UK Political Parties Flashcards
What are the origins of the Conservative Party?
- Dates back to 1834
- Traditionally the party represented the wealthy. Benjamin Disraeli (leader 1868-81) developed one-nation conservatism to attract support from the first working-class voters
- Once universal suffrage was introduced in Britain in 1928, the party further reinvented itself with policies that appealed to an even broader range of supporters
- Dominated UK politics in the twentieth century, with 67 years in office
What are the ideas of the Conservative Party?
- One-nation conservatism dominated before 1979
- Thatcherism - much more radical, neo-liberal version of conservatism, maintained traditional conservative social values
- ‘Compassionate conservatism’ adopted by David Cameron - combined Thatcherite free-market economic policies with more liberal social values and concern for society and the environment
- many battles between Eurosceptics and Europhiles, the party was divided between Brexiteers and Remainers until Johnson won a majority in 2019
➢ Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ agenda aimed to reduce economic inequalities across the UK through investment/increasing skills through apprenticeships - seen as a form of one-nation conservatism - Traditional conservative values were evident in the Johnson government’s so-called ‘war on woke’. For example, Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed taking the knee against racism as ‘gesture politics’
What is the development of the Conservative Party?
➢ Thatcher (leader 1975-90) was impatient with her party’s tolerance of high taxation, powerful and disruptive unions, and economic stagnation, moved the UK sharply to the right when she became prime minister in 1979, adopted a confident foreign policy: protecting one of the UK’s overseas territories in the 1982 Falklands War, playing a leading role alongside Ronald Reagan in Cold War diplomacy and winning a financial rebate from the European Community (which later became the EU)
➢ David Cameron aimed to detoxify its image when he became leader in 2005, won the most seats in 2010 and formed a coalition with the Liberal
Democrats whose support allowed Cameron to legalise same-sex marriage in 2013, (which most of his own MPs opposed), but the coalition was defined by its controversial austerity policies
➢ Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership backfired for him: he failed to convince the public to remain, and resigned
➢ Theresa May’s 2017 manifesto supported grammar schools, bringing back fox hunting and the removal of universal free school lunches for 4- to 7-year-olds, suggesting a move away from Cameron’s modern conservatism, her party was consumed by Brexit divisions.
➢ Johnson’s 2019 election victory was a victory for Leavers within the party. His populist promises included more nurses and police officers, an Australian-style points system to tackle immigration, and a commitment not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance, 2020 coronavirus pandemic forced Johnson to overturn decades of Conservative policy and
dramatically expand the role of the state
➢ Johnson’s government introduced the greatest peacetime restrictions on individual liberty, including three national lockdowns and heavy fines for refusal to self-isolate. This was strongly opposed by some libertarians within the Conservative Party, though most Conservative MPs accepted the need to protect public health at the temporary expense of individual freedom
What is One-nation conservatism?
- focused on the duty of those with power and privilege to use this wisely, and to unite the nation by way of moderate social reforms and patriotism
- more pronounced in many of Boris Johnson’s victory speeches, December 2019 he mentioned ‘members of our new one-nation government, a people’s government’, stance embraced the state protecting the vulnerable through public services, without penalising the rich with high income tax rates and redistribute wealth
What is Butskellite pragmatism and consensus?
- In the wake of the 1945 Labour landslide and the establishment of the Welfare State, including the NHS, the Conservative Party shifted further to the centre and accepted the bulk of Labour’s social reforms.
- Throughout 1950s and into the 1960s, there were large areas of consensus in many key policy areas between the two parties
- This ‘Butskellite’ conservatism was also pro-European and the Conservatives were keen to join what was then the EEC
What are traditional values?
- not associated with a single politician or leader, but it does perhaps reflect the party’s ongoing insistence on supporting the traditional nuclear family and the institution of marriage, while maintaining a firm line on immigration policy
- policy measures reflecting traditional values include the passing of Section 28 in 1988, which banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools, and Theresa May’s promise as home secretary to create a ‘hostile environment for illegal immigrants
- it can also be seen in the opposition of some Conservative MPs to Sunday trading and its extension — a Tory backbench revolt in 2016 derailed attempts to relax the Sunday trading hours
- in its more controversial form, critics have implicated this type of conservatism as embracing elements of racism, for example in Enoch Powell’s 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech
What is Thatcherism?
