political parties Flashcards
main functions of parties
- representation
- participation
- recruitment/training of politicians
- making policies
- governing
- informing voters
short money
- allocated to opposition parties
- based on number of seats they have
general funding:
£21,000 for every seat won at last election
cranborne money
- subsidises the work of scrutiny carried out by opposition parties in the HoL
donations
- parties must declare large scale donations (over £5000) to the Electoral Commission
- must not accept donations from non UK citizens
- in 2024, parties accepted a total of £55.5m in donations
funding issues
- Trade Union Act 2016 meant that union members now must opt in if they wish their membership fee to go to the Labour party
- TUs donated £3m in 2019, and only £500,000 in 2024.
- Political parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000 means the amount a party can spend in a constituency is limited to £30,000
conservatism and its strands
- hierarchy of power and respect for traditional values
3 strands: - Traditional: Truss - “trickle down” economics, reduce in taxes for businesses
- One-Nation: Cameron - introduction of Universal Credit which simplified the benefit system
- The New Right: Thatcher - tough stance on law and order, individuals must be free from state interference.
old labour and its 3 strands + its death
- 3 strands of socialism:
revolutionary socialism
social democracy
third way - traditional left wing beliefs: disapproval of nuclear weapons, nationalisation, redistribution of wealth
death of old labour: 1983 election, Labours vote collapsed to 27% giving a landslide to Thatcher.
Foote’s manifesto was named “the longest suicide note in history”
new labour + how it was created
creation of new labour: dropped Clause IV in 1995 (nationalisation) allowing them to pursue free market policies, removed socialism
The Third Way - Blair, embraces free market capitalism, triangulation, meritocracy, reduced welfare state support
liberal democrats and the 2 strands
- first appeared in 1988 when Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party joined together
- 2 strands of liberalism
classical liberalism - individualism, gov not intervening in peoples lives
modern liberalism - gov can intervene if it helps people reach their potential
Cleggs downfall in the coalition was due to increasing tuition fees after stating in his manifesto that he would abolish them.
(he had to do a public apology)
modern policies of liberal democrats
- 16 year olds vote
- proportional representation
- recognise non-binary identities
- net zero by 2045
- increase public spending
reform UK
2024:
vote share - 14%
seat share - 1%
reform came 2nd place in 98 constituencies
Brexit party
- created to make Brexit happen
- used Brexit bus
- had 0 seats but still major influence
they were a successful minor party because:
referendum 2016 results: leave 51.9% remain 48.1%
DUP party
- after 2017 snap election, the Conservatives had 317 seats - 326 needed for a majority.
- the 10 DUP seats gave the Conservatives 327 seats
