UK Politics: Political parties Flashcards
What must a political party do
They have to be organised. Political parties are
organisations with structures, leadership, members,
branches and a hierarchy of command.
They must present policies to the electorate in order to give them a choice.
Gaining power Must be their ultimate goal, otherwise they serve no function.
They must seek to gain public approval. (Media, literature, canvassing etc).
They must be able to fairly select suitable candidates to present to the electorate.
They must have an effective leadership.
What are the functions of political parties within the democracy
Representation- to represent the views of people with a certain set of beliefs. Right-wing outlook have historically been drawn to the Conservative party. Left-wing frame of mind tend to gravitate towards labour
Participation- in order to win power or influence parties encourage people to participate in politics-to vote, join the party and to support it through funding to get his message across. Parties allow their members in selecting candidates to stand for local and national elections and in choosing the party leader
Recruiting office holders- party membership leads to recruitment as candidates for public office and as participation in the UK democracy. Candidates can learn of political skills as campaigners and organisers
Formation of policies- parties generate policies that embodied the ideas of which they stand for. At a general election they put this into a manifesto, a document setting out the program for government
Providing government- The winning party a general election has the opportunity to form government. The party controls the business of Parliament with a view on passing its manifesto into law
Where are the Labour Party in 2018
The Labour Party has undergone a radical change since Jeremy Corbyn took over as leader 3 years ago.
Labour, a centre-left party for the past 30 years has shifted much further to the left.
Jeremy Corbyn wishes to present Labour as a clear, socialist alternative to the Conservatives.
Corbyn rejects compromise on economic policy and favours much higher taxes on the rich, a lot more government intervention and borrowing, taking the railways into public ownership (nationalisation) and much more public spending on things like health, education and housing.
It was believed that this radical shift to the left would destroy Labour in last year’s election, yet they went on to win 40% of the vote, their largest increase since 1945, still not enough to win, but putting them, they believe, within touching distance of victory the next time round.
Recent rows about anti-Semitism have damaged Labour however. In the local elections in Barnet this year, a London borough with a 20% Jewish population, the party lost seats to the Conservatives who took control of The council.
What does the current conservative think about tax and spending
Boris is not scared to spend especially to the North, rail infrastructure - HS2, the furlough scheme
So will have to increase income taxes
What does the current conservative think about the National Health
To help the NHS as there is a lot of of support for it in the general
What does the current conservative think about Law and Order
Sentences have been made tougher and longer
What does the current conservative think about racial relations
To increase racial diversity in the party as can be seen with their choices for MPs
What does the current conservative think about immigration
Points based system like Australia
What does the current conservative think about the environment
Boris Johnson has a deep commitment to the environment
An agreement with the Paris Accords on environment
Electric car scheme
What was involved in the 2000 political parties,Election and Referendum act
An independent committee set up to supervise party pending on electoral campaign
The amount that a party spend was capped at £30,000 in the constituency
Donations of more than £5000 nationally or £1000 constituencies had to be declared and parties had to publish details on a regular basis
Donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll were banned
What are the arguments for state funding of parties
Party play an important role in representative democracy so deserve public funding
Public funding would remove the great disparity in resources available to different size parties
It would curb the Possible corrupt influence of private backers on party policy
I thought arguments against state funding of parties
It is hard to decide how much support a party would have to qualify for funding
Taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties on which they disapprove
Increased state funding could lead to greater State regulation reducing partys independent
What are the origins of the Conservative party
The Conservative party originated out of the old Tory party of the late 17th century. Represented defence of the monarchy, CoE and the Aristocracy
Robert Peel in the mid 19th century declared the party to the defence of property and authority against revolution
One nation conservatism developed on the Benjamin Disraeli in the late 19th century
One nation conservatism was the dominant ideology in the party until Margaret Thatcher became MP . Then it became the new right
What is one nation conservatism
Creating a paternalistic society in which there would be a social obligation on the privileged ‘born to rule’ to look after the disadvantaged.
Social reform.
A patriotic foreign policy (British Empire).
Creating national unity by uniting all social classes under the patriotic banner.
What our basic principles of conservatism
A strong defence of the country.
Law and order.
Protection of property.
Respect for the monarchy and the established Church of England.
Respect for the institutions of power: Parliament, Judiciary etc.
Love of tradition.
What are the factions within the Conservative party
One Nation tories- Believe in key principlesOf conservatism and Tory paternalism.