- Margaret Thatcher’s distinctive brand of conservatism
- The aim was to ‘roll back the frontiers of the state’, de-nationalise most government-owned industries and encourage council tenants to buy their own homes. This was to be accompanied by lower taxes, especially on income
- The prolonged and bitter 1984-85 miners’ strike saw Thatcher’s government break the power of one of the country’s most formidable unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
- She also embraced a more confident, assertive foreign policy,
overseeing the Falklands victory in 1982 and working closely with other famous Cold War warrior, US president Ronald Reagan
Example of Buskellite consensus
Extra funding for the NHS, with 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP surgery appointments a year (2019 policy pledge)
Example of traditional values conservatism
20,000 additional police officers and tougher sentencing for criminals, An Australian-style points-based system to control immigration. Keeping the voting age at 18 (2019 policy pledge)
Example of Thatcherism
A promise not to raise the rate of income tax, VAT or National
Insurance. Everyone who can work, should work, continue the rollout of Universal Credit, and crack down on benefit fraud (2019 policy pledge)
Example of one-nation conservatism
Maintain the triple-lock on pensions (2019 policy pledge)
What’re the origins of the Labour Party?
➢ The Labour Representation Committee was formed in 1900 and became the Labour Party in
1906
➢ It included trade unions and left-wing political groups
➢ The aim was to represent the working class in parliament
➢ Labour rejected revolutionary socialism, focusing instead on social democracy
➢ The party’s 1918 constitution committed Labour to socialism in particular by adopting Clause IV;
the aspiration to abolish capitalism
➢ Labour formed its first government in 1929 but did not win a majority until 1945
➢ The 1945 Labour government created the NHS and the welfare state, and nationalised many
industries. These reforms formed the basis of the post-war consensus
What’re the ideas of the Labour Party?
➢ Socialism is an ideology aiming for equality between people through common ownership of the
means of production (public ownership of factories and industries) and redistribution of wealth from rich to poor
➢ Social democracy is the democratic version of socialism. Socialists win power within a
democratic (usually capitalist) 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.
➢ The ‘Third Way’ was an ideological compromise developed by New Labour. It balanced centre-right economic policy and centre-left social policy
➢ Corbynism (2015-20) was described by many 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.
➢ Divisions existed within the Labour movement over Brexit. Most MPs were Europhiles,
supporting internationalism and EU protections on workers’ rights. A small minority campaigned
for Leave, arguing that freedom of movement of EU citizens undermined the wages and public
services of UK workers
➢ Keir Starmer has emphasised the ‘moral case for socialism’, aiming to make it relevant to the 2020s and ‘30s by focusing on economic justice, social justice and climate justice
What has the development of the Labour Party looked like?
➢ Labour moved to the left after its 1979 defeat by Thatcher. It struggled electorally
➢ In 1994 Tony Blair became leader, he recognised the economic successes of Thatcherism and aimed to triangulate Labour’s policies. With his ally Gordon Brown, he launched New Labour, which adopted the Third Way
➢ In 1995 Blair rewrote Clause IV, removing references to socialist economic policy. This reassured middle-class potential voters
➢ In 1997 Labour won a landslide 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
➢ Blair’s reputation never recovered from his decision to commit Britain to the war in Iraq in 2003
➢ When Blair stood down in 2007, Gordon Brown served as prime minister until his defeat in the 2010
election. Brown had nurtured Labour’s economic reputation as chancellor of the exchequer, but this was weakened by the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis
➢ New leader Ed Miliband moved the party slightly to the left and was vilified by right-wing newspapers.
The party was defeated again in the 2015 election
➢ Blairites called for a return to centrist policies, but the party elected Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2015 who represented a dramatic break with New Labour: he was the most rebellious backbencher during
Blair’s government and was backed by the grassroots movement Momentum
➢ Corbyn was criticised by right-wing newspapers for being a radical socialist. Labour’s share of the vote
increased in 2017, but nose-dived in 2019, forcing Corbyn to resign as leader
➢ Keir Starmer became leader in 2020 and aimed to make Labour electable by tackling anti-Semitism within the party and improving Labour’s appeal to working-class voters. His first year in office was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, so he produced few policies but instead focused on providing a responsible opposition to the government’s management of the crisis. He tried to show the public that he was analysing the government’s policies on their merits, rather than their ideology
Example of Blairite policies in the 2019 pledge
• Hold a second referendum on Brexit following a renegotiation of a new Brexit deal within 3 months. The choice would be the renegotiated deal or Remain
and be held within 6 months
• Raise the minimum wage from £8.21 to £10 an hour
Examples of economic sociatism in 2019 pledge
Increase the health budget by 4.3% and cut private provision in the NHS
Example of globalist internationalism in 2019 pledge
Bring forward the net-zero target on carbon emissions, emphasis on caring for the planet is arguably a modern version of international
cooperation and all nations working together for a better future
Example of trade unionism in 2019 pledge
• Remove unfair and unnecessary restrictions on trade unions, allowing people to come together and speak up on issues that affect them at work
• Strengthen and enforce trade unions right of entry to workplaces to organise, meet and represent their members and to recruit
• Strengthen protection trade
union & representatives against unfair dismissal and union members from intimidation and blacklisting
• Repeal anti-trade union legislation including the Trade Union Act 2016
What are the origins of the Liberal Democrat’s?
