Political Parties Flashcards
What are the manifestos and mandates of political parties?
Manifesto- the proposed list of policies that a party will enact if elected
Mandate- the authority to enact manifesto promises, want a strong majority. Blair had a massive mandate in 1997 (179 seat majority)
Salisbury Convention- House of Lords can’t block legislation that’s on elected party’s manifesto as they’re not democratically elected
What are the 5 roles of political parties in the Uk with examples?
Representation- parties represent the views of their members
eg. working class vote for Labour- Starmer’s VAT on private schools, Conservatives voted for Truss in 2022, trade unions are a large source of membership in Labour
Political engagement and participation- making wider citizenry aware of the issues of the day, parties perform an educative function that encourages political engagement, democracy given by parties encourages participation
eg. 2024- Israel and Gaza, social media adverts, leaflets through doors
Political recruitment- parties assess the qualities of those seeking election to public office, casting aside those who are considered unsuitable, also give those who’ll ultimately become the nation’s leader an opportunity to serve in form of political apprenticeship
eg. George Galloway- Azhar Ali was dropped by Labour for anti-Semitism so he won a seat in Rochdale
Policy formulation- parties discuss and develop policy proposals before presenting them to voters in a manifesto
eg. 2024 GE- Labour VAT on private schools, Con public service programme, Farage control illegal immigrants by ‘freeze’ on non-essential immigration and deportation of people crossing the Channel in small boats, 2019 Get Brexit Done
Stable government- parties are needed to form House of Commons and present voters with a clear choice, while also providing order following GE by allowing a single party to form a government and secure the safe passage of its legislative proposals through HoC
eg. Johnson 2019 majority of 80 seats, Blair 1997 179 seat majority
What are the 3 types of political parties in the UK with examples and MPs in 2019?
Mainstream parties- Conservatives (365 seats), Labour (202 seats), LibDems (11 seats)
Nationalist/regional parties- Sinn Fein (join Ireland, 7 seats), Plaid Cymru (independent Wales, 4 seats), SNP (independent and join EU, 48 seats)
Single-issue/ niche parties- Green (1 seat), Women’s Equality Party (0), Heritage Party (0)
What happened to UKIP after Brexit?
Polled 3.9m votes in 2015 GE but only won 1 seat in HoC, support base was middle-class Eurosceptics with working class voters who felt ‘left behind’ by economic and cultural change. Its rise put more pressure on David Cameron to call an EU referendum-immigration can only decrease if we leave EU. Leave campaign won referendum. 2016 vote was their main achievement but also made them lose their niche as Tories became pro-Brexit and most who’d voted in 2015 went to Con. Farage stood down as leader. Returned as leader of Brexit party in 2019 then to Reform UK in 2020. Radical right
What are the Women’s Equality Party’s core ideas and where have they had electoral success?
Equal pay and opportunity, equal representation, equal parenting and caregiving with a reduced gender pay gap and more women being able to work, equal education with no gendered expectations
-overtook George Galloway in London Mayoral election in 2016 (1 in 20 votes)
-2018- 2nd party conference where delegates passed 24 motions, including amendment to Article 50 bill which gathered most cross-party of all amendments by highlighting degree of Henry VIII powers- enable civil servants to sign away equalities and employment rights without policies
-violence against women got same status as terrorism
What are the 4 types of systems with examples?
Two-party system- where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly, eg. FPTP with Con and Lab
Dominant system- where a number of parties exist but only one holds for power, eg. Con (1979-97)
Lab (1997-2010)
Single-party system- where one party dominates other parties and exercises total control over candidacy at elections- where elections occur at all, eg. Nazi Germany, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Multiparty system- where many parties compete for power and the government consists of a series of coalitions found by different combinations of parties, eg. Italy (1945-93)
What does the opinion poll average since Dec 2019 graph show?
spoiler effect in 2024 as opinion poll data headlines meant people thought Labour would win anyway so they voted for whatever they wanted
the 2 main parties that win poll the best on opinion polls, winner’s bonus magnifies this under FPTP as all you need is the most votes
rise in third party support in lead up to GE of LD and Reform due to their approaches on Brexit, LD were campaigning for a second referendum
What does the goverments formed following GEs graph show?
It shows we have a two party system as, except for the 2010 coalition and the supply and confidence agreement in 2017, it’s always been Labour and Con
Keir Starmer 172 seat majority
What happened in 2017 with May and the DUP?
