 general election, it lost that seat, achieving just
1.8% of the popular vote. In 2019, as the Brexit Party, it achieved 2%.
However, UKIP’s influence on British politics has been significantly greater than
these results suggest. This is because David Cameron’s manifesto commitment in the
2015 general election to offer the British public an ‘in/out’ referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union was a response to the growing Euroscepticism
of British politics, which UKIP had done so much to fuel. Nigel Farage played a
defining role in the EU referendum campaign in 2016, placing the free movement of
EU citizens to and from the UK at the heart of the case for Brexit. This was highly
effective in mobilising voters in traditional working-class parts of the country to
vote Leave, despite Labour’s support for Remain.
The Euroscepticism that UKIP has encouraged in the UK has had enormous and
far-reaching consequences. It helped to determine the result of the 2015 general
election, secured a commitment from the Conservative Party
to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU and
helped to swing the vote towards Leave (Table 2.11). In 2021,
Labour abandoned its commitment to re-establishing the free
movement of EU people to and from the UK because it was
so electorally unpopular. This demonstrates that although a
minority party, the ideas of UKIP have successfully ‘made
the weather’ in terms of political debate in the UK.

Question 48

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - green party

Answer 48

Like UKIP, the Green Party is a victim of first-past-the-
post (see Chapter 3) and so has achieved little success at
Westminster. Originally known as PEOPLE, and then the
Ecology Party, it changed its name to the Green Party in
1985. In 1989, the Greens achieved 15% in the European Parliament elections
and in 2010 Caroline Lucas won Brighton Pavilion for the Greens with 31.3%. In
the 2019 general election Lucas’ share of the vote increased to 57.2%. Nationally,
Greens have on average achieved a 3.6% vote share in general elections this
century (Table 2.12).
However, in constituencies where they have significant support, the Greens have
sometimes been able to influence the result by deciding not to stand. In 2017,
they did not contest Ealing Central and Acton, so boosting the Labour vote at the
expense of the Conservatives. In 2019, by not contesting North East Fife and Angus
they swung the seats towards the Liberal Democrats and the SNP at the expense of
the Conservatives.
The additional member system (see Chapter 3) has given the Green Party greater
influence in the Scottish Parliament, where in 2021 it secured 8/129 seats. Since the
SNP won 64 seats (one short of a majority), Nicola Sturgeon signed a confidence-
and-supply agreement with the Greens (the Bute House Agreement). Two Green
MSPs were given ministerial office and in a joint statement the two parties agreed
to work together to ‘accelerate our response to the climate emergency’. Since
the Greens are also a pro-independence party, the SNP were also able to claim
a fresh mandate for a second independence referendum, although its legality was
subsequently rejected by the UK Supreme Court.
The Greens have also had a significant influence on British politics by increasing
greater awareness of the importance of environmental protection. This has encouraged
all the main UK and regional parties in the UK to make environmental protection
a much more prominent part of their manifesto commitments. In 2019, there was
cross-party support when the Westminster Parliament declared an environment and
climate emergency.

