EOY 1A example bank

TOPIC 

EXAMPLE 

EXAMPLE 

Rights in the UK 

Judiciary: 

  • For Women Scotland Ltd vs. Scottish Ministers (2024): protected cis women’s rights

  • Shamima Begum (2021): rights vs. national security

  • Paul Lamb (2019) declined assisted dying case

Groups:

  • Liberty- challenged Investigatory Powers Act on grounds of violating privacy: courts found some parts unlawful in 2018 and 2022, L continues challenging the act

  • Mermaids helped secure NHS access to puberty blockers (2011)

  • NI Amnesty International gathered evidence on impact of NI abortion ban, pressured UK Gov → SC declared ban incompatible with the HRA

  conflict

  • free speech vs. anti hate: holocaust denial blocks

  • religion vs. equality: Ashers bakery case, B&B case

  • strikes reducing essential service access: junior doctors (2022-25)

  • Covid-19 restricting freedoms- especially with executive dominance allowing legislation to be pushed through

  • Parliament: create to protect rights e.g. EA2010, follow ECHR rulings eg. interim measure preventing the removal of an Iraqi national to Rwanda in 2022

  • overturn e.g. Public Order Act 2023, Reform/several Tory politicians support a British bill of rights over the HRA (2021 Dominic Raab announced BBoR plan)

  • + they can ignore ECHR rulings: Hirst v UK (2005) on giving prisoners the vote

  • Devolved bodies: Gender Recognition Act (2023)

  • but Parliament remains sovereign: blocked the Act and court ruled they were lawful in their blocking → shows power of judiciary too, had to permit the government

  • judiciary: judicial review can challenge government action eg. declaring Rwanda unsafe for migrants BUT Parliament remains sovereign: safety of Rwanda act 2024

Pressure Groups and Methods 

December 2025 - Pressure group National Farmers' Union gets the government to remove inheritance tax for farms worth under £5mil, NFU is large, well-organized and works with DEFRA- is an insider group and are consulted by government

  • ones like XR lack access, so rely on pressure, media, protest

National Farmers’ Union says the government ignored their concerns about inheritance tax- government can overrule and ignore any pressure

Confederation of British Industry successfully lobbied for furlough during Covid-19

Protests supporting Palestine informed Starmer’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state- 300000 people joined in 2024

  • but, when property was damaged, it pushed the government to prescribe PA as a terrorist group- shows that disruption may have negative consequences for the cause- SC overturned it

Stop the War Coalition organised against Iraq war- had over one million marching

  • campaigned against sending aid to Ukraine - government pledged £21.8B

FareShare campaigning with Marcus Rashford on social media during COVID, making the government give a 120-million-pound increase funding for free school meal vouchers

  • public pressure

but ‘Kill the Bill’ for Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022 didn’t work

2023 YouGov Poll found 68% of people disapproved of Just Stop Oil - while 82% viewed climate change as important.

  • the balance between disruption and public order colours people’s view of issues that groups advocate for

Friends of the Earth won case against Heathrow’s 3rd runway in Court of Appeal- SC overturned it in 2020

  • judiciary checks legal action against Government

For Women Scotland Ltd won their definition of women in 2010 Equality Act case in court

accountability- think tank IEA influenced Truss’s mini-budget but cannot be held accountable

Divisions in the Conservative Party 

January 2026: Nadim Zahawi, Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell defect to Reform 

Party fractures around the EU, Brexit disagreements in May’s government with Johnson and Davis resigning  

Divisions in the Labour Party 

Labour backbenchers and the Welfare Reform Bill in 2025 

November 2025 - Labour party moves to the right with immigration + Mahmood 

Social Factors and Voting Behavior 

partisan dealignment

class dealignment

  • 2024: AB (36%) Labour, DE (32%) Labour, 26% both for Conservative

  • 2024: reflected the importance of national circumstances

    • 14 years of Tories, austerity, Covid, Partygate etc. undermines importance of all social factors

race:

  • Labour typically has support from ethnic minority voters, Tories from white voters

  • between 2019-2024, Tories saw a 22% drop in white voters, Labour saw an 18% drop in ethnic minority voters -> not a homogenous voting group

gender gap narrowing?

  • 2024: 34% of men, 35% of women voted Labour

  • 23% of men, 26% of women voted Labour

 1979: 42% of 18-24 voted Tory, only 5% in 2024, to 43% by over 65s

  • anomalous, but does emphasise the point

1979-2024: 18-24 vote for Labour stayed around 40%, 65+ vote remained around 45%

Less than half of 18-24 voted in 2024, over ¾ of over-65s voted

  • younger people less likely to turnout

Labour- ‘red wall’ in the north, Tories had a ‘blue wall’ in the south/south-east

  • 2019: Johnson breached red wall- 30.6% Tory

  • 2024: labour felled blue wall seats- 45.4% Labour

London- 5/7 mayors Labour, 43% Labour vote share

education:

  • School Leavers more likely to vote Labour- also more likely to vote leave

  • Graduates more likely to vote Conservative- more likely to vote ‘remain’ —> with Labour, showing issues outclass demographic links