Political Parties

5 functions of political parties

• represent the views of a certain set of beliefs

• encourage participation

• recruit office holders

• formulate policy

• provide government

representing views and beliefs

generally they represent a set of beliefs from a part of the political spectrum like left wing or right wing

examples of the views of political parties

labour generally left wing and conservatives broadly right wing

parties encouraging participation

they act as a way for people to get involved in politics like volunteering and local members choosing candidates

recruiting office holders

for a small number of members, party membership leads to recruitment as candidates for public office

example of local members deselecting MPs

before 2015 election, local members from Thirsk and, Malton and South Suffolk deselected sitting MPs as their candidates

formulating policy

parties generate the policies that embody the ideas for which they stand

providing government

the winning party at a general election has the opportunity to form a government and a PM who loses the confidence of their party is vulnerable

short money

special state provision to support the activities of the opposition in Parliament

UKIP short money example

after the 2015 election, UKIP became eligible for £650,000 of short money despite having one MP. Nigel Farage wanted Duncan Carswell to use it to employ 15 staff but Carswell said that was an improper use of public money but as it belongs to the party not MP, Farage threatened to take it all. They eventually compromised and took £350,000

Who got most short money apart from Labour in 2019-24 Parliament

SNP

special short money arrangements for Sinn Fein

they got £192,000 23/24 even though they aren’t technically eligible as they don’t sit in Westminster

traditional funding sources of Labour and Conservatives

Conservatives funded by big business and Labour by trade unions

Labour funding change under New Labour

Labour became friendlier to big business so some of their donations came from big businesspeople

why have honours become very controversial

a lot of people who have donated to political parties have been knighted or given OBEs etc

Cash for honours example

Michael Ashcroft given a made a life peer in 2000 by the Conservatives while being a tax exile and a major party donor, it was thought in return he would start to pay tax in the UK in return. Ashcroft wanted a cabinet role once the conservatives were back in power but Cameron refused as he was still a non dom and in retaliation Ashcroft published a book with controversial claims about Cameron’s university days

what is a tax exile

a person who leaves the country to avoid paying income tax or other taxes

Lord Levvy

made a life peer by Tony Blair in 1997 and is credited with raising over £100 million for the Labour party, made one and only speech in 1997

Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone, then owner of Formula One, had donated £1m to the Labour Party. Soon after his donation, the government announced plans to exempt F1 from a ban on tobacco advertising but donation returned a year later due to backlash

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA)

passed in 2000 as an attempt to overcome perception that party funding had become undemocratic

Contents of PPERA (4 points)

• independent electoral commission set up to supervise party spending on election campaigns

• amount parties can spend per constituency capped at £30,000

• donations of more than £5000 nationally and £1000 to a constituency party have to be declared

• Donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll banned

what are MPs paid from

general taxation but they are also allowed to claim expenses for a second home, travel, staff and office costs

Cash for peerages scandal

2006, Blair and two of his aids interviewed after it emerged several wealthy people who had loaned money to the Labour party had been nominated for honours as there was legal loophole where only outright gifts regulated

Sir Hayden Phillips recommendation

2007, political parties should be funded by tax payers

Conservative party membership 2019

191,000

Labour party membership 2019

519,000

Liberal Democrat party membership 2019

120,000

SNP membership 2018

125,000

Green Party membership 2019

48,000

Labour party membership 2025

309,000

conservative party membership 2024

131,000 members approx

SNP membership 2024

approx 58,000 members

Green membership 2024

66,000 members

Lib dem membership 2023

around 86,000

who is most hostile to caps on large donations

the conservatives because it is how they get most of their donations

what is a political levvy

trade union members funding the labour party from their membership fees

2016 Trade Unions Act

obliged new trade union members to opt in to making payments towards the political levvy which was expected to cause a significant drop in the funding to Labour from the unions

Registered supporters 2016 labour leadership election

180,000 paid £25 to vote in the Labour leadership election, up from £3 in the election that Corbyn won which was controversial

3 arguments for state funding of political parties

• parties play an important representative function so deserve public funding

• public funding would remove the big disparity in resources available to different sized parties

• would curb possibly corrupt influence of private donors on party policy

4 arguments against state funding of political parties

• Taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties that they don’t agree with

• De facto public funding could isolate parties from the wishes of voters

• Increased state funding could lead to calls for greater regulation from the state which risks party’s independence and governments could use it to damage potential of their opposition

• Hard to determine thresholds for parties to qualify

biggest single donation to tories vs lib dems

tories was £10 million lib dems 100,000

Frank Hester

his company Phoenix got government contracts from conservatives after he gave £15 million in donations

unions argument against publicly funded

the labour party was set up to represent trade unions who are their biggest donors so if it was publicly funded then they might be underrepresented

key policies of traditional conservatism

defence of private property, primacy of law and order and traditional institutions

key thinkers of traditional conservatism

Burke and Peel

when was traditional conservatism most prevalent

19th and 20th centuries

One nation conservatism key policies

paternalistic social policy and a mixed economy

one nation conservatives key thinkers

Benjamin Disraeli

when was one nation conservatism most prevalent

generation after the second world war

new right key thinkers

Thatcher and Reagan

key policies of new right conservatism

Control of public spending, privatisation, legal limits on trade unions, social conformity and a tough approach to law and order

3 examples of conservatives breaking with Thatcherism

• Hug a hoodie

• Equal Marriage Act 2013

• Big society rather than tapestry of individuals

when was new right conservatism most prevalent

from 1979 up to 2000

Hug a hoodie

A phrase describing David Cameron’s call to understand and address the social causes of youth crime, rather than just punish offenders.

What was the Big Society?