2001
2005
2010
2015
2017
2019
2.8%
3.2%
1.8%
4.3%
2.1%
3.6%

Question 49

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - democratic unionist party

Answer 49

Founded in 1971 by the Reverend Ian Paisley, the DUP’s priority is to keep
Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. It maintains strong links with the
Free Presbyterian Church, and its social conservatism and the intense Protestantism
that it defends have ensured that it has had little impact on the manifestos of the
main political parties.
However, the Democratic Unionists have played an indispensable role in the
development of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Initially opposed to power
sharing with republican parties, in the 2005 general election the DUP became the
largest unionist party at Westminster (Table 2.13).
The decision of Ian Paisley in 2007 to finally agree to power sharing with Sinn Féin
was a pivotal event in the Northern Ireland peace process. However, the difficult
relationship that the DUP have with republican Sinn Féin has meant that it has not
been easy for them to cooperate in government. From 2017 to 2020, for example, the
Stormont assembly was suspended when Sinn Féin withdrew from the government.
The DUP’s strong presence at Westminster has sometimes given it influence
disproportionate to its national vote. The 10 seats it won in the inconclusive 2017 general election made DUP support indispensable to the Conservatives if they were
to reach the 326 MPs needed to avoid having to form a minority administration
By making a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Conservatives, the
DUP agreed to vote with the government on key issues connected with Brexit and
the Budget and to support the government in the event of a vote of confidence.
In return for this support, the DUP’s then leader, Arlene Foster, secured an extra
£1 billion in funding in Northern Ireland and a practical veto over the May
government’s proposed Brexit legislation. However, when the Conservatives won an
80-seat majority in the 2019 general election, the DUP lost its negotiating influence
at Westminster. It was therefore unable to block the Northern Ireland protocol that
kept Northern Ireland within the EU single market for goods and established a trade
border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Table 2.14 2017 general
election results — seats won
Party
Number
of seats
Conservatives 317
Labour 262
SNP 35
Liberal
Democrats 12
Democratic
Unionist Party 10
plaid cymeru - 4

Party
Sinn Féin - 27
Democratic Unionist Party - 25
Alliance - 17
Ulster Unionist Party - 9
Social Democratic and Labour Party - 8
Independents 2
Traditional Unionist Voice 1
People Before Profit1

Question 50

Emerging and minority parties in the UK - Sinn Féin

Answer 50

Sinn Féin is a republican political party committed to the unification of Ireland.
Since it does not acknowledge the justification for Northern Ireland being part of
the UK, its Westminster MPs (seven in 2019) do not take up their seats. However,
Sinn Féin has served in government in Northern Ireland with the DUP and in 2022
won the greatest number of seats in the Stormont Assembly. This is notable because
it meant that Sinn Féin’s leader, Michelle O’Neill, could claim to be Northern
Ireland’s first nationalist first minister.

Question 51

conifdence and supply - key term

Answer 51

Confidence and supply
Refers to a situation where
a minority government
retains power by arranging
with another party that
it will support it in a vote
of confidence and on the
Budget (supply). It is a less
formal arrangement than a
coalition, since members
of the smaller party do
not sit in government
and can vote against
the government on other
issues.

Question 52

The development of a multiparty system and its
implications - Barriers to entry for smaller parties

Answer 52

During most of the twentieth century, British politics was dominated by two main
political parties. This can be referred to as a political duopoly and was caused by the
way in which the different social classes tended to identify with one or the other of
the main parties. As a result of class-based voting, the traditional working-class vote
generally lined up behind Labour, with the middle classes and upper classes more
likely to vote Conservative. This made it difficult for smaller parties to achieve an
electoral breakthrough.
There have also been periods of one-party dominance. From 1951–64 the
Conservative Party was permanently in government and then again from 1979–92.
New Labour under Tony Blair was similarly dominant, winning three consecutive
general elections (1997, 2001 and 2005).

That the House of Commons is elected by FPTP also makes it difficult for smaller
parties to gain representation. This is because they generally lack the depth of
support that the larger parties can claim. The Liberals/Alliance/Liberal Democrats
have, for example, enjoyed significant breadth of support across the country but they
lack the electoral strongholds of the Labour and Conservative parties. Historically
they have been significantly underrepresented at Westminster.
This has led to a self-fulfilling belief that a vote for a minority party is a wasted
vote. In addition, minority parties have suffered from a lack of funding, since they
have not been able to rely on the close financial links that Labour has had with
the trade unions or the Conservatives with big business. As a result of Labour and
Conservative dominance at Westminster for much of the post-war period, the UK
was not a multiparty system.

Question 53

The development of a multiparty system and its
implications - Has two-party dominance been eroded at Westminster?

