UK- Political parties

Question 1

Functions of parties

4

Answer 1

• Representation, parties represent the ideology and views of their members
• Participation, parties provide opportunities for people to participate in politics
• Recruitment, parties recruit and select candidates for elections
• Policy, parties develop policies and offer these to the electorate in their manifestos
• Government, parties provide voter with a clear choice of different governments

Question 2

Political Parties

Explain and analyse the structure of three parties

Answer 2

intro: political parties are groups of like-minded politicians who campaign and compete to win elections. in the uk they are structured similarily but have different organisations within

1-Conservatives - Local Conservative associations play a key role in planning local campaigns and sometimes selecting candidates. The CCHQ handles national, Day-to-day running of the party. 1922 committee is made up of all backbencher mps meet once a week to facilitate cooperation within the party.

2-Labour - Local: Constituency Labour Party handles local campaigns. national: NEC enforces discipline, day to day operations. also have 14 afiliated trade unions e.g. GMB and UNISON, organised by the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison

3-Lib Dems - Local: Local branches which run campaigning in local elections and grassroots operations eg canvasing
national : The Federal Board , organisaed along state lines
can have specified associated organisations- members can join groups with particular identity eg minority lib dems

Question 3

Conservative Party appointment of leaders

Answer 3

• MPs will vote on leadership candidates, when the get whittled down to the final two candidates, the votes are open to the rest of the party
• Every single member of the party will vote on the final two candidates, ‘one member, one vote’ system
• Conservative MPs have significant power as they vote the last two candidates into their place, meaning that MPs running for leadership can be the most popular candidates

Question 4

Conservative Party creation of policy

Answer 4

• Simple process, done in a top down manner
• This means the leaders of the party have 100% control over what will constitute official party policy
• Local level campaigns can influence national level policy, what the people want to see, but the Party has no obligation to

Question 5

Labour Party appointment of leaders

Answer 5

• First stage, the Parliamentary Labour Party make nominations for potential candidates, candidates need 10% to get past this stage
• Candidates need support of 5% of the local parties or support from 5% of trade union affiliates
• After this stage, the rest of the registered members vote on the next leader using the AV voting system

Question 6

Labour Party creation of policy

Answer 6

• More democratic than the Conservative method of policy creation
• Representatives from all across the party forms the National Policy Forum, which agrees on the direction of policy and arranges policy commissions to draft and establish policy
• Labour leader can use personal authority and popularity to win support for certain measures
• Policy is then voted on at the national party conference

Question 7

Lib Dems appointment of leaders

Answer 7

• Candidates must be a MP and need support of 10% of MPs with backing from at least 20 of the local parties as well as 200 members
• The timetable for the leadership election is set by the Federal Board
• AV system is used until a candidate has more than 50% of the votes
• 2020 leadership election saw just under 120,000 ballots being cast, a significant number for a party with diminishing support

Question 8

Lib Dems creation of policy

Answer 8

• Established by the Federal Policy Committee, which is responsible for researching and developing policy and overseeing the Federal Party’s policy making process
• FPC produces policy papers for debate at conference and this will lead to the drawing up of the Federal election manifestos for Westminster

Question 9

Party funding - sources

5

Answer 9

• Membership fees, income has reduced as membership numbers have fallen since the 1980s
• Small individual donations, fall in membership numbers has also resulted in fewer small donations
• Large donations from wealthy donors, largest source of income for established parties e.g. Blair accepted £1 million to keep tobacco advertising in F1
• Trade unions (Labour), donations from unions are worth millions to Labour
• State funding, designed to counter the financial advantage enjoyed by the party of government or parties with large funds

Question 10

Reforms to party funding

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000

Answer 10

+ Spending limit on party spending in general election campaigns (£30,000 per constituency)
+ Donations over £7500 must be declared to the Electoral Commission

Question 11

Reforms to party funding

Political Parties and Elections Act (PPEA) 2009

Answer 11

+ Allowed the Electoral Commission to investigate
cases and impose fines
+ Increased the requirements for establishing the
source of political donations

Question 12

Should political parties be state funded?

