UK - Political Parties

Question 1

Conservative party:

Political philosophy:

Answer 1

Conservative party:

• General info:
  
  • Lie on the centre-right of the political spectrum, was formed 181 from the Tory party.
  • Primary philosophies of British unionism (with NI), Euroscepticism, conservatism (of all strands), and free market economics.
  • At the moment, are the biggest party in the HoC (with 359 seats).
  • Election of Cameron to leader in 2005, saw an attempt to modernise the party, through support of gay marriage legislation, more equality, more welfare spending - One Nation Conservatism.
  • Response to the GFC 2008 led them to pursue austerity policies - public spending cuts to reduce the budget deficit, portrayed as necessary rather than ideological choice. Some commentators have said that it masked the desire to return to Thatcherite ideas (however, they still committed to NHS spending and reducing the prison population, so kept away from some Thatcherite ideas).
  • May removed the ‘Notting Hill Boys’ from the party under Cameron (inc Cameron himself, Osborne, Gove, etc), and her leadership was dominated by the question of Brexit, and Brexitiers (Boris, Gove, Davis, etc) - aimed to reduce migration and keep austerity.
• Different strands of conservatism:
• Traditional conservative ideology:
  
  • Paternalism: one nation, protects the vulnerable.
  • Organicism: changing to conserve, human nature is flawed, no utopia possible.
  • Judeo-christian morality, tradition, hierarchy, noblesse oblige, etc
  • Lower taxation, lower public welfare spending.
  • One Nation conservatism:
  • Disraeli (continued by Cameron) - paternalism and an aim for social cohesion, more welfare spending, organicism, tradition.
  • “The palace is not safe when the cottage is unhappy”.
  • Thatcherism:
  • Neoliberal, free market and end of state ownership.
  • Rejection of paternalism and beginning of libertarianism.
  • Conservative social values (law and order), liberal economic policy.
  • “There is no such thing as society” - atomism.
  • Eurosceptics:
  • Don’t like the EU, and want to leave (they succeeded in 2016).

Question 2

Conservative party:

Factions:

Answer 2

Factions of the Tory party:

• Cornerstone:
  
  • Core ideas: Traditional values - Judeo-Christian morals, nationalist, focused on family values. Reactionary - opposed to social reforms such as same-sex marriage and abortion.
  • Members: Edward Leigh, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
• Conservative way forward:
  
  • Thatcherite, Neo-liberal economics - retention of free market through low taxation and deregulation.
  • Opposed to trade union power and welfare provisions.
  • Members: Gerald Howarth, Liam Fox.
• Tory reform group:
  
  • One-Nation conservative, seeking national unity and believing that too much economic inequality is divisive.
  • Members: Ken Clarke (now a Lord).

Question 3

Conservative party:

Current policies:

Answer 3

Current Tory policies:

• The Economy:
  
  • Committed to low taxation, ‘balanced budget’, through cuts and austerity, neo-liberal free market, no income tax/VAT/National Insurance rises.
• Law/order:
  
  • Invest more money into the prison system and widen the role of local police commissioners.
  • Alter the HRA to the BBoR.
  • Introduce the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, Nationalism and Border Act, anti-terror legislation.
  • Enabling more police power, hiring 20,000 police officers.
• Welfare, health and education:
  
  • Replace pensions triple lock (yearly increasing pensions), with a guarantee that increases after 2020.
  • Increase the school budget by £4bn and £8bn extra NHS funding, increase numbers of nurses by 50,000 pensions to rise by 2.5% a year.
  • Cap on welfare benefits and rise in minimum wage. Private sectors should become involved in provisions of NHS and education.
  • Spend £6.3bn on 2.2million disadvantaged homes, continue rollout of universal credit.
  • Create 250,000 extra childcare places.
• Foreign Policy:
  
  • Retain Trident nuclear program, and police force.
  • Spend 0.7% of national income on international aid, meet NATO defence spending target.
  • Leaving the EU.
  • Introducing a points-based immigration system, and now even more radically sending the rejected immigrants to Rwanda.