Answer 53

The two-party system at Westminster began to be challenged in the 1980s, when
the Social Democratic Party was established by former members of the Labour
Party and formed an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party. This created a centrist
party (the SDP–Liberal Alliance) with wider potential appeal and, following their
merger as the Liberal Democrats in 1988, the party began to increase its influence
at Westminster (Table 2.15).
The decline of the Westminster duopoly was also facilitated by growing partisan
dealignment as voters increasingly voted on specific issues rather than according to
class. The Liberal Democrats focused their efforts on certain key geographical areas
that they had a good chance of winning, such as the South West, and this further
maximised their influence at Westminster.
The consistent opposition of Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy to the Iraq
War (2003) further boosted Liberal Democrat support in the 2005 general election.
Then in 2010 a strong campaign by his successor, Nick Clegg, combined with
disappointing performances by David Cameron and Gordon Brown, provided the
opportunity for the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition government with the
Conservatives.
In contrast to the Liberal Democrats’ slow progress, the SNP achieved its electoral
breakthrough in the 2015 general election following its high-profile campaign in
the 2014 Scottish independence referendum (Table 2.16).

lib dem

1992 - 17.8% sgare of national vote
2010 - 23%

snp

1992 - 21.5%
2019 - 45%

The establishment of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 and
the electoral breakthrough of the SNP in 2015 might suggest that the UK has now
entered a two-and-a-half-party system at Westminster. However, this would be
premature. In 2017 the Conservative and Labour parties achieved their highest vote
share (82.4%) in any general election since 1970. Although this decreased in 2019
to 75.7%, it still gave them, because of the way in which FPTP operates, 87.2%
of the seats at Westminster. In contrast, since the 2015 general election, Liberal
Democrat representation has plummeted at Westminster. The SNP retains a strong
parliamentary presence. However, it is likely to wield decisive influence only if
Labour requires its support to form a government. This suggests that as long as the
Labour and Conservative parties are able to form majority governments, a political
duopoly will be maintained at Westminster

2019

lib dem - 11.6% of the popualr vote
green - 2.6%
UKIP 2%

Question 54

The development of a multiparty system and its
implications - Multiparty democracy in the devolved governments

Answer 54

Although it could be argued that the Conservative and Labour parties are still
dominant at Westminster, the evidence suggests that the regional legislatures have
encouraged the development of a multiparty democracy elsewhere in the UK.

Scottish Parliament 2021
(129 seats)

SNP - 64
conservative - 41
labour - 22
green 8
green 4

Northern Ireland Assembly 2022
(90 seats)
sinn fien - 27
DUP - 25
allaince - 17
ulster unionst party - 9
social democratic and labour party - 8
independant - 2
traditioanl unionist voice - 1
poeple before profit -1

As we can see from Table 2.18, power is shared much more equally among the parties
in all the devolved legislatures. No two parties can be sure of being dominant and
so, in the constituent parts of the UK, multiparty democracy does exist. As further
power is devolved to the constituent parts of the UK, so the importance of multiparty
democracy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to increase.

Question 55

debate - Has the UK now become a multiparty democracy?
Evaluation

Answer 55

yes

• In the devolved legislatures, power is shared by
  more than two parties, so in the regions there is
  multiparty democracy. Since 2007, the SNP has
  either governed as a single party or with other
  political parties. in 2019, it had 48/49 seats, emphasising the fcat that conservatives and labour are not the only political party.

no

• The Westminster Parliament determines constitutional
  issues and those concerning foreign policy and defence.
  Conservative and Labour dominance here means that
  although the SNP is the dominant party in Scotland, it
  cannot fulfil manifesto commitments such as securing a
  second independence referendum or removing nuclear
  bases from Scotland without the consent of Westminster. furtheremore the 2024 general election saw a shocking swing to labour, with snp losing 39 seats and labour wining 36 seats.

yes

Smaller parties have been highly influential in
recent general elections. In 2010 the Conservatives
established a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and
in 2017 the DUP agreed to support the Conservative
government in a confidence-and-supply agreement

no

• In the Parliament elected in 2019, Labour and the
  Conservatives won 87.2% of the seats. This means that at
  Westminster their influence remains dominant, especially if
  the winning party has a large majority

yes

• Smaller parties can wield significant influence by
  setting the political agenda. Although UKIP won only
  1 seat in the 2015 general election with 12.6% of
  the popular vote, its growing influence shifted the
  Conservative Party in a more Eurosceptic direction.
  The influence of the Green Party can be seen in
  the way in which all the main political parties have
  adopted more environmentally aware policies

no

• In every general election since 1922 the party with the
  most seats has either been Conservative or Labour.
  This means that for more than 100 years Labour or the
  Conservatives have always been in government. This
  dominance extends to local government in England and
  Wales as well as to elected mayors, who wield growing
  influence.

