Politics: Parties- 2.4 The structure and organisation of the three main UK parties Flashcards
What is the lowest level of the Labour Party organisation?
Local branches are the lowest level of the Labour Party organisation.
What role do local branches of the Labour Party play?
Branches select candidates for local elections and send delegates to the General Committee of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
What is the function of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP)?
The CLP organises the party at constituency level and leads local and national election campaigns.
What is the National Executive Committee (NEC) in the Labour Party?
The NEC is the main national organ of the Labour Party, enforcing party discipline and overseeing policy proposals.
How has the role of the annual conference in the Labour Party changed?
The role of the annual conference has diminished since the 1990s.
How does the structure of the Conservative Party compare to the Labour Party?
The Conservative Party has a similar structure at the local level, with branches corresponding to local council wards.
What is the role of Conservative Associations (CAs)?
CAs organise the party at grassroots level and plan election campaigns.
What is the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ)?
CCHQ is the national party headquarters of the Conservative Party, located at Millbank, Westminster.
How are the Liberal Democrats organised?
The Liberal Democrats are organised along federal lines with separate national parties in England, Scotland, and Wales.
What governs the English Liberal Democrats?
The English Liberal Democrats are governed by the English Council Executive.
What is the Federal Board in the Liberal Democrats?
The Federal Board shapes the strategic direction of the party and oversees federal committees.
How do UK parties sit in the European Parliament?
UK MEPs sit in transnational groups rather than a single UK block.
What is the membership of the Labour Party as of 2016?
The Labour Party had 515,000 members.
What is the membership of the Conservative Party as of 2016?
The Conservative Party had 149,800 members.
What is the membership of the Liberal Democrats as of 2016?
The Liberal Democrats had 76,000 members.
What are all-women shortlists?
A Labour Party initiative requiring a constituency party to create an entirely female shortlist for parliamentary candidates.
What are hustings?
Meetings where election candidates address local voters and party members.
What are open primaries?
A ballot allowing all registered voters to select the candidate for an election.
What are priority lists (A-lists) in the Conservative Party?
Lists of candidates aimed at increasing the number of women and ethnic minority Conservative MPs.
What processes are used to assess internal party democracy?
The way leaders are chosen, candidates selected, and party policy formulated.
How do the main UK parties choose their leaders?
They operate a two-stage system placing responsibility for electing the leader in the hands of grassroots members.
What is the process for choosing parliamentary candidates?
Candidates must be approved, shortlisted by local parties, and then voted on by constituency members.
What is the significance of all-women shortlists in the Labour Party?
They contributed to a significant increase in women MPs at the 1997 general election.
What has changed in how the Conservative Party establishes policy?
Policy was once determined by the leader but now involves more grassroots participation.
How does the Labour Party’s policy-making process work?
It involves a two-year cycle with proposals made by policy commissions and formalised by the National Executive Committee.
What influence does the Liberal Democrats’ leadership have over policy?
The leadership can steer policy through the Federal Policy Committee.
What is a two-party system?
A two-party system is dominated by two major parties that have a roughly equal prospect of winning government power.
What are the three features of a two-party system?
- Only two parties enjoy sufficient electoral and parliamentary strength to win government power. 2. The larger party can rule alone, while the other provides opposition. 3. Power alternates regularly between the two parties.
Does FPTP always lead to a two-party system?
Yes, in the USA and Canada, two parties dominate completely. In the UK, it has sustained a two-party system for many years.
What happened to the two-party system in the UK in 2010 and 2017?
The two-party system broke down, and the Conservatives were forced to make deals with smaller parties (2010: Lib Dems, 2017: DUP).
Does proportional representation always lead to a multi-party system?
Yes, it tends to produce multi-party systems, as seen in Norway and Italy.
How should we define the UK party system?
The classic era of the two-party system was 1945-74, when Labour and Conservatives won 91% of the vote.
What was the share of the vote for the two main parties from 1979-2010?
The share of the vote fell to 73%, but they continued to win 91% of seats.
What was the situation in the UK party system during 2010-15?
There was a coalition, and some referred to it as a ‘two-and-a-half’ party system, with Liberal Democrats scoring 23% of the vote in 2010.
What was the SNP’s performance in Scotland in 2015?
The SNP won in all but three of the 59 seats in Scotland, but they are not contenders for absolute power at Westminster.
What is the Additional Member System (AMS)?
AMS is partly proportional and increases the representation of smaller parties in Scottish and Welsh parliament elections.
What has been the SNP’s governance situation in Scotland?
The SNP has been in power for over a decade, forming a minority government from 2007-2011 and again after May 2016.
What coalition governed Scotland before 2007?
Scotland was governed for 8 years by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition.
What has been the situation in Wales regarding party governance?
Wales has experienced periods of a minority Labour government, Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition, and a Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition.
