Political Parties - Function/ Structure/ Funding

Question 1

Which positions make up the executive of the party and what do they do?

Answer 1

• party leader (most powerful member and the spokesperson)
• party secretary (maintains daily work and the records of party meetings)
• party treasurer (collects membership dues and seeks donations to the party)
• party chair (recruits and retains party members and chairs party meetings)

Question 2

Is Labour organised ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’?

Answer 2

Bottom up

Question 3

What is the lowest level of the Labour Party organisation and what does it do?

Answer 3

The local branch, new members are assigned to their local branch. Also it selects candidates to represent the party in local elections and send delegates to the General Committee of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP)

Question 4

What does the CLP do?

Answer 4

Organises the party at the constituency level, takes the lead in local and national election campaigns and plays a role in selecting parliamentary candidates. It’s role has been diminished by the ‘one member one vote’

Question 5

What does the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party do?

Answer 5

Ensures the smooth running of the party, oversees policy proposal preparation, has the final say on parliamentary candidates, and enforces party discipline

Question 6

What was once the role of the Labour Party’s annual conference which diminished in the 1990s?

Answer 6

The annual conference was the sovereign policy making body

Question 7

What does the hierarchy of the Conservative Party structure look like?

Answer 7

• The main board
• The National Convention
• Regions
• Constituency associations
• Local branches

Question 8

Evidence of political parties still having a function in politics

Answer 8

• parties still recruit people to be local councillors and parliamentary candidates
• only 6 independent MPs were elected in 2024
• parties ensure leaders have democratic links with local party members

Question 9

Evidence of political parties not having a function in politics

Answer 9

• people are more interested in single issues and pressure groups
• parties recruit candidates from a narrow elite (researchers for MPs or think tanks) instead of the local levels
• parties don’t need to communicate to the public anymore with media and the internet doing it for them

Question 10

What roles do political parties play?

Answer 10

• they represent the views of people with a certain set of common beliefs
• they encourage political participation through voting, joining parties and supporting them through funding and spreading the message
• they recruit future politicians and leaders
• they formulate policy and communicate their ideas to the public
• they provide governments and run the country if successful

Question 11

What are 5 ways which parties are funded?

Answer 11

• membership subscriptions
• trade unions (Labour party)
• local constituency fundraising
• public funding
• donations

Question 12

What has harmed Labour Party funding from trade unions?

Answer 12

The 2016 Trade Union Act as it meant that new trade union members can choose if they want to pay the political levy rather than automatically paying it

Question 13

What is local constituency fundraising?

Answer 13

These are events such as raffles or dinners that raise fund to be used on local campaigns e.g. in 2021 Labour received £200,000 from this

Question 14

What is the main source of public funding?

Answer 14

Short money, this is available to opposition parties who have won either 2 seats or one seat with more than 150,000 votes. Used to help opposition to carry out parliamentary business such as policy research and pay researchers and advisors

Question 15

Apart from Short money, what other forms of public funding are there?

Answer 15

• Cranbourne money, supports opposition in the House of Lords
• funding for the office of the leader of the opposition
• policy development grants that the government also receive

Question 16

How much money did Labour receive from public funding in 2021?

Answer 16

£7 million which was 15% if their income. 75% of this from Short money

Question 17

Where do the Conservatives receive the majority of their funds from?

Answer 17

Donations, for example in 2021 donations were 65% of their overall funding

Question 18

What did the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 do?

Answer 18

Formed the independent Electoral Commission to supervise election campaign spending. Donations from individuals and businesses not on the UK electoral roll were banned (foreign firms and individuals). Donations over a certain amount have to be reported.

Question 19

What was the Cash for Peerages scandal?

Answer 19

In 2006-07 there were possible links between those that loaned significant amounts to Labour and then nominated by the PM to the House of Lords. The House of Lords Appointment Commission rejected these and it couldn’t be proven

Question 20

Arguments for state funding

Answer 20

• parties deserve effective funding as they are key to representing the public and upholding democracy
• state funding would remove the disparity in resources between the main parties and minor parties, enhancing pluralism
• parties could focus more on representing the public and governing rather than raising money
• curb the possibility of corruption

Question 21

Arguments against state funding

Answer 21

• limited funding ensures parties are independent from the state (the party currently in power)
• can isolate the party from the wishes of the public and their members as they don’t have to seek financial support
• costs the state a significant amount per year and taxpayers don’t want to fund parties they don’t support
• funding linked to past performance would only uphold the power of existing parties not further pluralism