Question 56

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Popularity and image of the leader

Answer 56

Although the UK is not a presidential system, intense media interest in a party’s
leader can be vital in determining how successful a political party is. This is not new.
In 1918, at the end of the First World War, the Liberal leader, David Lloyd George,
was so popular that he was even mobbed on a ‘presidential’ tour of the United States.
Since 1945, the ability of a party leader to establish a close personal relationship with
the electorate has often been important in the success of a political party. The veteran
constitutional expert Peter Hennessy refers to this as ‘spatial leadership’ whereby a
charismatic and empathetic leader creates a space between them and their party, so
the public put their faith in the leader more than the party they represent.
Margaret Thatcher won three general elections because her
direct and patriotic leadership appealed to aspirational working-
class voters. In his two landslide general election victories in
1997 and 2001, Tony Blair’s optimistic moral vision won him
support among all age groups and classes. In the 2019 general
election, the focus of the Conservative campaign was on Boris
Johnson’s personal responsibility to ‘get Brexit done’, as the ‘Vote
Conservative, actually’ party political broadcast demonstrates.
However, if a leader is seen as weak and ineffectual this will
have a negative impact on their party’s performance. Ed
Miliband, as Labour leader 2010–15, failed to persuade the
electorate that he had the steely strength of character needed
to be prime minister. Liz Truss lacked the presence to create
confidence in her radical economic policies.
In particular, small parties need effective leaders if voters
are going to change their voting allegiance. The Liberals/
Liberal Democrats have been at their most successful when
they have had media-friendly and compelling leaders such as
Jo Grimond, Jeremy Thorpe, Charles Kennedy and Nick Clegg. However, under
recent lacklustre leaders like Tim Farron, Vince Cable and Jo Swinson their fortunes
have plummeted.

Question 57

Debate
The party leader is vital in determining how successful a political party is

Answer 57

yes

• Harold Macmillan was called ‘Supermac’ by the cartoonist
  ‘Vicky’. Although not meant as a compliment, the name
  stuck and Macmillan cruised to a general election landslide
  in 1959

no

• In 1964, Harold Wilson ran a much more
  presidential campaign than Hugh Gaitskell had
  done in 1959. Despite this, the Labour vote share
  increased by only 0.2%

yes

• In contrast, doubts over Liz Truss’ leadership capabilities
  helped contribute to Labour achieving a 33% lead over the
  Conservatives (YouGov, 29 September 2022)

no

• In 1970, Edward Heath won a surprise general
  election victory over Harold Wilson. Although
  Heath’s earnest approach to campaigning was
  hardly inspirational, voters abandoned Wilson
  because of the government’s failure to address
  industrial unrest and the announcement of a
  surprise balance of trade deficit 3 days before the
  general election

yes

• In the 2017 general election, Ruth Davidson’s gutsy, down-to-
  earth approach contrasted with that of previous establishment
  Scottish Conservative leaders. This contributed to the
  Conservatives’ vote share leaping by 13.7%, taking them from
  1 Westminster seat in Scotland to 13

no

• Clement Attlee won the 1945 general election by a
  landslide, even though he had none of Churchill’s
  charisma and gifts of oratory

Question 58

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Relationship with the media

Answer 58

If political parties can establish a positive relationship with the media, it will be
easier for them to achieve political success. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s press
secretary, Bernard Ingham, played a vital role in ensuring that the government had
a strong relationship with influential newspapers. Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s
press secretary, was equally successful in ensuring that New Labour was able to
control the political agenda as much as possible. So important did influencing the
media become that the term ‘spin doctor’ was invented for media-savvy political
advisers. Nick Clegg was so popular with the media during the 2010 general election
that the term ‘Cleggmania’ was invented. Positive stories about Nigel Farage in the
right-wing press and his frequent appearances on television gave UKIP the strong
media exposure it otherwise would have lacked.