➢ Formed from two different parties: the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
➢ The Liberal Party was once one of the two main parties in UK politics but, after the First World War, it was pushed into third place by the Labour Party
➢ The SDP was formed in 1981, when four leading Labour politicians (the ‘gang of four’) left Labour
in protest at its increasingly left-wing policies
➢ In 1981, the SDP formed an electoral pact with the Liberal Party, known as ‘The Alliance’, in 1988, the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrats
What’re the ideas of the Liberal Democrats?
• liberalism is an ideology based on freedom. This includes individual freedom and free trade
➢ Social democracy is the democratic version of socialism. Socialists win power within a
democratic (usually capitalist) system, and introduce changes such as nationalisation, high
taxation and a welfare state
➢ Social liberalism is focused on a liberal form of social democracy. Social liberals are keen to
dismantle Thatcher’s economic policies and to redistribute wealth via higher taxation on the
wealthy. Many were once members of the SDP and the Labour Party prior to that.
➢ ‘Orange Book’ liberalism is so-called because of a book written by prominent liberals, The Orange
Book: Reclaiming Liberalism. Unlike social liberals, these thinkers accepted the free market and
did not significantly challenge Thatcherite economic policies.
➢ Electoral reform is a top priority for Liberal Democrats. The Alliance famously won 26% of the
vote in 1983 but only 23 seats in the House of Commons. The party argues for a proportional
electoral system.
➢ Liberal Democrats consistently supported the EU
What’s the development of the Liberal Democrats?
• The Liberal Democrats won 46 seats in 1997 with leader Paddy Ashdown
➢ Charles Kennedy oversaw the party’s best result of 62 seats in 2005. This was partly a result of the party’s opposition to the Iraq War
➢ Nick Clegg became leader in 2007. He gave the Liberal Democrats their first experience of government — a coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives after the 2010 election produced a hung parliament. The two men were ideally placed to form a coalition as both were towards the centre of the political spectrum: Clegg was towards the right of his party and Cameron was towards the left of his.
➢ As part of the coalition agreement, the Liberal Democrats agreed to increase university tuition fees. Their signature pledge had been not to raise fees, so they were seen as having broken a promise and abandoned students, who were some of their core voters
➢ The coalition introduced economic austerity and reduced public spending, which alienated many of the Liberal Democrats’ more left-wing supporters.
• The coalition erased the Liberal Democrats’ unique
identity: many voters were left wondering what the difference was between them and the Conservatives.
➢ 2015 was a disastrous election for the Liberal Democrats: their numbers were cut to just eight MPs. Nick Clegg resigned as leader.
➢ The Liberal Democrats campaigned hard for Remain during the 2016 EU referendum but were
unsuccessful. They hoped to attract angry Remainers in the 2017 election but won only 14 seats. Party
leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in 2019 after promising to cancel Brexit without a second referendum if she won a majority.
➢ Post-Brexit, the Liberal Democrats’ challenge is to articulate new ideas that will distinguish them from other parties. Ed Davey was elected leader in 2021 and said that the economy was his top priority,
including green jobs and a Universal Basic Income
Where can the LD’s value of Europe be seen in their 2019 policy pledge?
To stop the Brexit process completely, and not pursue a renegotiated Brexit deal or a second
referendum
Where can the LD value of civil liberties be seen in their 2019 policy pledge?
To defend the Human Rights Act 1998, resist any attempt to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and oppose any laws
that unnecessarily erode civil liberties
Where can the LD value of electoral reform be seen in their 2019 policy pledge?
• Put an end to wasted votes by introducing proportional representation through the single
transferable vote STV for electing MPs, and local councillors in England.
• Give 16- and 17-year-olds
the right to vote in elections and referendums.
• Scrap the plans to require voters to bring identification with them to vote.
• Reform the House of Lords with a proper democratic mandate.
