politics - political parties

what is a political party

a group of people drawn together by a similar set of beliefs , known as an ideology , even if they do not have identical views -on some issues they may be deeply divided

aim of political parties

to form a govt and adopt an agreed programme of policy commitments ,linked to their core ideas

can a party be defined by a single issue

yes e.g. UKIP’s only goal has been withdrawal from EU

parties vs pressure groups

• pressure groups may present a single sectional interest or be concerned with a narrow range of ideas , such as the environment

• pressure groups may try to influence parties to adopt their ideas , but do not usually enter their own candidates at elections

right wing

supporting the status quo for little or no change. supporters of right-wing parties stress the importance of order,stability hierarchy and private property

left wing

desiring change , reform and alteration to the way that society operates , including socialists who are critical of the capitalist or free market economy

functions that political parties perform within a democratic system

• representation = the main function of parties is to represent the views of people with a certain set of beliefs

• participation = in order to win power or influence , parties encourage people to participate in politics - to vote , join a party and to support it through funding to get its message across. parties vary in how far they allow their members to shape party policy , but all the main UK parties have procedures that involve members in selecting candidates to stand for local and national elections , and in choosing the party leader

• recruiting office holders = for a small number of people , party membership leads to recruitment as candidates for public office and thus participation in the UK’s representative democracy . candidates can learn political skills as campaigners and organisers . parties also have the right to reject or ‘deselect’ candidates who fail to live up to their expectation so that they cannot stand for that party in any upcoming election

• formulating policy = parties generate policies that embody the ideas for which they stand for. at a general election they put these proposals before the electorate in a manifesto . parties can also have an educative function, by communicating and explaining their ideas to the public

• providing govt = the winning party at a general election has the opportunity to form a govt. the party then controls the business of parliament with a view to passing its manifesto into law. the PM is not directly elected by the people, but is usually the leader of the largest party . a PM who loses the confidence of its party is vulnerable.

what is the basic annual salary of an MP

£93,000

what are MPs allowed to claim expenses for

to cover the cost of running an office , living in westminster and their constituency , and travelling between the two

has there been resistance to state funding of parties in the UK

yes

alternative to state funding of parties in the UK

parties must meet most of their election costs from the voluntary subscriptions of their membership and from fundraising events in MPs constituencies . however there is special state provision to support the activities of the opposition in parliament , known as short money.

why is party funding controversial

because of the suspicion that powerful interests offer financial support in return for political influence

who has labour been traditionally funded by

trade unions

which party criticises their opponents for being bankrolled by the wealthy

the liberal democrats

what have the large parties been accused of doing for their most generous benefactors

offering political honours , such as places in the house of lords

what did the blair govt do in an attempt to overcome the perception that party funding had become an undemocratic feature of the UK political system

passed the 2000 political parties ,elections and referendums act

what happened as a result of the 2000 act

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

• the amount that a party could spend was capped at £30,000 in a constituency

• donations of more than £5000(nationally) or £1000 (to a constituency party) had to be declared and parties had to publish details of donations at regular intervals

• donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll were banned

did the 2000 act help put the issue of funding to rest

no

what was the ‘cash for peerages’ scandal in 2006

• several wealthy individuals who had loaned money to the labour party had been nominated for honours - it seemed as if the party was exploiting a loophole in the law, which only regulated outright gifts

• blair was interviewed by the police and two of his aides also faced questioning

• although no charges were brought , the affair cast a shadow over blair’s last months in office

• it was later decided that loans would be subject to same rules as donations and spending limits for parties were revised in the run-up to the 2010 election

potential reforms of donations to political parties

• in 2007 a report by a former civil servant , sir hayden phillips , proposed to address the problem of private donations by moving towards a system where parties are funded from taxpayers’ money

• HOWEVER no subsequent govt has acted on this recommendation

• pressure to make public spending cuts under the coalition govt meant that this was not the time to place an additional burden on the taxpayer

• a suggestion supported by labour and the liberal democrats at the 2015 election was to impose limits on individual donations to parties. this debate was complicated by issues of party political advantage because the conservatives who stood to lose most from such a move, wanted to place corresponding restrictions on labour’s trade union backers