If, however, a political party has a distant or difficult relationship with journalists,
it will find it much more difficult to encourage the sort of favourable news stories
that enable it to ‘make the political weather’. In the 2019 general election, Jeremy
Corbyn and the Labour Party were thrown onto the defensive by allegations of
anti-Semitism, which made it impossible for them to control the political agenda.
Similarly, in 1979 James Callaghan’s Labour government struggled to regain the
initiative after The Sun headline ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ claimed that Callaghan was
not taking the widespread industrial strife seriously enough. From 1992 to 1997 John
Major’s government became so associated with allegations of sleaze, incompetence
and divisions over the European Union that it could not shift the political agenda on
to areas such as the economy, where it had a stronger record. After 5 years of negative
media coverage of their role in the 2010–15 coalition, the Liberal Democrats secured
only 8 seats in the 2015 general election, their lowest number of MPs since 1970. Liz
Truss’ failure to successfully communicate her radical neo-liberal policies through
the media doomed her premiership. Initially enthusiastic papers, like The Sun and
the Daily Mail, quickly turned on her and the final straw came when the Daily Star
likened her to a ‘wet lettuce’.

However, a positive relationship with the media does not guarantee success for a
party. When Neil Kinnock became Labour leader in 1983, Peter Mandelson worked
hard to remove the tension between Labour and the media. They adopted the Red
Rose as the party’s new symbol and in the 1987 general election, the party political
broadcast focused entirely on Kinnock was a brilliant advertising achievement.
However, Margaret Thatcher still won a landslide victory. In 1992, Labour again
ran a highly professional stage-managed campaign culminating in the presidential
Sheffield Rally showcasing Kinnock as a ‘prime minister in waiting’. Once again,
he lost, suggesting that issues of governing competence and leadership may be more
important in determining party political success than media presentation. Following
the bloody aftermath of the Iraq War (2003), despite its media self-confidence, New
Labour found it much more difficult to control the political agenda since Blair’s
leadership had been so compromised.

Question 59

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Record in government

Answer 59

If a political party achieves a reputation for governing competence, this will naturally
contribute to its success. For example, the Conservative prime minister Harold
Macmillan won the 1959 general election because the government was presiding
over a period of unparalleled economic prosperity. Margaret Thatcher won two
landslide victories (1983, 1987) because enough voters believed that Conservative
governments had successfully transformed the British economy. However, if
a political party is seen as being incompetent or ineffective in government, that
will dramatically impact its fortunes. The Callaghan government was seen to
have failed to address industrial strife during the Winter of Discontent (1978–79),
which haunted the Labour Party until Tony Blair became leader in 1994. The
sudden dramatic rise in interest rates on Black Wednesday (1992) under John Major
established a Conservative reputation of economic incompetence that lasted until
David Cameron. When Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting September 2022 mini-
budget sent shockwaves through financial markets, some Conservatives feared it
might be another office-denying ‘Black Wednesday’ moment. It is little wonder
therefore that Conservative MPs swiftly turned on Liz Truss in the hope that they
could re-establish a reputation for economic confidence before the next general
election.