YES

3

Answer 12

• If parties are not funded by taxpayers, they will be funded by wealthy individuals and interest groups
• State funding would allow politicians to focus on representing their constituents rather than courting potential donors
• Parties such as the Lib Dems could compete equally with the ‘big two’ as it would be based entirely on membership or electoral performance

Question 13

Should political parties be state funded?

NO

3

Answer 13

• Taxpayers should not be expected to bankroll parties that they oppose
• Politicians could become isolated from real-world issues if they are denied access from interest groups
• Parties will always have unequal resources, even if state funding is introduced - not least because their will be differences in membership levels, and human and material resources

Question 14

Have recent years witnessed the ‘end of ideology’?

YES

3

Answer 14

• The three main parties are all essentially social democratic in nature, they are concerned with making piecemeal changes to the current arrangements as opposed to imposing an ideological model
• The ideological wings of each of the three main parties have been marginalised
• There are significant overlaps in the policies of the three main parties e.g. NHS spending or defence

Question 15

Have recent years witnessed the ‘end of ideology’?

NO

3

Answer 15

• The three main UK parties still have distinct ideological traditions and a committed core support that strongly identifies with such traditions
• Ideological dividing lines became more apparent in the wake of the global financial crisis
• The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015 offered the prospect of a return to a style of ideological polarised politics not seen since the early 1980s

Question 16

origins, ideas and development of the conservative party

Answer 16

• origins - 1834, traditionally the party of the wealthy and the landed interest, disraelis idea of one nation conservatism to benefit all areas of society and attract suport from the working classes
• ideas - pre 1979 one nation conservatism dominated, Thatcherism - included a monetarist economic policy, deregulation of business and finance, privatisation of industry and restriction of trade union powers. Neo-liberal - A liberal ideology that promotes free-market capitalism.‘Compassionate conservatism’ was adopted by David Cameron: it combined Thatcherite free-market economic policies with more liberal social values and concern for society and the environment. However, austerity and cuts to public spending defined his government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis.
• development - Post-war consensus - The acceptance by both of the main political parties that Britain should retain the post-war settlement (the nationalised industries and generous welfare state first introduced by the 1945 Labour government) - removed by thatcher - There have been many battles between Eurosceptics and Europhiles: even after the 2016 Brexit vote, the party was divided between Brexiteers and Remainers until Boris Johnson won a majority in 2019.

Question 17

origins of the labour party

Answer 17

• The Labour representation Committee was formed in 1900 and became the Labour Party in 1906.
• included trade unions and left- wing political groups. Labour rejected revolutionary socialism, focusing instead on social democracy. 1918 constitution committed Labour to socialism.
• Labour formed its first government in 1929 but did not win a majority until 1945 when the Labour government created the NHS and the welfare state, and nationalised many industries.

Question 18

ideas of the labour party

3

Answer 18

• Social democracy is the democratic version of socialism. Socialists win power within a democratic system, and introduce changes such as nationalisation, high taxation and a welfare state.
• Clause IV is part of the 1918 constitution; it committed Labour to the ‘common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange’, meaning widespread nationalisation.
• Corbynism(2015-20) was described as a return to old labour. It advocated the renationalisation of the railways and utilities, reversing austerity and increasing taxes on business to pay for the welfare state.

Question 19

development of the labour party

4

Answer 19

• Labour moved to the left after its 1979 defeat by Thatcher.
• 1994 Tony Blair became leader and recognised the economic successes of Thatcherism. With his ally Gordon Brown he launched New Labour, which adopted the Third Way .
• 1995 Blair rewrote Clause IV removing references to socialist economic policy. This reassured middle-class potential voters.
• 1997 Labour won a landslde victory. It implemented devolution, the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the freedom of information act 2000, the introduction of a national minimum wage and increased public spending.

