2.3- emerging and minor political parties

Question 1

When and how was the SNP created?

Answer 1

1934 as a merger between the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish party

Question 2

what defined the early SNP

Answer 2

• campaigning for Scottish people to refuse conscription
• Callaghan made an agreement with the SNP and Plaid Cymru to implement the Scotland Act in return for support in the Commons, they did not reach the threshold for support in the 1975 referendum

Question 3

when did the SNP start to advocate for Scottish independence

Answer 3

1980s

Question 4

Why was 2007 significant for the SNP ? how did this change in 2011? what did this change allow for?

Answer 4

• the SNP had a minority government, so partnerned with the greens
• they turned this into a majority government in 2011
• their majority in 2011 incentivised westminster to conduct an independence referendum

Question 5

What characterised sturgeons’ governance (2014-2023)?

Answer 5

• significant proportion of scottish seats in 2015
• EVEL reduced the power of scottish mps
• called for remaining in the EU in the 2016 referendum
• tried to call a second independence referendum, ruled against by the supreme court

Question 6

how many of the scottish seats did the SNP get in 2015? what was the reason for this?

Answer 6

• 56/ 59
• gained votes after the independence referendum

Question 7

what are the ideas and policies of the SNP?

Answer 7

• scottish independence
• left wing and support similar polcies to labour
• in 2023 the scottish government increased the higher and top rate of income tax (2% higher than the rest of the UK)
• introduced free tuition fees in scotland
• pro europe and want scotland to rejoin the EU
• oppose tridant (missiles)

Question 8

When was UKIP created and what was its aim?

Answer 8

1991, fought for the removal of the UK from the EU

Question 9

What characterised the years between 1991 and 2004 for UKIP?

Answer 9

• beaten in the 1997 election
• 1999 received 3 seats in the European Parliament and 6 seats in 2001

Question 10

What characterised the years between 2004 and 2016 for UKIP?

Answer 10

• In 2006 Nigel Farage was elected leader
• broadened policies from a single policy party: tax cuts, grammar schools and climate change denial
• success in the 2014 european parliament election and 2015 general election
• significant press in the EU referendum, success in the EU ref

Question 11

how many votes and how many seats did UKIP get in 2015

Answer 11

• 3.9 million votes
• 1 seat

Question 12

what % of people voted to leave the EU

Answer 12

52%

Question 13

what are the key ideological points of UKIP?

Answer 13

• right-wing populism
• Euroscepticism
• British nationalism
• free market
• socially conservative

Question 14

why did the brexit party emerge? when did they first see success?

Answer 14

• in 2018 nigel frarage launhced the brexit party to put pressure for a hard brexit deal
  -in 2019 won the most votes and most seats out of ANY party in the european parliament

Question 15

how could it be argued the brexit party was succesfull in the 2019 election?

Answer 15

• they encorages conservatives to shift to the right e.g with new leader boris johnson
• johnson implemented a hard brexit in line with their demands

Question 16

give a recent example of reforms success.

Answer 16

in the wellingborough byelection, the party took 13% of the vote

Question 17

what have recent polls shown about reforms popularity?

Answer 17

• polling aroung 10%

Question 18

give a recent example of a minority party success in a by election.

Answer 18

rochdale byelection, won by george galloway of the workers party

Question 19

points in favour of the view that minority parties have influence

Answer 19

• single issue parties can gain significant influence
• can exert influence through devolved bodies - minor parties have success in local elections and eu parliaments
• between 2010 and 2015 lib dems and snp saw growing success
• can fill the gap in political representation e.g greens
• minority parties have indirect influence over policy through threatening the major parties electorally- forces parties to take on their polcies, allows minor paties to act as pressure groups

Question 20

points against the view that minority parties have an influence

Answer 20

• under-represented in FPTP
• UK parliament remains sovereign, therefore limiting the power of devolved bodies
• since ww2 either labour or conservatives have always been in government
• in coalition parties, the major party remains dominant e.g lib dems with tuition fees
• major parties are broad churches allowing them to maintain significant support

Question 21

give a key example of when a minority party in a devolved body was limited.

Answer 21

• in 2021-2022 the scottish government drafted abill to hold a second referendum
• in 2023 the SC unanimously decided this was not to be peremitted as this power was reserved to westminster

Question 22

what are green party policies?

Answer 22

• pro eu
• legsalisation of canabis
• 2019 supported universal basic income
• wealth tax
• abolition of tuition fees

Question 23

what is the fall in the vote share of the two main parties between 1979 and 2015?

Answer 23

• over 80% in 1979
• 66% in 2015

Question 24

how does party funding contribute to party success? how can this be evaluated?

Answer 24

• funding allows parties to hire staff and spend on advertising and campaigning during elections
• however, funding for major parties can have a negative impact on parties when linked to corrpution (frank hester, bernie eccelstine)

Question 25

how does the electoral system affect party success? how can this be evaluated?

Answer 25

• rewards concentrated support leading to the overrepresentation of parties such as conc, lab and the SNP and underepresents minor parties
• however more proportional systems in devolved bodies allow for better representation
• further minor parties can influence policies of major parties due to their electoral threat

Question 26

how can it be argued that leadership is important to party success? how can this be evaluated?

Answer 26

• the rise of TV and social media has lead to the increased presidentialisatio of PM’s therefore increasing their importance.
• leadership can be particularly important for minor parties e.g nigel farage
• however the influence may be overstated as individuals for the most party are fixed in their voting
• further this is less of a factor if leaders are equally as popular

Question 27

how can it be argued that media is important for party success? how can this be evaluated?

Answer 27

• news papers and politcal commentators on social media present a biased perspective on events
• the conservative lean in media may be used to explain the parties success and the failure of leaders such as corbyn
• however the role of media should not be overstated as the media reports amd individuals will make up their own mind

Question 28

give an example of a party that was punished due to failing to deliver on manifesto promises?

Answer 28

• significant drop in lib dem support after allowing fr tuition fee rises

Question 29

explain the labour parties popularity between 1997 and 2010, based on their persieved competence.

Answer 29

• relection due to sustained growth and effective public service provision
• failure in 2010 due to the persieved incompetence after the 2008 crash

Question 30

What were the 2024 local election results (councilors)?

Answer 30

• greens: 181
• lib dems: 522
• comc: 515
• labour: 1158

Question 31

What did the BBC project each parties vote share would be if the whole UK voted in the 2024 local elections?

Answer 31

• labour 35%
• conservatives 25%
• Lib Dem’s 17%
• other 24%

Question 32

in BBC predictions, what % of the vote would minor parties have achieved if the whole of the UK had voted in elections?

Answer 32

41%