Question 60

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Record in opposition

Answer 60

According to the nineteenth-century Conservative politician Lord Randolph
Churchill, ‘the duty of an opposition is to oppose’. An effective parliamentary
opposition can therefore challenge the competence of a government and position
itself as a ‘government in waiting’. From 1994 to 1997, Tony Blair and his
frontbench team successfully undermined John Major’s government by highlighting
Conservative divisions over membership of the EU and accusing the government
of incompetence. From 2007 to 2010, the Conservative leader, David Cameron,
used Prime Minister’s Question Time to discomfort Gordon Brown and undermine
his government. The shadow chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, also
successfully criticised the government’s response to the global economic crisis that
began in 2008. Sir Keir Starmer’s earnest and forensic attacks on Boris Johnson’s
integrity and Liz Truss’ competence in 2022 were generally regarded as having been
successful. It was less certain, however, how effective these tactics would be against
Rishi Sunak.
Equally, a governing party can benefit from an ineffective opposition. Neither
Michael Foot nor Neil Kinnock had enough popular appeal to provide strong
Labour opposition to Margaret Thatcher. Similarly, following its landslide defeat
in the 1997 general election, the failure of the Conservative Party under William
Hague and Iain Duncan Smith to reach beyond its core vote made it incapable of
challenging the progressive appeal of New Labour.

Question 61

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Funding and organisation

Answer 61

Although the Conservative Party dominates party funding, this does not guarantee
the party victories. For example, the Conservatives lost three general elections to
New Labour (1997, 2001 and 2005) even though they had significantly greater
financial resources. In 2005, the Liberal Democrats won a record 62 seats even
though they had comparatively limited financial resources. The dramatic rise of the
Scottish National Party since 2015 has been achieved even though they have almost
no financial backing. More important in determining success is how well the party
organises itself. New Labour was so successful because its candidates presented such
a united and coherent political message. In 2015, the Conservatives focused on a
‘decapitation’ strategy, successfully targeting Liberal Democrat seats. In 2019, they
focused their resources on winning traditional Labour ‘Red Wall’ seats where the
Conservatives had been building up their support in previous general elections.

Question 62

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Choice of candidates and campaign methods

Answer 62

Although some critics suggest that the public vote according to who the party
leader is or how the party is portrayed nationally in the media, the importance of
candidate selection should not be underestimated. A local candidate, or one who
is thoroughly engaged with constituency issues, can generate more support than a
perceived outsider. In 2019, the Conservative Party generally selected local people
with a commitment to Brexit to fight Red Wall seats, and activists spent a lot of time
campaigning on local issues in pubs and community centres.
The thrust of the campaign can also be vital in determining the result. In the 1992
general election, the Conservatives quickly set the agenda in their favour by claiming
that the Labour Party was preparing to dramatically increase taxation (‘Labour tax
bombshell’). As a result, they won a surprise general election victory. However, in
the 2017 general election the Conservative campaign quickly faltered on claims that
the manifesto was committed to what the press termed a ‘dementia tax’, while the
idealistic tone of the Labour manifesto and campaign ‘For the Many Not the Few’
led to an unexpected surge in support for Labour. In many general elections the
campaign has little impact, especially if the public already have either a very positive
or a very negative view of the government or the opposition. In 1997, for example,
opinion polls hardly changed during the campaign since the Major government had
such a negative reputation and New Labour’s popularity was undefeatable.

Question 63

A comparison of important and less important general election campaigns

Answer 63

Influential general election campaigns

• In 1970, Harold Wilson and the Labour Party were far ahead
  in all the opinion polls. The last Gallup poll before the general
  election put Labour on 49% and the Conservatives on 42%.
  However, Wilson’s presidentialism was misplaced given
  underlying industrial and economic problems. Voters preferred
  Edward Heath’s perceived honesty and dogged determination
  and the Conservatives won a surprise majority of 30 on a
  4.7% swing
• In 1992, 38 out of 50 opinion polls put Labour clearly ahead.
  On general election night the BBC predicted a hung parliament.
  However, John Major’s soap box campaign, Conservative
  warnings of ‘Labour’s tax bombshell’ and Neil Kinnock’s
  performance at Labour’s Sheffield Rally, which cast doubts on
  him as a potential prime minister, shifted support back to the
  Conservatives. The swing to Labour was just 2.2% and Major
  secured a 21-seat majority
• When the 2017 general election campaign began, Theresa
  May’s Conservative Party led Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour
  Party by 20% in the polls. At the end of the campaign the
  Conservatives were on 44% and Labour had caught up, to 36%.
  The actual result was even closer, with the Conservatives on
  42.4% and Labour on 40%. Theresa May’s lacklustre, stage-
  managed appearances, media allegations of a Conservative
  dementia tax and the enthusiasm of the Corbyn campaign ‘For
  the Many Not the Few’ combined to increase the Labour vote
  share by a remarkable 9.6%