One nation Tories also accept the main principles of the welfare state therefore most traditional Upper class Tories oppose to Thatchers wish to dismantle the welfare state.
They were mostly remain in the EU supporters in 2016 and share beliefs with the Lib Dems and new Labour represented by the Tory reform party.
What is Thatcherism and the new right
When Margaret Thatcher got elected as Prime Minister she changed the Conservative party thinking from one nation conservatism
Mrs Thatcher believed in the core principles of conservatism, but
preferred a more radical economic approach. This was known as ‘Neo-liberalism’, The New Right – or simply ‘Thatcherism’.
What are the Key points of Thatcherism
Control of public spending with tax cuts.
Privatisation of state industries and services.
Limits to trade union power.
Tough approach to law and order.
Strong British interests abroad, particularly in relation to the
challenges posed by the Soviet Union.
Protect more loss of sovereignty to the EU (although NOT to leave the EU. Thatcher never believed this was a good idea).
Individuals to take more responsibility for themselves and their
families. ‘Roll back the state’.
What is monetarism
reducing the amount of money in the economy.
This would make the economy more efficient because since there was less money about, it would be worth more
What happened after Thatcher released her economic policy
The government increased interest rates and got people to save more and spend less. They also destroyed millions of pounds of paper cash and cut public spending dramatically. Without government bailouts the large ineffective manufacturing industry started to collapse
Unemployment has shot up to 3M by 1981
They call me went into a recession
What happened after Thatcher
John Major became PM.
Although more moderate and more pro-EU, his government continued with Thatcherite economic policies (but not monetarism –Mrs T DID actually ‘u-turn’ and change policy in 1982).
In 1997, the Conservatives suffered their biggest defeat since the
were led by the Duke of Wellington back in 1832.
What will the policies pursued by the Conservative government in the coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and after a majority in 2015
Economic policy.
Austerity, or big cuts in public spending in order to deal with the deficit following the 2008 crash.
Welfare policy.
Introduction of Universal Credit to encourage welfare recipients to take more responsibility and seek employment. ‘Bedroom tax’,
capping benefits at £23,000, no benefits to 18-21 year old singles.
Law and order.
More focus on rehabilitation with mentoring and training.
Foreign policy
Before the 2016 Brexit referendum, Cameron allowed MPs and
ministers to campaign on either the Leave or Remain side. Following the decision to leave the EU, Theresa May has committed her government to what she describes as the “best deal for Britain”.
What are the Conservative party fractions
The Cornerstone Group believes in traditional conservative Christian social values as well as free market economics. They were bitterly opposed to same sex marriage (Edward Leigh, Andrew Rosindell). Some Tories are suspicious – ‘The Taliban tendency’, Alan Duncan MP.
On the moderate wing of the party there still exists the Tory Reform Group (which is almost entirely pro-Remain).
What was the Conservative party like under cameron and may
David Cameron was a more moderate Conservative who sought to ‘de-toxify’ the party’s image as the ‘nasty party’.
‘Big society’.
More socially liberal. E.g. legalisation of same-s
What are the origins of the Labour Party
political arm of the trade union movement in order to give it representation in parliament.
Socialist roots, although over the years it moderated its policies and was really only considered socialist in ‘spirit’.
Aims to create an equal and classless society
What is socialism
Socialism is a social and economic system characterised by public ownership of the means of production (factories, businesses etc) and co-operative management of the economy (government plan and run the economy in the public interest).
What are the main beliefs around socialist policy
State ownership of property is preferable over private
ownership as it is for the common good.
Taxes should be progressive, the rich should pay more,
the poor less.
There should be equality of opportunity, everybody should have an equal start in life.
Freedom of religion and speech.
Trade Unions are essential to protect workers rights.
The state needs to create a better life for its citizens.
Equality in both social and economic areas.
What was Labour and socialism like in the 1945 to 1983 period
For most of the post-war period, Labour proudly
called itself a socialist party.
It criticised the market economy and praised the power of the state to do good.
It created the welfare state and the NHS.
It advocated higher taxes on the rich and nationalisation (state takeover of private business) as its core principles.
There was a strong link with the trade unions.
Most of its support was working class, in the north, midlands, Wales, Scotland, inner London and the other major cities.
What happened to labour and socialism in the period 1979 to 83
saw the party move further to the left
under Michael Foot. In 1983 the party was heavily
defeated in the 1983 general election. The manifesto was decisively rejected as too extreme, with Labour scoring its
worst ever election result.
