Edexcel A-Level Politics Paper 1 - Political Parties

Political Party

• A group of people drawn together by a broad ideology to form a government and enact a range of policy commitments

• Some parties, e.g. Reform UK, are mainly focused on a single issues but they normally develop a broader set of policies to grow their supporter base

• Represent the views of people with a certain set of common beliefs

Political Spectrum

• Traditionally, Labour Party was left-wing and Conservative Party right-wing

• In 2019, Tory Party shifted significantly to the centre economically, and gained a lot of voters through ‘cultural’ politics that may be described as ‘authoritarian’, especially Brexit

• In 2024, the Labour Party shifted back to the centre on economic policy, in particular from the left-wing stance that had been adopted by Corbyn

Left-Wing Parties

• Desiring change, reform and alteration to the way that society operates

  • In favour of big government and a large welfare state

  • High taxes, high public spending

• Includes Socialists who are critical of capitalism and free market economies

• Have tended, in history, to be on the ‘right side’ of social issues

Right-Wing Parties

• Supporting the conservation of the status quo and little or no change

• Stressing the importance of order stability, hierarchy and private property

• In favour of small gov, individualism and self determination

  • Lower taxes, lower public spending

Why Political Parties Need Funding

• Fighting elections (money spent on advertising/ campaigning)

• Holding party conferences

• Carrying out research and developing policies and manifestos

• Employing special advisers and full time members of staff

In 2023, top 6 total party incomes:

• Conservatives - £59,361,000

• Labour - £58,628,000

• Liberal Democrats - £8,069,285

• SNP - £4,753,512

• Green Party - £3,819,156

• Reform UK - £1,353,031

Funding - Membership Subscriptions

• Monthly membership subscriptions

• Labour Party members pay £3.25 per month and there are an estimated 100,000 members

• In 2023, the party received £1.5M from membership fees

• SNP members pay £1 per month and there are currently around 64,000 members, a drop of 18,000 in 2022 following their party funding scandal

• Lib Dem members pay £1.25 per month and there are currently around 86,000 members

• The overall decline in party membership in the past few decades has harmed party finances

Trade Unions (Labour Party)

• Labour Party receives significant funding from trade unions, which charge members a political levy as well as membership fees, which can be used to support the political aims of the trade union

• The Labour Party has a number of affiliated unions which give significant funds, including UNISON, UNITE and GMB

• In 2023, they received £5,900,000 from trade union affiliations, around 10% of their total income

• In 2016, the Trade Union Act, passed by the Conservatives, harmed Labour Party funding from Trade Unions - obliged new trade union members to choose whether they wanted to opt into making payments towards political influence, rather than being automatically opted in as they were previously

• Labour stated in their 2024 manifesto that they intended to repeal the Act

Local Constituency Fundraising

• Events such as raffles and dinners - this funding is often spent on local campaigns

• In 2021, Labour received £200,000 from fundraising

Short Money (Public Funding)

• Forms vast majority of public funding, typically available to the opposition as they lack the support of the civil service

• Intended to support parties to carry out parliamentary business, including policy research

• Primarily used to cover the salaries of researchers and advisers in central offices of parties

• Only available to opposition parties hat have won either two seats in the HoC at the previous general election, or one seat and more than 150,000 votes in total from all seats contested

• In 2023/24, the Labour Party received £7,689,924 from Short Money, around 13% of their total income

• SNP received £1,301,552

• Lib Dems - £1,052,703

• DUP - £229,297

• Green Party - £211,892

Cranbourne Money (Public Funding)

• Supports the opposition in the House of Lords

• Funding for the Office of the leader of the opposition and Policy Development Grants

Donations

• Funding through donations from businesses, organisations and rich individuals. No limits on how much can be donated to political parties/ individuals

• Labour Party receives key donations from Trade Unions, but New Labour began to receive more funding from businesses and rich individuals

• E.g. Lord Sainsbury donated significant sums to Labour Party under Blair, Brown and Milliband, but stopped once Corbyn became leader, and now Starmer has moved party back to centre ground, Sainsbury donated £3.1M to the party

• Conservatives receive majority of their funds from donations from businesses and rich individuals, e.g. billionaire Lord Cruddas who has donated millions

• In 2019, Boris Johnson helped to increase funding from donations due to his popularity, with the Tory party receiving £56M in donations in the election year, compared to the £34M under Theresa May

Proportion of Funding from Donations in 2023

• Conservatives - 75%

• Labour - 36%

• Lib Dems - 75%

• Green - 16%

• Reform - 18%

• SNP - 1.6%

2000s Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act

• Passed by the Blair gov to overcome perception that party funding was undemokratisch

• Independent Electoral Commission established to supervise election campaign spending by parties

• Donations from individuals who weren’t on the UK electoral roll were banned

• Requirements for reporting donations over a certain amount - prior to 2010 election, loans were also made subject to the same rules as donations

• Donations over £75,000 to central party must be reported to the Electoral Commission

• Party sections whose financiers aren’t managed by the central party must report donations over £1,500