Uninfluential general election campaigns

• When a government is seen as competent and
  efficient the general election campaign will be
  unlikely to influence the result
• In 1959, Harold Macmillan was comfortably
  returned to office on the back of unprecedented
  material prosperity for which the government
  gained the credit. The Labour campaign of Hugh
  Gaitskell made little impact on the electorate
• In 2001, Tony Blair’s Labour government
  was in such a commanding position and the
  Conservative opposition of William Hague so
  weak that the campaign did not make a difference
• If the opposition is weak then the campaign is
  unlikely to be decisive. In 1983, the Labour Party
  manifesto was so left wing and its leader Michael
  Foot so ridiculed in the press that Margaret
  Thatcher won a 144-seat majority. The only
  question was whether Labour would manage to
  beat the Liberal/SDP Alliance into third place
• In 1987, Labour ran a much more media-focused
  campaign under Neil Kinnock than it had under
  Michael Foot. However, the swing to Labour was
  only 3.2% and Margaret Thatcher won a 102-seat
  majority

Question 64

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Policy statements, including the manifesto

Answer 64

High-profile policy statements, manifesto commitments and the way they are
reported in the media can have a dramatic impact on the fortunes of a political
party. In the 1979 general election, the Conservative manifesto’s promise to allow
council house tenants to buy their homes helped increase Conservative support
by 15% among C2 voters and 12% among DE voters. In 2015, David Cameron’s
manifesto commitment to a referendum on UK membership of the EU meant
that the Conservatives lost fewer votes to UKIP and so Cameron secured a 12-
seat majority. However, in 2017, media claims that the Conservatives planned a
‘dementia tax’ and the popularity among young people of Labour’s commitment to
ending tuition fees encouraged such a dramatic shift in public opinion that May lost
13 seats and had to form a minority government with the support of the Democratic
Unionist Party.

Question 65

Factors that contribute to party success or failure - Impact of any relevant referendums

Answer 65

A criticism of referendums is that a party may use them
for political self-interest. In the February 1974 general
election, Labour leader Harold Wilson won votes by
promising a referendum on the UK’s continued
membership of the European Economic Community
(EEC). In 2015, David Cameron reduced the threat from
UKIP by pledging to a referendum on EU membership
and won the general election. The promise of a referendum
can also have a long-term negative impact on party unity.
The 2016 EU referendum and its aftermath encouraged
bitter in-fighting within the Conservative Party and
prompted the resignation of both David Cameron (2016)
and Theresa May (2019) as prime minister. Party leaders
are likely to be cautious of referendums since they may
have unexpected and enduring consequences.

Question 66

The political wisdom of two Harolds

Answer 66

According to Harold Wilson, ‘a week is a long time in politics’; Harold Macmillan once commented that it was ‘events, dear
boy, events’ that determined party political success. It could be argued that political careers can be made or ruined by how
governments and the opposition react to crises and unexpected events. In 1962, the Profumo scandal, in which the secretary
of state for war, John Profumo, lied to Parliament about his affair with young model Christine Keeler, made the prime minister,
Harold Macmillan, look out of touch and made the Conservative Party look seedy and hypocritical. In September 1978, James
Callaghan decided not to call a general election that autumn. Soon after, widespread industrial unrest broke out in the Winter
of Discontent and Callaghan went on to lose a parliamentary vote of confidence and the resulting general election to Margaret
Thatcher. John Major never recovered from Black Wednesday in 1992 when his government greatly increased interest rates in
one day to try to remain on the EU Exchange Rate Mechanism. However, unexpected events can also make fortunes. Victory in
the Falklands War in 1982 increased Thatcher’s prestige. In early 2022, evidence of government parties during lockdown led to a
massive loss of public confidence in Boris Johnson and a corresponding increase in support for Sir Keir Starmer.