1.2 Edexcel A-level Politics: UK political parties

Definition of key terms and key facts about the UK political parties topic.

Political parties

Group of individuals with similar political goals and ideologies seeking election to public office.

The difference between political parties and pressure groups

• They usually have a broad policy platform

• They seek change through gaining office

• They often have significant input from their members and are highly organised

Manifestos

Documents that parties release before the election containing policies they promise to enact if elected into office.

Mandate

A party’s authority to enact its manifesto, usually based on winning an election.

Different kinds of mandate

• Parliamentary majority

• Coalition

• Minority government

• Doctor’s mandate

Parliamentary majority

The party that has taken office gained 326 seats or more in the Commons.

Coalition

No party gains a majority (a hung Parliament), the largest party may form a coalition with one or more other parties, which makes its mandate less clear.

Minority government

A party might also form a government with less than a majority, relying on the support of other parties in votes.

Doctor’s mandate

The government proposes measures not in the manifesto in response to changing circumstances.

Functions of political parties

• Electing leaders

• Participation

• Providing personnel of government

• Policy formulation (the manifesto)

• Representation

• Selecting candidates

Electing leaders

Party members elect candidates to be party leader from among the candidates approved by a certain proportion of its MPs.

Examples of parties electing leaders

• In 2022, the party membership voted for Liz Truss (57%) over Rishi Sunak (43%)

• The current rules state that if an MP can secure the backing of 10% of the parliamentary Labour Party, their name will go to the party membership to vote on

Participation

• Parties make the electorate aware of political issues

• Depending on their level of internal democracy, parties can give people the chance to exercise power within the party

Policy formulation

• Parties discuss and develop policy proposals that they present in a single coherent manifesto to voters

• This is often done in consultation with party members

Examples of the Labour Party forming policies (the manifesto)

• Before the 2017 general election, the National Policy Forum and the elected National Executive Council worked closely with the leadership and senior members of the parliamentary party to ‘aggregate’ a manifesto that fairly represented the political opinions of the Labour movement

Examples of other parties forming policies (the manifesto)

• The Conservative Party also encourages consultation and discussion among its membership, although the manifesto is more likely to be drawn up by senior members of the party.

• More decentralised parties such as the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party give the party membership the final decision over what appears in the party manifesto.

Providing personnel of government

• Without parties, the Commons would be just a collection of individuals with competing goals and ambitions

• Parties provide the personnel making up the government, creating a smooth transition of governments

Examples of political parties providing personnel of government

• In 2010, the membership of the parliamentary Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties provided the membership of the coalition government.

Representation

• Parties are supposed to represent the views of their members and those who vote for them

• There is a range of minority parties representing less mainstream views, while regional parties can also gain more power in devolved assemblies

Selecting candidates

• Parties select candidates to fight local, regional, and general elections

• Candidates must be a party member, pass a national selection process and then be selected by the constituency party, which usually then endorses its candidate as MP

Examples of political parties selecting candidates

• In 2022, the Labour MP Sam Tarry, who had been sacked as a shadow minister by Sir Keir Starmer on the grounds that he was out of touch with the leadership, was deselected by his Ilford South constituency

Political parties are good for democracy

• Representative democracy allow governments to form, which are united under one ideology

• Parties offer a clear and coherent choice that voters can understand

• Parties select suitable candidates for office, vetting them on the basis of competence and extreme views

Examples of political parties allowing governments to form

• New governments form immediately after a general election because political parties provide personnel that make up governments and have elected a leader amongst themselves

Examples of political parties offering a clear and coherent choice that voters can understand

• The Conservative Party generally stands for lower taxes than the Labour Party

Examples of political parties selecting suitable candidates for office

• Lee Anderson was expelled from the Conservative Party for alleged Islamophobic remarks about Sadiq Khan

Political parties are not good for democracy

• MP’s freedom is limited by party whips, who require them to vote in line with the government

• Voter choice is limited by having to vote for a package of policies they may no fully reflect their views

• Parties create a ‘spirit of faction’

‘Spirit of faction’

• Political parties failing to work with one another and instead, focusing on their differences

• This contributes to polarisation

Examples of MP’s freedoms limited by party whips

• Pro-EU MPs, such as Dominic Grieve and Rory Stewart, who opposed to a no-deal Brexit had the whip removed