• the conservative govt’s 2016 trade union act obliged new trade union members to choose whether to ‘opt in’ to making payments towards the political levy - this was expected to lead to a significant drop in the funding received by the labour party from the unions

arguments for state funding of parties

• parties play an important role in representative democracy , so deserve public funding

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

• if the state matched donations by party members it might encourage participation by the public and recruitment to parties

• it would curb the possible corrupt influence of private backers on party policy

arguments against state funding

• increased state funding could lead to calls for greater state regulation, possibly reducing parties’ independence

• it is hard to decide how much support a party should have to qualify for funding

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

• taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties of which they disapprove

types of conservatism

• traditional conservatism

• one nation conservatism

• thatcherism and the new right

• a post thatcherite party

traditional conservatism

• the conservative party can trace its origins back to the tory party of the 17th century, an aristocratic groping that first came together in defence of the historic privileges of the crown and the church of england as powerful landowning institutions

• by the 1830s under the leadership of sir robert peel it was evolving into a party dedicated to the defence of property and traditional authority against the threat of revolution

• peel stressed the importance of gradual reform in order to protect or conserve established institutions , hence the name ‘conservative’

• the party was remarkably successful in the late 19th and 20th centuries broadening its support by appealing to the middle classes as well as the land owning aristocracy

one nation conservatism

• a development from traditional conservatism was one-nation conservatism , originally associated with one of the party’s most colourful leaders , benjamin disraeli

• the name came from a passage in one of disraeli’s books , sybil, in which he contemplates the growing division between rich and poor in the mid 19th century , produced by the development of industrial capitalism

• the one nation philosophy sought to bridge the gulf between the classes through a paternalistic social policy . the ‘natural leaders’ of society would accept an obligation to act benevolently towards the disadvantaged , in return for acceptance of their right to rule

• disraeli and later conservative leaders who shared his approach , sought to win popular support by means of social reform and a patriotic foreign policy , designed to strengthen national unity

• one nation conservatism peaked in the generation after the second world war , when the party broadly accepted the changes introduced by the labour administration of 1945-51 : the mixed economy a welfare state and govt action to maintain a high level of employment

• they prided themselves on a pragmatic , non-ideological approach , maintaining the party contest between themselves and the labour party while undoing few of their opponents’ policies when they held office . post-war conservatives balanced an attachment to free enterprise with state intervention in economic and social policy

new right conservatism

• margaret thatcher gave her name to a more sharply ideological form of conservatism . ‘thatcherism’ was linked intellectually with the rise of a school of thought known as the new right. it sought to reduce state intervention in the economy , while restoring society order to society in the face of rising challengers from militant trade unions and other groups on the left . its radical policy agenda rejected the instinct of one nation conservatives to seek compromise

• thatcherism compromised the following key terms:

  • control of public spending , combined with tax cuts to provide incentives for business leaders and to stimulate economic growth

  • privatisation of industries and services taken into state ownership to promote improvement and wider consumer choice through competition

  • legal limits on the power of trade unions do deter industrial action

  • a tough approach to law and order with increased police and judicial powers

  • assertion of british interests abroad on relation to the challengers posed by the soviet union and other external threats

  • a desire to protect national sovereignty against the growth of the european community (EU)

• thatcherites aimed to ‘roll back the state’ and encourage individuals to take more responsibility for themselves. However in practise the popularity of the national health service and the need to maintain a framework of state welfare provision limited the scope for radical reform

a post thatcherite party

• thatcher was a dominant but divisive figure who aroused both admiration and hostility within and beyond her party - following her departure in november 1990 , the party struggled for a decade and a half to develop an identity independent of her

• thatchers immediate successor john major, to some extent represented the continuation of thatcherism , with the privatisation of coal and railways but he projected a less confrontational image . after a narrow general election victory in april 1992 his premiership was troubled by growing divisions over europe . a moderate pro-european, major sought without success to reconcile two competing party factions -hard line eurosceptics wanted stronger resistance to what they saw as the encroaching power of the european union while a smaller pro-european group sought to keel british influence growing sense of exhaustion on the part of the govt , contributed to a devastating general election defeat in may 1997

• the next three leaders of the party failed to unseat a triumphant tony blair who successfully held the centre ground of british politics to win two more electoral victories for labour in 2001 and 2005