Question 4

Labour Party:

Political philosophy:

Answer 4

Labour Party:

• General Info:
  
  • Founded in 1900 as a result of the trade union movement and the need for a new political force that represents the working class in Britain’s emerging industrial climate.
  • Had a small start but by 1922 was the 2nd largest party in the HoC (after Tories).
  • 1924 Ramsay MacDonald was the first ever Labour PM.
  • Election of Blair in 1997 moved the party away from ‘Old-Labour’ traditional socialist values, and into New Labour, that was more centrist to appeal to ‘middle-England’. He was elected successfully by the biggest post war margin ever.
• Old Labour:
  
  • Beatrice Webb/Fabian Society and the introduction of Clause 4 (collective ownership).
  • Socialism through governmental reforms within the capitalist framework.
  • Commitment to nationalisation.
  • Tony Benn was a key figure.
• New Labour:
  
  • Tony Blair removes Clause 4 in 1995.
  • Anthony Giddens inspired Blair in 3rd way socialism (neo-liberal economics, progressive social policy, high welfare spending made possible by Neo-lib free-market).
  • Triangulation (the idea of being above the divide of right/left wing, using some ideas of ones opponent - Blair kept much of Major/Thatcher’s economic policy).

Question 5

Labour Party:

Factions:

Answer 5

Factions:

• Momentum:
  
  • Far left wing, seeking wealth redistribution through taxation.
  • Public ownership of key industries and abandonment of the nuclear deterrent.
  • Members: Corbyn, McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey.
• Blairites:
  
  • Centrist, key supporters of New Labour policy and 3rd way socialism.
  • Members: Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn, Stephen Kinnock.
• Blue Labour:
  
  • Focused on working-class issues and employment.
  • Socially conservative, believing in traditional ‘British values’, anti-large scale immigration, pro-free markets, but with some protection of regulation for the working classes.
  • They were founded as a counter to New Labour, campaigning that the Labour Party had moved too far to liberal urban elites, and had lost touch of what the working class base really wanted - (Brexit, no immigration, and democratic socialist economics).
  • Members: Maurice Glassman (founder), Rowena Davis, Frank Field.

Question 6

Labour Party:

Current Policies:

Answer 6

Labour Party current policy:

• The Economy:
  
  • Increasing income tax for the top earners by 5%, stopping corporation tax loopholes.
  • Not to raise income tax for those earning less than £80,000 a year.
  • Abolishing universal credit and tuition fees.
  • Raising minimum wage to £10 an hour, and nationalising key industries (rail, mail, water, electricity, energy). Opposing any NHS privatisation.
  • Stopping charitable status for private schools.
• Law and order:
  
  • Recruit and train more police officers - restore numbers to 2010 levels.
  • End private prisons in the UK.
• Welfare, health and education:
  
  • Keeping the pension triple lock and benefits for pensioners.
  • Strengthening worker’s rights, tackling insecure pay and zero hour contracts. Repealing Thatcher’s trade union act.
  • Scrapping universal credit and reinstating housing benefits for under 21s.
  • Increasing employment and support allowance by £30 per week.
  • £30bn extra NHS funding.
  • Abolish tuition fees and end teacher pay can.
  • Allowing free bus travel for under 25s.
  • Build 100,000 new council homes a year.
  • Introducing a Green New Deal and a Clean Air Act to help climate change.
• Foreign Policy:
  
  • Spending 2% GDP on defence, 0.7% on international aid, give EU nationals the right to remain and defend freedom of movement after Brexit.
  • Increase in immigration and ending immigrant detention camps.
  • Introducing a Prevention of Military Intervention Act (including stopping arms sales to countries that abuse human rights).
• Constitutional:
  
  • Abolish the HoL and replace it with an elected body of people from every UK nation to check the commons.

Policies from the 2019 manifesto: 2nd Brexit referendum, nationalised wifi, free tuition fees.

Question 7

Liberal Democrats:

Political philosophy:

Answer 7

Founded in 1988, after the Liberal party and social democratic party merged - origins traced back to 1859, when the Liberals formed from the Whigs, Peelites and Radicals.

