2.2- Established parties

Timeline:

17th Century: English Civil War, set up 'sides' of royalists and supporters of democracy, groups who became 'Tories' and 'Whigs.'

• Root of our current two-party system

By the 19th century, Toryism was the party of:

• Property

• Pragmatism

• Authoritarianism

• Tradition

• Stability

Sir Robert Peel (PM 1834-35) and Benjamin Disraeli (PM 1874-80) formed the Conservative Party, aiming to:

• Prevent abject inequality

• Preserve the kingdom

• Preserve order in society

• They established 'one-nation conservatism' in 1868-ish which saw a united populace, prioritising the wellbeing of the community

  • Emerged as a response to new liberal ideas behind revolutions in North America (1776) and France (1789)

    • Became anti- individual freedom, tolerance, representative governance and minimal interference in economic distribution

    • Franchise increased so different backgrounds needed to be catered to

    • Industrial revolution grew the middle and working classes

  • Disraeli supported social reforms and the popularity of the party saw it becoming the main governing party for most of the 20th century

  • 'noblesse oblige'- the nobility have a moral duty to help the poorer/lower classes

1980s: 'New Right Conservatism' emerges, (Thatcherism- Thatcher elected in 1975)

• Stems from competing ideas: neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism, both a response to the rise of Socialism

  • Thatcher combines the former's strong state and the latter's free markets

• Stagflation: economy is stagnating, inflation is increasing, so new economic policy attracts support

So, neo-liberal neo-conservatives = New Right:

• Less taxation

• Privatise state industries

• Reduce welfare

• Regulate trade unions

• Impose moral standards

• Push for unification

• Nationalist ideals

2010: Cameron is socially progressive (Gay marriage, Big Society) and, inheriting an economic crisis, committed to Austerity, cutting public spending

• Increase in Eurosceptic attitudes, forcing a referendum and establishing the Tories as the party backing Brexit

• High levels of debt in UK, treasury suffering so Conservatives go on a drive to cut spending

2019: Johnson wins 80-seat majority, encouraged Conservatives to boost public spending

• HS2

• Extra £36B for NHS via 1.25% NI increase in 2022

• Corporation tax from 19% to 25%

• Therefore abandoning much of the economic neo-liberalism and social conservatism

Truss later tried to reverse the NI increase, lower corporation tax and abandon 45% top rate of taxation but Sunak reinstated it quickly.

Neo-Conservatism:

More 'moral' values to ensure a stable society

National interest should always be the priority

Strong forces of law and order to impose social morality

Nationalism, strong pride + unity keeps society stable

Neo-Liberalism:

High taxation is a disincentive

State should disengage from political management

Markets should be unregulated by the state

Trade unions hinder economic growth

Welfare benefits = a dependency culture

Labour

Who do they represent?

• Previously: the newly enfranchised workers

• Currently: 'a wide umbrella'

Where are their power bases?

• Urban hubs- concentrated areas of workers + public sector workers

• Older people more likely to be conservative- retire to more rural areas

What are their main policies?

• Remove the two child cap on benefits

• Taxes on houses exceeding 2 million

  • Difficult for Londoners, where housing prices are high

• Raised minimum wage to £8

• Build 300,000 new homes a year

  • Affordable houses: 450,000

• Free breakfast clubs in all primary schools

• Froze income tax until 2031

• Investing in NHS and secondary schools

When have the Labour Party won?

• 1945: Clement Atlee

  • People wanted greater social welfare, which Churchill wouldn't follow through with

    • 1942: Beverage Report- radical plan for post-war period

• 1997: New Labour under Tony Blair

  • Winning over center + center right voters

  • Socially liberal

• 2024: Keir Starmer

  • 14 years of Tory rule- disillusionment + desire for change

    • Eroded public trust: Covid, lockdown breaches, no-deal Brexit

  • Reform split the right wing vote

How has the party changed over time?

• Groups they represent has changed

  • Increase in education

  • Shift in industry

Timeline of Labour since their inception:

1900

• Labour Party founded to represent working-class interests (Old Labour: nationalisation, welfare, unions).

1945–1951 (Attlee)

• NHS created (1948).

• About 20% of economy nationalised.

• Expansion of welfare state.

1964–1970 & 1974–1976 (Wilson)

• Social reforms (Race Relations Acts, Sex Discrimination Act).

• High progressive taxation under Labour.

1979: Labour defeated by Thatcher; party shifts left under Michael Foot.

1983

• Labour suffers heavy defeat (“longest suicide note”).

• Neil Kinnock begins modernising party toward centre.

1994: Tony Blair becomes Labour leader; start of New Labour.

1997–2007 (Blair)

• Landslide victory in 1997.

• Accepts free market; reduces focus on nationalisation.

• Major reforms: devolution, Human Rights Act, tuition fees, ASBOs.

• Public service investment increases.

2007–2010 (Brown)

• Financial crisis response (bank bailouts, stimulus).

• Continued constitutional and welfare reforms.