• william hague lain duncan smith and michael howard failed to distance themselves sufficiently from thatcherism , which the public identified with a now discredited past . all three seemed unable to move the party beyond an association with traditional issues such as europe, immigration and law and order, with an ageing membership and outdated policies , the party failed to appeal to an increasingly diverse society

• only with the election of david cameron as leader in december 2005 did a serious attempt to ‘detoxify’ the conservative brand begin. cameron brought the fresh thinking of a new generation - respectful of thatcher but aware that britain had changed considerably since she had left office. he learned from the way in which blair had reinvented the labour party to win support beyond its traditional core vote

• cameron identified himself as a ‘liberal conservative’ , tolerant of minority groups and different lifestyles . he showed an interest in the environment , which was assuming greater importance as a political issue even if his critics accused him of staging superficial photo opportunities , such as posing with husky dogs on a visit to a melting glacier in norway . he also demonstrated that he valued public services such as the NHS , on which the majority of the population relied

• both cameron and his successor , theresa may, maintained that they stood on the side of the ordinary people , rather than just the interests of a well off elite . where thatcher had presented the conservatives as the party of thrusting individualism , cameron emphasised the bonds between people , arguing the case for co-operation between the state and the voluntary sector in building the ‘big society’ . the morally authoritarian tone of thatcherism was replaced for example support for legislation of gay marriage . in many ways the new approach seemed like an updated version of one-nation conservatism

• cameron’s moderate tone helped him to form a coalition govt with the liberal democrats when he failed to win an outright majority in the may 2010 general election . although there were tensions , e.g. over reform of the voting syst3m and the upgrading of britains nuclear weapon system, he managed to work with his coalition partners for a full 5 years , before winning a slim victory and forming a purely conservative govt in may 2015

aspects where cameron remained close to the ideas of thatcherism

• economic policy = camerons priority was to reduce the budget deficit inherited from the previous labour govt. in traditional conservative fashion cameron and his chancellor ,george osborne , accused their predecessors of irresponsible overspending, which they blamed for the financial crisis of 2008. their response in office was to insist on a programme of public spending cuts , dubbed ‘austerity’ to maintain the confidence of the financial markets and prevent britains borrowing costs from rising. the budgets of whitehall departments were cut by up to 25%. the concept of the ‘big society’ had never been properly defined , and some now came to regard it as a smokescreen for cutting costs , by withdrawing the state from the provision of public services

• welfare policy = the coalition’s policies were intended to cut costs and encourage those receiving benefits to be more self -reliant. osborne distinguished between hard-working ‘strivers’ and undeserving ‘shirkers’ , whom the govt sought to penalise. the ‘universal credit’ system . which merges a number of in-work benefits in one payment , is intended to simplify the welfare system and encourage low-income people to take up employment . the coalition also implemented a radical overhaul of the NHS , allowing the private sector to compete with state hospitals

• law and order = in opposition cameron seemed to take a more liberal attitude towards law and order calling for more understanding of young offenders in a speech dubbed ‘ hug a hoodie’ by the media . in office he tried to follow a balanced approach to crime . he supported tough sentencing for certain crimes , especially after the august 2011 london riots , but promoted a ‘rehabilitation revolution ‘ to reduce the problem of reoffending by people leaving prison unprepared for life on the outside. the coalition govt rewarded private firms and charities that helped criminals in their rehabilitation , using a ‘payment by results’ scheme. cameron’s policies on law and order resembled tony blai’s insistence that govt must be ‘tough on crime , tough on the causes of crime’

• foreign policy : cameron’s approach was consistent with thatcherism in most important respects, featuring strong links with the USA , support for air strikes against islamic terror groups in syria and iraq , and a pragmatic euroscepticism . cameron tried as thatcher did in the 1980s to fight his corner in the EU . he renegotiated the terms of british membership before holding a referendum , in which he championed the ‘remain’ side . he resigned in july 2016 after the referendum resulted in a majority vote to leave the EU . theresa may adopted a similarly tough approach to getting the best available deal from the remaining members of the EU in the ‘brexit’ negotiations

when was the labour party founded and by whom?

founded in 1900 by a group of socialist societies and trade unions

what was the labour parties original purpose?

to get more working-class MPs into parliament to push for improved working and living conditions

what was clause 4 of the labour party’s 1918 constitution?

commitment to the ‘common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange’ nationalising key industries and services

when did the first labour MP govt take office and who was PM?