• 1997 had 46 seats in HoC.
• Highest share was in 2005 with 62 seats.
• Coalition government in 2010 with Tories.
• In 2015 they were reduced to just 8 MPs following the election (mainly because voters were unhappy that they abandoned their policies and promises to please the Tories, also they became too right-wing).
• Centre-left party concerned with individual freedom, social justice, and constitutional reform.
• Hasn’t made a comeback since 2015, despite Tim Farron, Jo Swinson and Ed Davey as leaders and a move back to centre-left.
• Currently on 13 seats in the HoC.

Question 8

Liberal Democrats:

Factions:

Answer 8

Factions:

• Orange Book Liberals:
  
  • Traditional liberal values of free markets and minimal state interference.
  • Focus on individual liberties.
  • Members: Ed Davey (current leader).
• Social Liberals:
  
  • Policies concerning social justice, with some wealth redistribution from rich to poor through higher taxation and welfare provision.
  • Members: Tim Farron, Jo Swinson, Layla Moran.

Question 9

Liberal Democrats:

Current Policies:

Answer 9

Current policy:

• The Economy:
  
  • 1 pence income tax raise for the NHS.
  • Tax frequent flyers for environmental protection, freeze train-fares to promote their use.
  • Give 0 hour contract workers a 20% raise.
• Law and order:
  
  • Legalise cannabis.
  • Replace police commissioners and do more to recruit more police from BAME backgrounds.
• Welfare, health, education:
  
  • Free childcare.
  • Recruity 20,000 more teachers.
  • Build 300,000 new homes a year.
  • Reverse cuts to universal credit.
• Foreign Policy:
  
  • Resettle 10,000 refugees a year.
  • Re-join the EU.

Policies of Ed Davey era: Re-join the EU, net 0 emissions by 2040, social care improvement (free childcare) to help the poor, and encourage more women in the workplace.

Impact of the party: Nowadays very little impact. They were important in 2010, but was much more unpopular after compromising to Cameron and raising tuition fees and allowing austerity.

Question 10

Emerging and minor UK parties:

SNP:

Answer 10

Formed in 1934 from the centre-left National Party of Scotland and centre-right Scottish Party.

• Primary philosophies of Scottish nationalism and social-democracy, both supporting and campaigning for Scottish independence.
• It is the 3rd largest party in terms of memberships (92,000).
• 2007 it became the largest party in Holyrood, and in 2011 became Scotland’s first single-party majority government (removed the Lib-Dem/Labour dominance in Scotland).
• Paved the way for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Current Policies Include:

• Hold a second independence referendum.
• Invest £118bn in UK public services.
• Scotland to have control over immigration and to remain in the EU single market after Brexit.
• Additional NHS spending across the UK.
• Increase the minimum wage to over £10 an hour.
• Lift the freeze on benefits and abolish the 2-child cap and the ‘Rape clause’.
• Protect triple lock on pensions, protect the winter fuel allowance and support fair pensions for women.
• No increase in taxation on the low paid, National insurance or VAT.
• Support a UK-wide increase in the highest taxation rate from 45% to 50%.

Significance:

• Significance has taken away large areas of Labour and Lib Dem support in Scotland, making it much harder for Labour to win an overall majority in a UK election.
• Large influence over getting the referendum for Scotland (and possibly another).

Question 11

Emerging and minor UK parties:

UKIP:

Answer 11

Founded in 1993 by members of the anti-federalist league.

• Their main objective was to secure Brexit.
• They first made a breakthrough in the local elections of 2013 and came 3rd in nationwide share of votes, and 4th in number of council seats.
• Right-wing, Eurosceptic and populist.
• 2014 European elections - received the most votes and seats from the UK.
• Gained their first MP in 2014 (Douglas Carswell).
• Gained 12.6% of the vote in 2015, but only 1 seat.
• Argued that UKIP and Farage were the catalysts for the 2016 EU referendum.

Current policies:

• Get Brexit done.
• Cut the net migration levels to 0 within 5 years.
• Unskilled and low-skilled labour immigration banned for 5 years, and skilled workers would all need visas.
• Slash foreign aid budget and spend it on the NHS.
• Ban Sharia courts and wearing of face coverings in public places.