Examples of voter choice being limited by having to vote for a package of policies

• Red Wall voters disagreed with Johnson on all but Brexit

Examples of parties creating a ‘spirit of faction’

• Labour and the SNP agreed on the need for a Gaza ceasefire but there was political tension as their proposed motions had different wordings

Funding of political parties

Most election costs are funded by:

• membership subscriptions

• constituency fundraising events

Traditional funding for the Labour and Conservative parties

• The Labour Party has been funded by trade unions

• The Conservative Party has been funded by businesses

Sources of state funding for UK political parties

• Policy development grants, which give £2 million to the main parties to hire policy advisers

• Short money is given to opposition parties for their work in the Commons, based on their number of seats

• Cranbourne money is given to fund the work of scrutiny carried out by opposition parties in the Lords

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000

• 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

• Parties had to declare large donations (over £7500 nationally)

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

The Phillips Report (2007)

• This recommended that parties should be funded through taxation and that a limit of £50,000 be put on donations from individuals and businesses

• This has yet to be acted on, as the two major parties benefit from large donations

Political parties should be state funded

• Private funding gives an unfair advantage to the two main parties and reinforces the duopoly

• Parties are more influenced by union/corporate donors than the public

• Donors often are rewarded unfairly with perks

• The cost of state funding is relatively small

Examples of private funding giving an unfair advantage to main parties and reinforcing the duopoly

• In the 2024 election, the Conservatives and Labour were responsible for about 83% of campaign spending

Examples of the two main parties being influenced by union/corporate donors

• Labour exempted Formula 1 from the 1997 ban on tobacco advertisting because its boss, Bernie Ecclestone, was a major Labour donor

Examples of big donors being rewarded unfairly with perks

• In 2021, Conservative donor Peter Cruddas was recommended by PM Boris Johnson to be awarded a peerage

Examples of the cost of state funding being relatively small

• The Phillips report recommended state funding of £25 million

Political parties should not be state funded

• If state funding was based on previous electoral success, the two main parties would still have an advantage over smaller parties

• Parties may become more reluctant to criticise and challenge the government

• Election outcomes seem unrelated to how much money parties receive

• Controversial to fund extreme parties with taxpayer money

Examples of if how if state funding was based on electoral success, the two main parties would still have an advantage over smaller parties

• Labour and the Conservatives currently hold 82% of seats in the Commons

Examples of how electoral outcomes seem unrelated to how much money parties receive

• The Brexit Party spent £4.15 million in 2019 but won no seats, while the SNP received only £24,929 in donations and won 48

Examples of how it would be controversial to fund extreme parties with taxpayer money

• The Green Party, which calls for more radical climate action, had only £1.57 million in donations in 2022

• Anti-immigration party Britain First came fourth in the 2023 Tamworth by-election

The political spectrum within political parties

Political parties are made up of people who share the same ideology (core principles and beliefs)

They have similar views on big issues such as:

• the economy

• the role of the state

Left-wing views

• A more collectivist view of society (working together for common goals)

• Greater government intervention, particularly economic, to promote equality

• A preference for multiculturalism and non-traditional lifestyles

• Diplomacy and non-interventionism in foreign policy

Right-wing views

• A more individualist view of society (being free to pursue one’s own goals)

• Less government intervention, particularly economic, to preserve freedom

• A preference for a shared and stable national identity and traditional lifestyles

• Military strength and interventionism in foreign policy

Conservatism

• Commitment to traditional values and ideas

• Favour free enterprise, private ownership

Ideological branches of the Conservative Party

• Traditional conservatism

• One-Nation conservatism

• The New Right

Origins of traditional conservatism

• Traditional conservatism emerged during the English Civil War, when supporters of the monarchy and established Church of England resisted increased parliamentary power and religious toleration

• They viewed this as a defence of tradition against destabilising change

Core principles of traditional conservatism

• private property

• pragmatism

• pessimism about human nature

• tradition and the preservation of institutions

• gradual change (organic society/state)

Pragmatism

Seeing what works in each case.