1924 - PM ramsay macdonald

which major labour govt made significant reforms in 1945

clement atlee’s govt

what reforms did atlee’s govt introduce?

nationalisation of key industries (coal , railways, power ,steel , civil aviation) a comprehensive welfare state , and the NHS ( free at the point of need)

how did labour govt between 1945-1979 describe themselves?

social democratic - managing capitalism to prevent exploitation, not abolishing it

what was the focus of social democrats in this period?

redistribution of wealth, welfare policy , comprehensive schools to promote equality of opportunity

who was the last ‘old labour ‘ PM?

james callaghan

what happened to labour after 1979 under micheal foot?

shifted further left - calling for more nationalisation , higher taxation , abolition of nuclear defences and withdrawal from the EEC

what was the result of labour’s 1983 election campaign under michael foot?

heavy defeat , leading to slow rebuilding under the new leader neil kinnock from the party’s centre-left

from ‘old’ to ‘new labour’

• to broaden its support the labour party began to move away from the its hard left position of the early 1980s. this involved a gradual recognition that as the old industrial base of the country disappeared and people became more affluent , policies that appealed solely to the traditional working class would not be enough to win a general election.

• it took two more defeats in 1987 and 1992 , and the election of a forceful new leader , tony blair to complete this process . the party dropped unpopular policy proposals, crucially revising clause 4 of its constitution in 1995 so that it was no longer committed to nationalisation. the role played by the trade unions in the party was downgraded and the party leadership developed links with the business community. at the same time labour became more pro-european as the EU adopted policies that protected workers’ rights such as the social chapter

• the party was rebranded as ‘new labor’ and under the influence of progressive thinker anthony giddens aimed to find a third way between old style socialism and free market capitalism. a strong emphasis was placed on managing the media to project a more modern image and great efforts were made to ensure that labour demonstrated unity and discipline aided by the disintegration of john major’s conservative govt , blair won a landslide victory in may 1997. he was re-elected twice more before making way for the succession of his long-serving chancellor and fellow architect of new labour, gordon brown in june 2007

new labour

• the creation of new labour aroused intense controversy - many traditional socialists rejected these modernising efforts as a betrayal of their heritage . they felt that blair was too much at home with business leaders and too enthusiastic for the values of the market. his buildings of close links with the US govt , culminating in the 2003 iraq war , further damaged his credentials as a progressive figure. on the other hand blair’s supporters argued that new labour was a necessary adaptation to a changing society and that in the words of deputy PM john prescott , it embodied ‘traditional values in a modern setting’

key features of new labour in power

• emphasis on wealth creation rather than redistribution = the new labour govt sought to reduce poverty but did not make the elimination of inequality a priority e.g. they introduced a national minimum wage , along standing ambition of the labour party , but at a less generous level (£3.60 an hour for adults) than the trade unions wanted. blair in particular regarded individual aspiration to a better standard of life, achieved through a person’s efforts , as entirely natural

• people need to be aware of their responsibilities to the community as well as their rights : blair sought to impose condition on the receipt of welfare benefits and brought in legal measures to deal with anti-social behaviour , known as ASBOs . these could be imposed by magistrate , banning an individual from particular activities or entering a specific area. in a famous soundbite , blair declared that a labour govt must be ‘tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime’ - willing to punish criminal behaviour , while continuing to tackle poor social conditions

• responsibility in handling the national finances : the new labour govt aimed to differentiate themselves from earlier social democratic administrations , by conserving resources before investing more in key public services . a major turning point was the increase in national insurance contributions in 2002 which led to the largest ever rise in spending on the NHS

• enlisting the public sector to deliver public services : e.g. private finance initiative (PFI) contracts were awarded to private firms to build new schools and hospitals

• influence of liberal ideology : this showed in devolution- the transfer of central govt functions to new representation bodies in scotland , wales and northern ireland - and the passage of the human rights act . however new labour govts proved willing to curb civil liberties in their campaign against crime and terrorism , extending the time that suspects could be detained before being charged , widening police powers and proposing the introduction of identity cards

what caused a shift in labour policy under gordon brown’s govt?

the financial crisis and recession of 2008-09

how did the brown govt respond to the 2008-09 crisis?