Question 20

Third Way

Answer 20

• an ideological compromise developed by New Labour - combined centre-right economic policy with centre-left social policy
• emphasis on triangulation (making Labour more central by accepting some Thatcher economic policies while retaining Labour’s social values)
• less emphais on who owned industry and far more on how profits could be put to good use

Question 21

Liberal Democrats origins

4

Answer 21

• formed from two different parties: the Liberal Party and the SDP
• Liberal Party was once one of the two main parties but lost position to Labor after WW1
• SDP formed in 1981 after the Gang of Four left Labour in protest of its increasingly left wing policies
• 1988 the parties formally merged

Question 22

ideas of the liberal democrat party

Answer 22

• Liberalism - ideology based on freedom (both individual freedom and free trade). social liberalism is focused on a more liberal form of social democracy (keen to dismantle Thatcher’s econmic policies and to redistribute wealth vis higher taxation on the wealthy) .
• electoral reform a key priority - eg proposed idea of making the house of lords an elected chamber

Question 23

Development of the Lib dems

Answer 23

• 2010-2015 coalition govt but was limited in influence by Cameron’s spatial leadership style (agreed to raise uni fees as part of coalition agreement which was not part of the signature pledge so seen to be betraying students)
• coalition meant they became associated with economic austerity and reduced public spending which alienated many of their left-wing voters and erased the LibDems unique identity (not diff form Tories?)
• disastrous election in 2015 (only 8 seats, 44 less than in 2010)
• 2024 unedr sir Ed davey appealled to many of the liberal coservative voters and won 65 seats

Question 24

political parties

Explain and Analyse three ways in which ordinary people can play a role in one of the main UK political parties

Answer 24

intro: A party is a political organization whose members have similar aims and beliefs.

1-Electing leader. by becoming a member of a party a person can have a direct influence on a leader.eg All members in the labour party can directly elect their leader
2-Funding. party members pay a subscription to party , or trade union members for labour . Labour, 46% of funding came from trade unions.
3-Influencing policy. can use website to take Join discussions with politicians and representatives from across the Labour Party, share ideas . Labour’s stance on lgbt was guided by the national policy forum

Question 25

political parties

Explain and analyse three factors that can explain why some parties do better than others

Answer 25

intro: A party is a political organization whose members have similar aims and beliefs.

1-Policy being in tune with public opinion. eg. valence issues such as Brexit, immigration, welfare and the NHS. “Get Brexit Done” eg bojo
2-Strong leadership and Campaigning. 2017 May too robotic, led to the need for a coalition with DUP . compared to bojo who wasa powerful character won a landslide in 2019 with ‘get brexit done’
3-The voting system. FPTP means only labour and conservatives have a real chance. 2019 Conservatives won 43% of the vote but 56% of the seats. Greens won 2% of vote but 1 seat

ALSO
- funding
- the media
- election campaigns

Question 26

relationship with the media

4

Answer 26

+ Newspapers may affect how party leaders are perceived. In 2019, The Sun described Jeremy Corbyn (Labour leader 2015-20) as ‘the most dangerous man ever to stand for high office in Britain’.
+ Some party leaders have worked to develop good relationships with media bosses. Tony Blair convinced media mogul Rupert Murdoch to switch The Sun newspaper’s support to Labour, which one study suggested won Labour an extra half a million votes.
+ The Daily Mail and The Telegraph are consistent Conservative supporters, whereas The Mirror always favours Labour and the Guardian generally does.
+ Social media is increasingly important, and allows parties to target voters by age, gender and other attributes. Labour spent £1.4 million on social media in the 2019 general election, the Conservatives £900,000.

Question 27

Does the UK now have a multiparty system?

YES

3

Answer 27

• In the 2015 general election, 13.5% of UK voters backed parties other than the ‘big two’ and Lib Dims
• In some parts of the UK, such as Scotland, there is genuine multiparty competition for elected office
• Although parties such as UKIP, the Green Party, and BNP have struggled to secure parliamentary representation at Westminster, they have achieved success in second-order elections

Question 28

Does the UK now have a multiparty system?

NO

3

Answer 28

• The Labour and Conservative Parties are the only parties that have a realistic chance of forming a government or being the senior partner in a coalition at Westminster
• Even in 2015, Labour and the Conservatives secured 67.2% of the popular vote, winning 86.5% of the 650 seats
• Of the parties that contested seats across mainland Britain in 2015, the Lib Dems (in third place) finished with 22.5% of the vote and 224 seats behind Labour