Examples of traditional conservatives

• Edmund Burke

• Thomas Hobbes

Origins of One-Nation conservatism

• One-Nation conservatism emerged in the 19th century with Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

• Disraeli was concerned that the growing inequality caused by the Industrial Revolution was leading to the development of ‘two nations’: rich and poor

Core principles of One-Nation conservatism

• Private property

• Pragmatism

• Traditions and preservation of institutions

• Paternalism

• Welfare state and economic regulations

Paternalism

A moral duty of the rich to the poor.

Examples of One-Nation conservatives

• Harold Macmillian

• Ted Heath

• Rory Stewart

The origins of the New Right

The New Right, most associated with Margaret Thatcher, combines two philosophies: neoliberalism and neoconservatism.

Neoliberalism

The view that the economy best regulates itself, with government intervention limited to ensuring that the free market functions well.

Core principles of neoliberalism

• Low taxes

• Privatisation

• Reducing inflation and interest rates to encourage investment (monetarism)

• Discouraging ‘dependency culture’ through the welfare state

• Limiting the influence of trade unions

Neoconservatism

The view that the state should promote traditional values and law and order to preserve security and a sense of community.

Core principles of neoconservatism

• Greater police powers and prison sentences

• Discouraging the ‘permissive society’ which threatens traditional family values

• Protecting the country through a strong defence and military intervention

• Scepticism of international bodies like the EU

David Cameron as an One-Nation conservative

• Cameron showed an interest in the environment and climate change, introducing a Carbon Plan and a 5p charge on plastic bags

• His Chancellor, George Osbourne, introduced a ‘Living Wage’ which raised the minimum wage

• He championed the idea of the ‘Big Society’, co-operation between the state and the voluntary sector

• He promoted a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ for prisoners, rewarding firms and charities that helped offenders to reform

• In 2014, he legalised same-sex marriage

David Cameron as a New Right conservative

• ‘Austerity’ to reduce the budget deficit in the wake of the 2008 financial crash

• Welfare was cut to encourage self-reliance, with Chancellor George Osborne distinguishing between ‘strivers’ and ‘shirkers’

• Privatised Royal Mail, a policy that Thatcher had rejected as ‘privatising the Queen’s head’

• In foreign policy, he favoured strong links with the USA, military intervention in Libya and against ISIS in Syria, and a renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the EU

Theresa May as an One-Nation conservative

• Self-described One-Nation conservative

• Increased NHS funding by £20 billion

• Established the first ‘Race Disparity Audit’

• Committed to Net Zero by 2050

Theresa May as a New Right conservative

• Gave extra powers to law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat terrorism

• Aimed to create a ‘hostile environment’ to illegal immigration

• Banned the stimulant khat

Boris Johnson as an One-Nation conservative

• Among first conservatives to endorse same-sex marriage

• Called for amnesty for illegal immigrants

• Gained popularity because of his ‘levelling up’ agenda, which promised to invest in towns and cities in deprived areas

• Pledged an extra £36 billion for the NHS over three years, partly funded by an increase in corporation tax, and big infrastructure projects like HS2

• He relaxed rules on immigration for students and certain workers in what Starmer has called an ‘open borders experiment’

Boris Johnson as a New Right conservative

• Support for Brexit and his promise to ‘Get Brexit Done’

• Introduction of new police powers over protests with the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022

• Formulated the Rwanda Asylum

Liz Truss’ neoliberalism

• Liz Truss pledged to reverse Johnson’s rises on corporation tax and National Insurance, while cutting the top rate of income tax

• She also made a proposal, quickly withdrawn, to reduce public sector pay outside London

• Her stated priorities were ‘growth, growth, growth’

Rishi Sunak as a One-Nation conservative

• Sunak reversed Liz Truss’ tax cuts and was committed to balancing the budget

• As Chancellor during Covid, he also introduced the furlough scheme to support those out of work, at a cost of £70 billion

Rishi Sunak’s neoconservatism

• Preventing migration on ‘small boats’ through the Rwanda asylum plan

• Allowing single-sex spaces to refuse trans women

• Keeping parents informed of issues surrounding their children’s gender identity in schools

• Banning drugs such as nitrous oxide

• Delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel cars

Kemi Badenoch as a New Right conservative

Kemi Badenoch won the party leadership on a platform of:

• reduced economic regulation

• lower taxes

• criticism of identity politics and ‘woke’ culture

• opposition to gender self-ID 

• support for Brexit and controlled immigration

Origins of euroscepticism in the Conservative Party

• The Conservative Party has had a strong Eurosceptic faction since the 1970s when Britain joined the European Economic Community

• It was originally associated with controversial figures like Enoch Powell

The influence of euroscepticism under David Cameron

• The European Research Group (ERG), which saw the EU as a threat to parliamentary sovereignty and controlled immigration, grew

• This contributed, along with a rise in support for UKIP,  to Cameron’s decision to call the EU referendum in 2016

• Subsequent Conservative leaders have all been ideologically committed to Brexit, whether they supported it before 2016 or not

Treatment of pro-EU conservatives

Ken Clarke, Dominic Grieve and Rory Stewart have either left or been forced out of the party, with Grieve and Stewart having the whip removed.

Areas of Conservative policy

• Brexit

• The economy

• Foreign policy

• Law and order

• Social issues

• Welfare

The Conservative Party as New Right on Brexit

• Since 2015, the party has become increasingly dominated by MPs and leaders committed to Brexit; Johnson and May both pursued a ‘hard Brexit’, leaving the Single Market and Customs Union

The Conservative Party as One-Nation on the economy

• Government spending in 2021 was 42% of the economy, similar to the 1970s

• Sunak reversed Truss’ tax cuts in order to balance the budget

The Conservative Party as New Right on the economy

• The increased spending in 2022 was partly because of Covid

• Cameron privatised Royal Mail

• Truss cut taxes as apart of her ‘mini-budget’

The Conservative Party as New Right (to a small degree) on foreign policy

• Conservatives have intervened in Libya, Syria and Ukraine, but are less interventionist than Blair

• There have been recent increases in defence spending, but they don’t compensate for austerity-era cuts to the size of the armed forces

The Conservative Party as New Right on law and order

Powers given to the police and the appointment of authoritarian Home Secretaries suggest a commitment to a ‘tough on crime’ approach

The Conservative Party on as One-Nation on social issues

• Cameron legalised gay marriage, opposed by most Tory MPs

• The government allowed ‘no fault divorce’ in 2022

• Johnson relaxed immigration rules after Covid

The Conservative Party as New Right on social issues

• Conservatives took a tough line on illegal immigration (Rwanda)

• Sunak allowed single-sex spaces to refuse trans women

The Conservative Party as One-Nation on welfare

• Cameron raised the minimum wage

• All leaders have expressed commitment to the NHS

• Universal Credit is designed to simplify benefits while encouraging people to work

The Conservative Party as New Right on welfare

• Cameron oversaw cuts to welfare under austerity

Socialism

• Characterised by its opposition to capitalism

• The different strands of socialism differ in their acceptance of capitalism

• Advocates for greater equality and the redistribution of wealth

• Favour economic intervention

Socialist views on the economy

• High taxes

• Nationalisation

• Economic intervention

Socialist views on welfare

• Universal and free

• Unconditional

Socialist views on society/law and order

• Rehabilitation over punishment

• Internationalism and solidarity

Socialist views on foreign policy

• Favour diplomacy over military intervention

Ideological branches of the Labour Party

• Old Labour

• New Labour

Old Labour

• Traditionally, Labour has been seen as a socialist party, but has never been revolutionary

• Labour PM Harold Wilson said the party ‘owes more to Methodism (a Christian denomination committed to social justice) than Marxism’

• The party has originally represented a compromise between democratic socialism and social democracy

Democratic socialism

The view that socialism should be pursued gradually through democracy by a working class-led party.

Examples of democratic socialism in the Labour Party

• Clement Atlee

• Aneurin Bevan

• Tony Benn

Social democracy

The view that social justice can be achieved under capitalism through taxes and a mixed economy.

Examples of social democracy in the Labour Party

• Harold Wilson

• Roy Jenkins

Core principles of Old Labour

• Close links to trade union

• Extensive welfare state

• Nationalisation

• Redistributive taxation

• Social justice and egalitarianism

Examples of close links to trade unions

Historically, most small and large unions were affiliated (officially linked) with Labour, paying a fee in exchange for influence over Labour policy.

Extensive welfare state

Services and benefits operated by the government.

Examples of an extensive welfare state

• The NHS was created under Attlee’s Health Secretary Aneurin (Nye) Bevan