• MPs must report loans and donations over £500 made in connection with their activities as an MP to the parliamentary commissioner for standards

Representation of the People Order 2023

• Increased campaign spending limits for political parties by 80% to account for inflation since limits were last set

• Method and magnitude (secondary legislation) have raised concerns regarding transparency and the potential for larger, better funded parties to dominate electoral campaigns as they can take full advantage and reach the cap

Cash for Peerages

• In 2006-7 there was a scandal concerning possible links between individuals who had loaned significant amounts to the Labour Party and these individuals Boeing nominated by Tony Blair for life peerages in the House of Lords

• The nominations were rejected by the House of Lords Appointment Commission and there was suspicion peerages were promised in return for the loans

• Ultimately couldn’t be proven that this was agreed in advance

Bernie Ecclestone

• Within months of Blair becoming PM in 1997, he faced criticism following the revelation that Bernie Ecclestone had donated £1M to Labour

• It was alleged that there was a link between this and a delay in implementing a ban on tobacco advertising in F1 racing

• Blair was forced to justify himself and said the events weren’t connected, but the money was subsequently returned

Michael Brown and the Lib Dems

• In 2005, businessman Michael Brown donated £2.4M to the Lib Dems. A year later, he was jailed for perjury

• There wads pressure on the Lib Dems to return the donation, but they kept it after the Electoral Commission concluded that they had accepted the donation in line with electoral rules

Lord Cruddas - Peerage Scandal

• Billionaire Lord Cruddas was made a peer in the House of Lords in 2021

• Just days after, he donated £500,000 to the Conservative Party, the largest amount he’s ever donated

• He was made a peer by Boris Johnson despite the fact that he failed the Appointment Commission vetting process, which Johnson overruled

Frank Hester Scandal

• Tory Party’s largest donor in recent history, contributing £10M in 2023

• Hester’s digital healthcare solutions through TPP have been used widely across the NHS

• It emerged in 2024 that Hester had racistly attacked MP Diane Abbott in 2019, stating that she made him “want to hate all black women” and that “she should be shot”

• Despite these severe remarks, the Tortes, led by Rishi Sunak at the time, chose not to return his donation

• This sparked criticism over who should be able to have an influence in British politics

SNP’s Party Funding Scandal

• Starting in Feb 2023, the SNP faced significant party funding scandal that culminated in the resignation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and arrest of her husband and SNP chief executive Peter Murrell

• The controversy centred around allegations that approximately £600,000 raised specifically for campaigning for a second Scottish Independence referendum was instead diverted to cover other regular party expenses

• The escalating situation ultimately contributed to Sturgeon’s decision to step down, citing the need for new leadership amid the ongoing scandal and other pressures

• Contributed to reduced trust in the SNP and their decrease in popularity in Scotland. Labour capitalised on these SNP setbacks, not nearly matching the SNP in popularity

Russian Influence in the Conservative Party

• When Boris Johnson was in power, over £2M of donations top the Conservative Party were linked to Russia, raising major security concerns

• This included Evgeny Lebedev, who was made a peer by Boris Johnson

• At the same time, the Conservative Party hadn’t implemented any of the 21 recommendations of the Russia Report, which discovered widespread attempts by Russia to try and influence voters in the Brexit Referendum

Proposals to Limit Donations from Individuals

• In the 2015 election, Labour and the Lib Dems supported a suggestion to impose limits on individual donations to parties

• This was in part politically motivated though, as it would’ve hurt the Conservative Party the most

State Funding of Political Parties

• Many democracies in the West have state funded political parties

  • In Australia, state funding supports parties’ election campaigning, whilst in the Netherlands it is intended to further research

• Whilst the UK does have some state funding, the majority of funds come from donation as and membership fees, and it could move to a largely state funded approach

• This approach could include state finding based on the number of votes in previous election, or match donations from members of the public, which is the case in Germany

Arguments for State Funding of Political Parties

• Parties are key to representing the public and upholding effective democracy - deserve effective funding

• Public funding would remove the disparity in resources available to different-sized parties. As a consequence, the undemokratisch two-party system would be challenged and pluralist democracy would improve, through smaller parties and other voices having the funding to fight elections effectively

• The state could match small donations by party members, which would improve the participation of the public in politics to ensure those who are supported the most receive the most funding

• Parties and politicians could focus more on representing the public and effectively governing, rather than focusing on raising money, especially before elections

• It would curb the possibility of corruption and those who have money to donate to political parties having undue influence on policy/ being able to get into positions of power, which undermines democracy

Arguments against State Funding of Political Parties

• Limited public funding currently available ensures that parties are independent from the state, and therefore the party currently in power, which can be seen as important in democracy

• As they would no longer need to seek financial support, it could isolate parties from the wish of the public and their members - harmful to democracy

• It would cost the state a significant amount per year and many taxpayers likely won’t want to fund parties they don’t support, especially those they don’t trust in power

• If funding was linked to past performance in elections, then it would likely uphold the power of existing parties and not further pluralist democracy