Significance:

• Recent decline in popularity and move towards fascism (the EDL, BNP, etc) with the appointment of EDL founder and BNP member as main political advisor to Gerard Batten (leader between 2018 and 2019).
• The exit of Farage declined their popularity hugely (loss of well known populist figure).
• It has had a significance on politics in the past, through its support from Eurosceptic conservative voters, voting for them, and also Blue Labour voters concerned about immigration and Brexit in 2019.

Question 12

Emerging and minor UK parties:

Green Party:

Answer 12

Founded in 1990 after the former Green Party split into 3 parties.

• Although often been seen as a single issue environmentalist party, it supports PR voting, progressive social policies, and communitarian economic policies.
• Caroline Lucas is the only MP in Brighton.

Current policies:

• Hold a referendum to rejoin the either the customs union, or the EU fully.
• Pass environment protection acts to safeguard and restore the environment.
• Provide more money for public services.
• Move towards a four-day working week and ‘universal basic income’.
• Scrap tuition fees and fund full student grants.

Significance:

• Increased membership and share of votes in recent years.
• Still way short of significant electoral success.
• Labour co-opting their policies, and negating their influence.

Question 13

Emerging and minor UK parties:

Plaid Cymru:

Answer 13

Formed in 1925 in order to attempt to establish a Welsh government and parliament.

• Primary aim was to make the welsh language the only official language of Wales.
• Advocates for an independent Wales within the EU.

Current policies:

• Negotiate a new Brexit deal that puts Wales first.
• Demand all future free trade deals be endorsed by the welsh assembly (more devolved power).
• Guarantee rights of all Europeans currently living and working in Wales.

Question 14

Parties in context:

Development of a multi-party system and its implications for govt:

Answer 14

Key terms:

• *Party system**: describes the features of a political system in relation to the parties that operate within it.
• *Dominant party system**: democratic system but only 1 party has realistic chance of taking power.
• *Two-party system**: only 2 parties have a realistic chance of forming a govt.
• *Two-and-a-half party system**: there are 2 main parties that contest elections but also a sizeable 3rd party - this party is holding the balance of power between the 2 main parties.
• *Multi-party system**: several parties competing for votes and power - more than 2 have a realistic chance of being the party of the govt - mostly coalitions.
• FPTP means that Westminster is mainly a 2 party system. But it can be a 2½ system, as it was when the Lib Dems were more popular (1990s/2000s), or in 2010 with the coalition, or in 2017 with the DUP.
• AMS in Scotland and Wales means a dominant party system (Labour in Wales and SNP in Scotland).
• STV in NI means multi-party system.
• AV means 2 party system.

Question 15

Parties in context:

Various factors that affect party success:

Answer 15

Factors:

• Leadership:
  
  • Crucial - voters respond to the quality of the leader and really vote for the leader, not their MP.
  • Voters like experience, decisiveness, media image, honesty, intelligence.
  • Leaders can damage their parties (Miliband, Clegg, May).
  • Leaders can enhance their parties (Thatcher, Blair).
  • In smaller parties, leadership became important in 2015 with Farage (media man) and Sturgeon (high public approval). The strong and popular leaders were enhancing the small parties’ positions and status.
  • Leaders don’t win or lose elections, but party fortunes are influenced by the performance and image of their leaders.
• Unity:
  
  • Disunited parties have little hope of being elected.
  • 1980s Tories were united around Thatcher while Labour was split between Old and New Labour, which led to two major victories for Thatcher (1983, 1987).
  • 1997 Blair united the Labour Party leading to the biggest post war win (418 seats), compared to Major’s conservatives split over the EU.
  • 2015 united Tories dominated the disunited Labour. But, in 2017 Labour succeeded in uniting around a radical manifesto with Corbyn, which resulted in a dramatic improvement in fortunes.
  • United parties will always have huge advantages over broken parties.
• Influence of the media:
  
  • COVERED IN THE MEDIA AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR TOPIC