2010–2015 (Ed Miliband)

• Moves Labour left of Blair.

• Supports 50p tax rate and tighter regulation of capitalism.

2015–2019 (Jeremy Corbyn)

• Big shift to the left; rise of Momentum.

• 2017 election surge (40% vote).

• 2019 election collapse (202 seats); worst result since 1935.

2020–present (Keir Starmer)

• Moves party back to centre.

• Policies include Great British Energy, NHS renewal, NATO support, tough crime stance.

3 Key Events In Its History:

• Labour’s first majority government In 1945, post-war, high-point in democratic socialism. NHS was introduced, 20% of the economy was nationalised: steel, electricity, coal and the Bank of England.

• Blair’s rebranding of the Labour Party as New Labour, in 1995. After failure of 1983 general election, Labour abandoned its most socialist policies and moved towards the centre. Blair wanted a compromise between extremes of socialism and capitalism. Encouraged policies for wealth creation rather than wealth redistribution. Social justice within a prosperous capitalist economy.

• Jeremy Corbyn 2015-2020, as the Labour party shifted quite far left into more socialist ideas. He received an unexpected landslide because of Ed Miliband-seeming to win, but did not. “For The Many Not the Few”

How far has the Labour Party changed since 1900 and why have these changed occurred?

Economy: more centrist social democratic approach. Keir Starmer promised a publicly owned energy company and still is more likely than the Conservatives to tax wealth.

Welfare: great renewal of the NHS. Abolish universal credit as it traps people in poverty. Removing charitable status of independent schools and abolishing tuition fees: socialist.

Law and Order: harder on criminals than Conservative party. Strengthen the law on crimes against women and girls, decrease number of police on the street.

Foreign Policy: re-emphasized the party’s traditional commitment to NATO and an independent nuclear deterrent. This is similar to Attlee. Labour wants to maintain the existing balance of power in the Far East. Labour’s foreign and defense policy is more assertive and interventionist than under Jeremy Corbyn - firmly focused on the UK’s national security interests.

Overall, 1983 Labour: further nationalisation, increased taxation of the wealthier, withdrawal from the European Economic Community and unilateral nuclear disarmament.

    1980s, unions lost their power and reputation, ushering in a period of decreasing union influence over Labour

Overall New Labour:

• Tough new laws on anti-social behaviour to combat crime

• Constitutional modernisation: House of Lords, ECHR incorporated in the HRA 1998, independent Supreme Court. Devolution as well

• Committed to social justice: minimum wage introduced and significant increase in public spending.

• Gordon Brown attempted to stabilise public finances by introducing ‘prudence for a purpose’ - only borrow to invest, not to fund day-to-day expenses

Overall Now:

• Distanced Labour from democratic socialism represented by Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum

• It has not re-embraced principles of New labour but remains committed to achieving social justice. Mixed economy rather than embracing capitalism. Labour still believed in redistributive taxation.

• Labour likens itself to New Labour’s modernising plans for decentralisation, although far from traditional socialism.

Evaluate the view that the Labour party's success in 2024 came from abandoning its core principles:

Lib Dem

• Classical liberalism

  • 1850s: Whigs and radicals (parliament reforms + royal limits) joined former Peel supporters over free trade

  • Liberal Party became a dominant force in British politics, advocating free trade, lower taxes, balanced budgets, parliamentary and administrative reform, more moral approach to foreign policy under Gladstone

    • First in 1868 and leaving for the last time in 1894

• 1900 to modern day: modern liberalism

  • Increasingly influenced by T.H Green, Hobson + Beveridge, who argued that the government needed to have adequate welfare provisions for the vulnerable

  • 1908-1914: 'New Liberalism'- freedom required basic standard of living

    • Asquith: pensions, sickness + unemployment insurance introduced

  • Labour Party from 1900 provided an alternative and from 1922: Liberals declined after Lloyd George resigned, and Labour + Tories shared power for the rest of the 20th century

• But, early 1980s: Liberals entered an electoral pact with former Labour MPs who established the Social Democratic Party

  • Campaigning as the Alliance, they merged in 1988 as the Liberal Democrats

• Growing success under Paddy Ashdown and won 62 seats in 2005- (Kennedy's opposition to the Iraq War)

1. Numbers dipped to 57, support needed in Cameron's government so, under Clegg, they rejoined government

• Cameron and Clegg's coalition agreement gave Clegg deputy PM and Lib Dems 5 seats

• Lib Dems promised to scrap tuition fees, BUT Tories push to increase them instead -> anger!

       2015: only won 8 seats, coalition introduced Austerity- wildly unpopular

Current Lib Dems:

• As it’s a combination Party, the ideas cover a broad spectrum. Some tensions between the social democratic left and the Lib Dems

  • Core principles stand: internationalism, constitutional reform

  • Pro-Europe- but 2021: Davy acknowledged they wouldn't be rejoining the EU

  • Committed on staying in the ECHR

  • Tradition of democratic HoL and further devolution

  • Introduction of proportional representation in the HoC