May got 318 MPs (need 325 MPs) so Con still biggest party in HoC so agreed to a supply and confidence deal with DUP (NI) to have its support in key votes, they had 10 MPs so together made up over half of MPs in HoC, where the DUP agreed to back Con in key votes, eg. a budget and a confidence motion, but not tied into supporting them for other measures in return for £1bn more spent on NI over next 2 years that had previously been planned, also got agreement on a range of policy priorities, eg. keep increasing state pensions by at least 2.5% a year
DUP- pro-union, pro-Brexit, socially conservative so controversial as anti-abortion etc, Sinn Fein , SDLP and Alliance Party said it was likely to make power-sharing harder
What happened with Change UK and Brexit?
Independent Group for Change was founded last March by 11 unhappy Labour and Tory MPs, but some left to join LDs, quit politics or run as independents, 3 left to lost candidates from their former parties, 8 Labour MPs formed change
Anna Soubry was the leader
UK (Brexit and anti-semitism), then 3 Tories (supported Remain), BUT Dr Wolleston went to LDs, Ms Allen didn’t stand for re-election, for leader Ms Soubry came a distant third in Brostowe (won by Con), they all failed to be elected so they disbanded the party after having no voice in Parliament
Ms Soubry said ‘a longer-term realignment will have to take place in a different way’ in a statement to members
What are the arguments that Britain is a two-party system?
-stability
-ChangeUK rapidly disbanded, shows difficulty of any third party to win
-1974-2010 saw no effective challenge to legislative/executive dominance of 2 main parties
-pattern of alternating predominance
-coalition did nothing, Con won with a majority again in 2015 GE (but slender), LDs were severely punished
-UKIP was third highest number of popular votes in 2015 at 12.6%, but didn’t translate into parliamentary representation
-actual share of votes for 2 main parties dramatically increased in 2017 GE as Con and Labour took over 82% of popular votes and almost 90% of seats (highest share of vote since 1970 GE), third parties’ vote share decreased
-most voters still see Labour and Conservatives as only viable options
What are the arguments that Britain is not a two-party system?
-2010 GE led to coalition government so questioned stability
-decreased support for 2 major parties since 1970s (vote share)
-insurgent parties like Reform and threats of internal party splits
-Chuka Umunna- since 2019 been in Labour, Change UK and LibDems and 2 stints as an independent
-Conservatives right, Labour left so real opportunities emerged for third parties
-PR voting systems outside GEs, success for SNP, UKIP, Reform
-2017 snap election, lost majority
-local and European elections give electorate a chance
-vote share increased for third parties
-UKIP forced David Cameron to call a referendum
-coalition allowed gay civil partnership from LibDem’s manifesto
What are the 6 core idealogical themes of conservatism?
Pragmatism
Tradition
Human imperfection
Organic society
Paternalism
Libertarianism
REFERENCE THESE IN ANY ESSAY ON PARTY FACTIONS
What is pre-Thatcher One-nation conservatism?
For most of the 20th century the party was conservative in idealogy- rooted in pragmatism, slow change, paternalism, Keynesianism, universal welfare and pro European integration. This was a form of collectivism/paternalistic conservatism which favoured pluralism and social inclusion and held that while authority should be centralised, state should be benevolent. One-nation Tories- mixed economy
What did Thatcher do and what were the Wets and Dries?
late 1970s- early 1980s
The ‘New Right’- movement combined a belief in monetarism (controlling money supply to keep inflation in check), free market economics and deregulation (neo-liberalism), more conservative with social policy, eg. not gay, Reagan and Thatcher were key figures (Thatcherism)
Thatcherites favoured the importance of the individual over the needs of society as a whole, policies of radical change like deregulation in business, privatisation, statutory limits on power of trade unions, smaller state, limited welfarism, increased national sovereignty, anti-unionism
Wets- those unwilling to sign up to Thatcher’s tough agenda (old one-nation Tories), Michael Heseltine Secretary for Transport, Kenneth Clarke- Minister of State in Health
Westland affair- Secretary of state for Defence, public dispute as he wanted to integrate Westland Helicopters with Italian and French companies, Thatcher wanted to merge it with an American one
Dries- those who remained loyal to Thatcherite agenda, John Redwood- from 1983 headed her policy unit, championed privatisation
