How are Political Parties funded?

Why is party funding controversial in the UK?

They have to rely on most of their funding coming from private sources which exposes the system to exploitation since parties may then be influenced by their donors.

What funding is given to parties from government?

1)Policy development grants- £2 million to main parties so they can employ policy advisors
2)Short money- allocated to opposition parties for their work in the house of commons- allocated on the basis of the number of seats the party has in the house of commons. The leader of the opposition is also funded £800,000 for the running of his/her office
3)Cranborne money, subsides the work of scrutiny carried out by opposition parties in the house of lords.

What do Parties rely on for campaigning costs?

Since these subsides do not cover the costs of campaigning and election expenses, they depend on subscriptions from party members as well as individual contributions?

Who does the conservative party tend to receive donations form?

Large scale businesses who see the conservative party as having their best interests priortised

In 2017 how much donations were received by the conservative party, Labour and the green party?

Cons= £25 million
Labour=£10 million
Green=£150,000

What do critics say about this funding?

These statistics mentioned prove how much advantage the conservatives have over the other political parties especially the minor parties who are severely disadvantaged.

What did the Trade Union Act 2016 say/do?

A new member of a union must now "opt in" if they wish their membership fees to go to the labour party. This suggests that the conservatives advantage over labour will increase

What did the Elections and Referendum Act 2000 establish?

Provided the funding of political parties with greater transparency by:
- An independent electoral commision established which monitors how much money political parties spend on campaigning
-The amount a party can spend in a constituency during an election is limited to £30,000
-Political Parties must declare large scale donations of over £5000 to the electoral commission and must now accept donations from non UK citizens.

State the arguments for state funded Political Parties:

1) The 2007, Philips report stated that there was a strong case for state funded parties because of the vast discrepancy in the amount of money parties received as well as the number of financial scandals. which undermine public faith in democracy. An example of this is the "cash for Honours" as it seemed as labour donors had been elevated to the house of lords by Tony Blair.
2)Prevent people buying influence
3) Allows minor parties to have more influence
4) It would level out the playing field and would serve democracy since the people would be better and equally represented.

Why has progress in state funded political parties been difficult?

The conservatives benefit the most from private donations so therefore if they supported this reform they would lose the advantage they currently have over the other parties.

What are the criticisms of state funded political parties?

1) We live in a free democracy so people should be able to support whichever party they like. It is no different to supporting a charity or pressure group.
2) If the state did fund parties, it would be difficult to decide how much each gets.
3)Philosophically, state funding would entail that parties are "servants to the state" which limits the independence of political parties.
4) The funding of extremist political parties such as the British National Party which excludes certain groups from equal status would be able to gain influence but not funding them could also be conversational on the grounds of democracy and free speech.