• the treasury pumped money into the banking system in an attempt to boost economic activity

• the govt nationalised, or part - nationalised the most vulnerable banks in order to restore confidence

• brown broke an earlier promise not to raise income tax levels by creating a new 50% band to be paid by those who earned more than £150,000 a year, a sign that labour wanted the better-off to assume some responsibility for dealing with the perilous economic situation

• brown proposed to maintain public spending ,arguing that drastic cuts, recommended by conservatives would starve the economy of resources and prolong the downturn

why did some claim new labour ideology has been abandoned under brown?

because of emergency measures like higher taxation and bank nationalisation, which contrasted with new labour’s pro-market stance

what happened to labour during its time in opposition in 2010-15?

labour moved slightly left under ed miliband while still keeping some new labour policies

which tax policies did Ed miliband propose?

• restoring the 50% top rate of income tax

• cutting corporation tax to 45%

• freezing energy prices

how did miliband try to appeal to both business and labour’s working class base?

by promoting ‘responsible capitalism’, cracking down on tax avoidance, and increasing NHS funding

what economic promises did miliband make for the 2015 election?

to reduce the deficit every year without additional borrowing

why was Ed miliband nicknames ‘Red Ed’?

because of his percieved hostility to the private sector and focus on taxing and spending

what did labour members blame for the 2015 defeat/

the SNP landslide in scotland and labour’s image as being too weakly left-wing

who won the laboru leadership election in 2015 after miliband’s resignation?

jeremy corbyn, a staunch socialist backbencher

why was corbyn’s victory significant?

he defeated more experienced candidates with strong party backing, showing a shift leftward in labour

what challenges did jeremy corbyn face as leader?

• difficulty creating a united shadow cabinet

• faced a leadership contest in 2016 , which he won

labour’s policies in corbyn’s era

• economic policy = jeremy corbyn the miliband-balls idea of increased investment in the economy further , calling for large-scale funding of industry and infrastructure organised by a national investment bank. an important aim of this was to reduce regional inequalities . corbyn called for the renationalisation of the railways, a policy that the new labour govt refused to adopt. instinctively supporting intervention of an old labour kind, he demanded for e.g. that companies publish pay audits with the aim of countering discrimination in the workplace. like miliband he favoured restoration of the 50% top rate of income tax. HOWEVER, corbyn was much more clear-cut in his opposition to austerity , characterising it as a ‘political choice’ that harmed the most vulnerable members of society , rather than an ‘economic necessity’

• welfare policy = corbyn strongly opposed benefit cuts. as a socialist he regarded the poor as the victims of capitalism who are entitled to public support. he opposed the use of the private sector to deliver public services - a central aspect of new labour. thus he argued for a wholly state-run NHS . in order to promote lifelong education and training , he called for a ‘national education service’ , and opposed student tuition fees. by contrast Ed miliband confined himself to advocating their reduction from £9000 to £6000 a year

• law and order policy : corbyn was opposed to the more hard-line policies of the new labour era , sucj as increased powers to combat terrorism and the introduction of identity cards. this became a less controversial policy area within the labour party - both blairites and corbynites found common ground in opposing govt cuts to police numbers , which they described as jeopardising public safety

• foreign policy = corbyn consistently voted against the use of force , and favoured the withdrawal of the UK from NATO’s military structure and the abolition of the trident nuclear weapons system, again placing him at odds with new labour. he and his then shadow foreign secretary . hilary benn , took opposing positions in the december 2015 commons vote on military intervention against ‘islamic state’ terrorism . the party was so divided on the issue that corbyn had to allow his MPS a free vote . corbyn gollowed the mainstream of his party in supporting continued british membership of the EU emphasising its positive role in protecting workers’ rights , but mor enthusiastic labour pro-europeans felt that the campaigned in a lukewarm manner in the 2016 referendum

when was the liberal democrat party founded

1988

who did the libdems elected as their leader after the 2015 defeat and the resignation of nick clegg

tim farron

libdems policies in tim farron era

• economic policy= at the 2015 general election the liberal democrats emphasised their continued commitment to eliminating the budget deficit , the most important policy underpinning their coalition with the conservatives . HOWEVER it must be done in a way that was fair to the poor. in govt they introduced a policy to which the conservatives signed up , of progressively raising the basic income tax threshold so that more low income people were relieved of paying tax . they promised to ‘borrow less than labour , cut less than the tories’ . they stressed their environmental credentials more than their rivals , with a commitment to renewable energy and the expansion of the green investment bank they had helped to establish , to attract funding for projects such as offshore wind farms