A policy idea under David Cameron to empower communities, promote volunteering, and shift services away from central government control.

evidence that cameron conservatives hadn’t broken from thatcherism

military intervention in the Middle East, close relationship with the US, trying to fight own corner in the EU and huge focus on the budget deficit and fiscal responsibility

why was the labour party founded in 1900

to get more working class MPs into Parliament who could push for improved living and working conditions

Clause IV of the Labour Party constitution

was what made them socialist, committed them to campaign for common ownership of the means of production and distribution of wealth

examples of 1945 Labour government fulfilling promises of clause IV

nationalised coal, railways, power, steel and civil aviation industries and also created a comprehensive system of social security and the NHS being free at the point of use

what did thatcher say her proudest political achievement was

Tony Blair

Cameron’s main party aim

detoxify the conservative brand and bring in a new generation that reflected the increasingly diverse Britain that the party hadn’t been representing

what did cameron identify

a liberal conservative

how were labour governments social democratic rather than purely socialist

they didn’t try and abolish capitalism, they wanted to manage it so that it didn’t exploit the workforce and the benefits could be felt by workers

who moved the labour party away from old labour policies and why

Neil Kinnock after Labour lost the 1983 election based on a hard line socialist manifesto that called for further nationalisation, increased taxation, withdrawal from the EU and nuclear disarmament and he realised post thatcher their traditional voter base no longer existed

Nickname for the 1983 Labour manifesto

longest suicide note in history

4 main things Blair did to modernise the labour party

• Replaced the old clause 4 by dropping commitment to nationalism

• Downgraded the role played by the trade unions in the party

• Party leaders developed links with the business community

• Party became more pro european as the EU adopted policies that protected worker’s rights

what was the third way

a new style of socialism between old style socialism and free market capitalism

key features of new labour in power

• emphasis on wealth creation as well as just redistribution

• community responsibilities and not just rights to welfare

• increase in national insurance payments for NHS

• bringing in the private sector to deliver public services

• some influence of liberal ideology

New Labour and wealth/inequality

NL sought to reduce poverty but the elimination of inequality was not a priority

NL national living wage

introduced a national minimum wage of £3.60 which was lower than the trade unions wanted

Blair’s view of individual aspiration

Blair held the view that individual aspiration for a better standard of life through effort was natural which was a shift from traditional socialist views on collectivism

Blair’s crime policy

conditions imposed on the receipts of welfare and ASBOs introduced, ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’

NL PFI contracts

PFI contracts awarded to private firms to build schools and hospitals

Conflicting influences of liberal ideology on NL

devolution and HRA show liberal influence but Blair willing to curb individual rights in campaign against terrorism like proposing identity cards and extending how long terror suspects could be held without charge

PFI contracts and old labour

would never have happened before Clause IV dropped as they wouldn’t have wanted to acknowledge the usefulness of private sector

Labour’s reduction in poverty

1 million pensioners and 600,000 children lifted out of poverty

3 policy changes under Brown in response to financial crisis

• treasury pumped money into the banking system to try and boost economic activity

• created new 50% tax band for people who earned over £150,000 which broke promises

• nationalised vulnerable banks

Ed Miliband retained elements of new labour

• Accepted coalition spending plans for first year of government if elected

• maintain means testing of universal credit

• called for restoration of Brown’s 50% top rate of tax

Ed miliband shifts from new labour

• pledge to freeeze energy bills for 20 months to tackle profiteering from big business

• Mansion tax on homes worth over £2 million to fund the NHS

• Promised to ban zero hour contracts which he claimed exploited workers at the expense of b

why did Labour lose under Miliband

Perceived as Red Ed who was hostile to private sector and wanted to return to tax and spend policies and also loss of lots of Scottish seats to SNP

corbyn economic policy

called for large scale funding of industry and infrastructure by a National Investment Bank, renationalisation of the railways, nationalisation of broadband and opposition to austerity which he called a political choice

corbyn welface policy

opposed welfare cuts as he viewed poor as victims of capitalism, opposed tuition fees and proposed a national education service to promote lifelong learning and education

corbyn and law and order policy

opposed to more tough Blairite stuff like the introduction of identity cards but found common ground with them in opposing conservative cuts to police numbers

corbyn and foreign policy

consistently voted against the use of military force, wanted UK to withdraw from military structure of NATO and complete abolition of Trident

4 views of classical liberals

support for free trade

widening of the franchise

extension of civil liberties to people not in the anglican church

widening of educational opportunities

how did new liberals break with classical liberals

freedom is no longer about being left alone to do things, but instead requires an active state to enable people to reach their potential and be free from restraints

3 consistent themes of the liberal democrat party

constitutional reform, civil liberties and internationalism

what do social liberals believe

in generous welfare provision

what do Orange Book Liberals believe

free market solutions to problems and commitment to individual freedoms

why did nick clegg agree to the 2010 coalition with the conservatives

he basically had to, if he had refused he would have been seen as running away in a time of national emergency but by taking it they incurred a lot of unpopularity by association

Nick Clegg quote about possible coalition governments

he pledged that the lib dems would act as the ‘heart in a conservative government and the brain in a labour one’

how many seats did the lib dems get in 2010

57

how many seats did the lib dems get in 2015

8

1,000 children out of poverty a week

Tony Blair’s administration

example of a liberal democrat welfare policy

free school meals for everyone in Ks1, implemented in 2014

example of a one nation welfare policy

theresa may increased the work allowance in universal credit which meant low income families were able to keep more of their earnings before their benefits started to be reduced to encourage work

example of a new right social policy

section 28

example of moderate labour economic policy

Reduce National Debt as a % of GDP by 2030 back to pre covid levels

example of new labour foreign policy

TB wanted to join euro, GB didn’t and support for America in Iraq

law and order similarities between one nation and moderate labour

both tough on terrorism and wanted consideration and work on the underlying causes of crime