• welfare policy = in coalition the liberal democrats shared the conservative objective of controlling spending on benefits , while uprating pensions and extending free childcare to enable parents to return to work , they differentiated themselves by pledging to curb benefits paid to better-off pensioners , in order to afford more support for the low-paid. on the NHS just like the conservatives and labour , they pledged increased funding from 2015

• law and order = the liberal democrats aim to see that personal freedom is not eroded as a consequence of giving the authorities more powers to fight crime . they regard the defence of civil liberties as one of their key characteristics, distinguishing them from other parties. in coalition they opposed the conservatives’ plans for the so-called ‘snoopers’ charter’ , the communications data bill, the purpose of which was to allow the monitoring of internet use. in their emphasis on the rehabilitation of prisoners and the use of community service as an alternative to short-term prison sentences , they are close to the position taken by moderate conservatives and labour

• foreign policy = the liberal democrats have consistently been the most enthusiastic of all the UK parties for british membership of the EU . perhaps the party’s most distinctive policy position in opposition was its reluctance to accept the result of the brexit referendum . this contrasted with the views of both theresa may and jeremy corbyn who , although they had backed the ‘remain’ cause , stated that they would respect the popular verdict

the importance of other parties in the UK

• one of the most remarkable developments of recent decades has been the emergence of smaller parties that have challenged the dominance of the three older , tradit0onal parties . it was a sign of this change when , in one of the televise debates held in the course of the 2015 general election campaign , no fewer than seven parties took part

• two of these small parties , the United kingdom independence party (UKIP) and the green party have derived their importance from campaigning to promote a particular issue or group of related issues . they have no expectation of winning enough seats to form a govt . instead their aim is to force the larger parties to accept their agenda, either in whole or in part. in this sense they have behaved more like pressure groups than traditional parties

• the other small parties are regionally based. the welsh nationalist party (plaid cymru) established in 1925 is officially committed to independence for wales within the EU , but in practise has been more concerned with the preservation of a distinctive welsh language and culture . the party has never had more than 4 MPs at westminster at any one time but it has been more successful in the national assembly for wales . in the 2007 plaid cymru became the second largest party in the assembly and was in coalition govt with labour until it dropped to third place after the 2011 election

the scottish national party

• founded in 1934

• a centre-left party

• main purpose is to secure independence for scotland from the UK

• the growing strength of the SNP helped persuade the labour party to take up the cause of devolution ahead of the 1997 general election

• the blair govt believed that granting devolution would ensure that labour would remain the dominant political force in scotland . its strategy was to give the scottish people just enough self-governing power to ensure that they did not vote for the SNP . the strategy worked until 2007 when a talented nationalist leader , alex salmond , formed a minority SNP govt , transforming this into a small majority in the 2011 election . this was undoubtedly a major reason why the westminster govt was prepared to support the extension of more powers to the edinburgh administration ( for example taxation and borrowing) .

• the fruits of this were the 2012 scotland act and the holding of a referendum on scottish independence in september 2014. towards the end of the referendum campaign , all three major party leaders agreed to abandon prime minister’s questions at westminster , in order to go to scotland to present a united front for staying in the union . although the independence option was defeated , it was clear that the issue would not go away . a new SNP first minister , nicola stuegeon argued that as scotland faced being taken out of the EU against its will , following the june 2016 ‘brexit’ referendum vote, the SNP was entitled to hold another vote on independence in the near future

• another area of concern has been the SNP’s capacity to influence legislation at westminster, especially after the 2015 general election , when it won 56 of scotland’s 59 seats . the SNP’s official position has been one of refraining from voting on purely english issues in order to underscore the nationalist argument that the countries should not interfere in each other’s internal affairs

• since october 2015 the passing of the english votes for english laws (EVEL) measure has placed limits on all scottish MPs at westminster but with important exceptions . in march 2016 SNP MPs helped to defeat the cameron govt’s proposal for an extension of sunday trading laws in england wand wales . the party’s argument was that the measure would affect scottish workers because UK-wide employers would use it to set new , less advantageous rates of pay on both sides of the border. the 2017 general election HOWEVER saw the SNP lose 24 of its seats and with it some of its influence at westminster

the united kingdom independence party (UKIP)

• UKIP began as a fringe nationalist party in 1991 , and by the 21st century was associated with one man , nigel farage, and one issue, opposition to britains membership of the EU . it owed its slowly growing national profile to a sense of dissatisfaction with the way in which the three main parties seemed constantly to accommodate themselves to the quickening pace of european integration. in the 2014 european elections UKIP gained a total of 24 MEPs , making it the largest UK party in the european parliament . it won 3.9 million votes in the 2015 general election , although under the FPTP voting system this total returned only one MP

• UKIP is a radical right-wing party, whose supporters tend to be older , more traditional people who feel left behind in a rapidly changing world . they are often people with lower levels of education and job security , anxious about what they see as challenges to their way of life. for many , immigration has been a major concern. UKIP supporters saw the arrival of large numbers of eastern europeans , following the expansion of the EU in 2004 , as a threat to ‘british jobs’ and to the native british way of life . unlike the older british national party (BNP) which was associated with overt racial prejudice , UKIP seemed a more respectable option. its most prominent figure , nigel farage was a charismatic individual whose chummy , outspoken persona was one to which many ordinary people could relate . by not conforming to the image of mainstream ‘ liberal establishment’ figures such as cameron , clegg and miliband , he appealed to voters who felt disillusioned with the three main parties

what does UKIP stand for?

‘taking back control’ from the EU

• membership of the EU damages the UK’s interests by subjecting us to the rule of an unaccountable european bureaucracy

• we should ‘take back control’ of policies on trade , fisheries and other area where national sovereignty has been shared with the EU

• following the june 2016 referendum , brexit should be negotiated as quickly as possible , with no backsliding on defending UK interests

  restricting immigration :

• main policy at the 2015 general election

• we need a points-based system to ensure that migrants with necessary skills get priority

• there should be a cap on numbers of migrants entering the country

  other policies :

• support for grammar schools - like traditional conservatives

• scrap ‘green taxes’ which raise our energy bills - like the conservative

• we should increase spending on the NHS , but migrants and visitors to the UK must have private health insurance , indirectly link to suspicion of the EU and immigration

the green party

• evolved from a party founded in 1973 as ‘PEOPLE’ , later changing its name to the ecology party before assuming its present identity in 1985. the green party won its first seat at wesminster in 2010 , when caroline lucas became MP for brighton pavilion. the party won more than one million votes across the UK in 2015 but failed to win anymore seats

• the green party is a centre - left party that is not only concerned with environmental issues but also with reducing social inequality . it is also strongly pro-european , seeing the EU as a safeguard for environmental protection

what does the green party stand for

• environmental issues :

  • we should phase out fossil fuel based energy and nuclear power and implement renewable solutions

  • fracking is environmentally disastrous and should be stopped

• reducing social inequality :

  • the creeping privatisation of the NHS has to end

  • we should abolish university tuition fees

  • there should be a wealth tax to fund the creation of new jobs

  • the minimum wage should be increased to a ‘living wage ‘ of £10 an hour by 2020

what is a party system

the way in which parties are grouped and structured in a political system , with a number of parties in contention for political power

are there a number of different party systems

yes

the most important political models found in a liberal democracy

• a one party dominant system = a number of parties , but onlu one has a realistic prospect of holding power

• a two party system = two parties compete for power at elections; other parties have no real chance of breaking their monopoly

• a two and a half party system = two large parties are the main players , but are challenged by the growth of a smaller third party

• a multi party system = a number of parties contend to form a govt ; coalitions become the norm

westminster : survival of the two-party system

• the classic era of the two party system was the period 1954-74 , when labour and the conservatives won on average a combined 91% of the votes and almost 98% of the seats at westminster . this wad clearly coming under strain from the mid 1970s with a period of minority labour govt followed by two long periods of single party dominance - the conservatives from 1979 to 1997 and labour from 1997 to 2010. the liberals made modest gains, especially after forming an alliance with the social democrats in 1981 , then merging with them to form the liberal democrats in 1988 . between 1979 and 2010 the two main parties combined average share of the vote fell to 73%

• nonetheless the two party system survived , largely as a result of the distorting effect of the FPTP voting system , which limits smaller parties’ ability to win seats. the two largest parties shared an average of 91% of the seats, and then continued to monopolise govt without the participation of the UK’s third party

• the period of coalition govt could be described as a two and a half party system . the libdems secured 23% of the vote in 2010 and enough seats to play a part in govt, though only as the partner of a larger party in a coalition . almost 35% of voters supported parties other than the conservatives and labour in this election

• HOWEVER this proved a short-lived development. the 2015 general election heralded a return business as usual at wesminster . the libdems were devastated at the polls, losing all but eight of their seats. the most startling aspect of the 2015 contest was the landslide victory of the SNP in scotland, where they took all but three of the 59 seats . HOWEVER the SNP is a regional party, which is not a contender for power at westminster , even if it is able to influence the outcome of some votes in the house of commons . essentially westminster remains dominated by the two largest parties . as long as the FPTP system remains in place, this is unlikely to change

the devolved bodies : a variety of multi-party systems

• the use of AMS for election to the scottish parliament and welsh assembly has produced very different outcomes form the trends observed at westminster . a partly proportional system , it tends to increase the representation of smaller parties. although the SNP has been in power in scotland for almost a decade now, it formed a minority govt from 2007 to 2011 and once again the may 2016 election . before 2007 scotland was governed for 8 years by a labour-liberal coalition. similarly in wales there have been periods of minority labour govt , a labour-liberal democrat coalition and a labour -plaid cymru coalition

• in northern ireland a fully proportional system , single transferable vote (STV) is used to elect the assembly. until january 2017 , when the power-sharing executive collapsed owing to internal disagreement, the first minister and four other members were drawn from the largest party , the democratic unionist party ; the deputy first minister and three others were from the second largest party sinn fein. the moderate nationalist social and democratic labour party won 12 seats , the ulster unionists ten and the neutral alliance party eight seats . it would thus be fair to describe the regions of the UK as having multi-party systems

factors that influence the success or failure of parties

• the strength of the party’s leadership = voters tend to respond positively to party leaders who demonstrate a clear sense of direction . they also reject parties that fail to get a grip on events in times of crisis e.g. the labour govt of callaghan seemed week because it was unable to control trade union demands for pay increases in the so-called ‘winter of discontent’ when a wave of strikes brought many public services to a halt. thatcher won the may 1979 election not because she was personally popular but because she offered a tough response to the strikers whom she dubbed the ‘wreckers in our midst’. this built on the success of a conservative advertising campaign, featuring an image of a dole queue under the slogan ‘labour isn’t working’ , which reminded voters of rising unemployment under labour. in more recent times, opinion polls consistently place theresa may ahead of labour leader jeremy corbyn because she was seen as a stronger leader, even though a majority of respondents also viewed her as having a cold personality and being out of touch

• the extent to which parties are united or divided between different party factions = divided parties do not perform well at general elections . john major’s conservatives suffered a heavy loss in the 1997 general election , largely because they were seen as incompetent and divided on the subject of britains relationship with the EU . at the lection both pro- and anti-EU conservatives lost their seats , showing that it was not the issue of the europe in itself that mattered , but the voters’ perception of a weak and divided party. by contrast tony blair had reshaped the labour party since becoming its leader in 1994, imposing strong discipline so that it appeared united

• the role of the media in projecting a particular image of a party = the growing importance of the media in recent decades had tended to reinforce the general public’s impression of parties and their leaders . newspaper comment and TV images play an important role in modern politics . the use of televised debates between the party leaders in the 2010 general election enhanced the appeal of nick clegg , the liberal democrat leader , whose party gained enough support to deny the conservatives an overall majority , enabling them to take office in a coalition govt . HOWEVER the importance of the debates should not be exaggerated , since the liberal democrats actually emerged with five fewer seats than in the 2005 contest