ECL Topic 2 - Political Parties Flashcards
(19 cards)
LW vs RW policies on crime
LW - solve underlying problems eg rehab
centrist - tough on crime and causes
RW - tough on criminals
LW vs RW policies on society
LW - equality in society
centrist - equality of opportunity
RW - inequality exists
LW vs RW policies on tax
LW - high to achieve equality
centrist - balanced fairly
RW - low taxation
Conservatives - recent leaders and policies
Cameron - One Nation ‘Big Society’, austerity, Brexit referendum
May - social mobility with grammar schools, harsh on immigration, no Brexit deal
Johnson - Get Brexit Done, Partygate, furlough scheme
Truss - mini-budget, lettuce, trickle down economics
Sunak - Rwanda, cuts after Truss
New Labour
Thatcher vs Foot - longest suicide note in history, too left - 1983
Neil Kinnock - dropped Clause IV common ownership
Blair - New Labour + Mandelson, Campbell, and Brown
- increase public spending
- devolution
- HRA
- Stop and Search
- Iraq/Special Relationship
- UK music - Britpop/Cool Brittania
Brown
- Lehman Brothers bank collapse - credit crunch
- expenses scandal
Current Labour party - socialist?
Yes
- increase minimum wage
- nationalisation of GBE and some railways
- Co-Operative Party collaboration
- increased public spending
- union funding
- private school VAT
- farmers’ inheritance tax
No
- winter fuel payments
- increased bus fares
- less union power
- enough public spending?
- market-oriented policies
Green Party - ideas/policies
Economy - increase minimum wage to eliminate poverty
Environmental - end subsidies for fossil fuel-based power, close coal-fired power stations, phase out nuclear energy, invest in renewable energy sources, net-zero by 2030
Foreign policy - nuclear disarmament, anti-Iraq/Afghan/Yemen/Libya, indigenous peoples’ rights
Drugs - end prohibition of drugs - system of legal regulation, open overdose prevention centres
Transport - prioritise accessibility of public transport to promote use, public ownership of railways
Governance - pro-EU, replace FPTP with proportional, pro-Scottish and Welsh independence
SNP - ideas/policies
Scotland to be a part of the EU
Scottish independence
Scrap Trident
LGBTQ+ reforms
More devolved powers
Reform UK - ideas/policies
Cut down on immigration
No more small boats in the Channel
Cut down NHS waiting lists
Better wages
Affordable energy bills
Nationalism
Impact of smaller parties on the political system
Media attention
Policy aggregation
Impact on vote share in devolved areas/local elections
Partisan dealignment
Disillusionment with FPTP system
Does the UK have a multiparty system?
Yes
- 2019 general election - 24.3% of voters backed parties other than the big two
- LibDems in a coalition, SNP in power
- recent YouGov polling predicts Reform to gain 364 seats at the next election, with the LibDems set to become the official opposition
- Reform success at local elections, winning 10 councils, and LibDems winning 3 - Cons/Lab = 0
No
- FPTP doesn’t always give smaller parties a realistic chance
- Lab/Cons secured 57.4% of vote in 2024 and 82% of 650 contested seats
- LibDems secured 12.2% of vote and 11% of seats
Party state funding - advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- could reduce party dependence on vested interest and wealthy individuals
- would create a level playing field for parties
- would improve party performance by allowing them to function more effectively
Disadvantages
- may weaken links to larger society that are formed by seeking financial support
- may create bias in favour of existing parties if level of funding reflects past party performance
- may reduce party independence - would make them part of the state machine
Current state of party funding
Public funding
- Short money for opposition parties administration costs - no campaign money
Donations
- Conservatives from wealthy individuals, Labour from TUs
Membership costs
- Greens mainly benefit - membership currently declining hence the reduction in fundraising this way
Party factions sources
- ideological differences
- salient issues create divides
- war and conflict
- economical management
- immigration
Liberal Democrat factions
Beveridge Group - centre-left, promote debate about public service provision
Orange Bookers - balance 5 main strands of liberalism, adhere more strongly to economic and personal liberal principles - Clegg, Davey
Labour factions
Momentum - left-wing Corbynites, links to hard left groups
Labour First - right-wing, dislike Corbyn, grown under Starmer
Progress - New Labour, RW, sidelined under Corbyn
Compass - opposition to Blair, critical friends of Corbyn
Conservative factions
Thatcherites - low taxation, force changes to policy, privatisation, eg Badenoch
ERG - Euro-sceptic Conservatives eg Braverman, Gove
One Nation - organic living, paternalism, welfare eg Cameron
Conservatives or Labour - who’s more divided?
Economy
- Conservatives - split over how to spend public finances - New Right want tax curs to promote growth whereas One Nation reject unfunded tax cuts due to impact on public services
- Labour - support idea of state intervention in economy, key industries controlled by gov - continued approach despite leader eg Corbyn then Starmer on nationalisation
Welfare
- Conservatives - reduce benefits eg universal credit by £20 per week - very Thatcherite yet clashes with One Nation yet wrote off hospital debt during COVID
- Labour - Starmer distanced himself from Corbyn, more New Labour approach. Welfare state yet some cuts viewed as too far by left of the party
Law and order
- Conservatives - anti-immigration, tough sentencing however New Right believe Rwanda didn’t go far enough and want to pull out of ECHR, whereas One Nation feel UK does not provide safe legal routes for asylum - Cameron rehab rather than punishment, May against Stop and Search of black community, Cameron pro-gay marriage
- Labour - divided over Gender Recognition Bill - social conservatism vs social liberalism, pledged to stop Rwanda - LW not illegalising immigration and New Labour using migrants to plug employment gaps
Foreign affairs
- Conservatives - Brexit yet removed whip, 4 MPs have left office over EU relations - divide between New Right to leave and One Nation to remain
- Labour - in favour of commitment to contributing 0.7% of GDP to international development
TORIES MORE DIVIDED
Consensus vs adversarial politics
Consensus politics - A reference to political situations where there is widespread agreement between parties and groups on key political issues. It can also refer to a circumstance where there are few policy differences between major parties.
Adversarial politics - refers to a style of politics where leaders appear to be antagonistic towards each other and demonstrate extreme levels of conflict. Prime Minister’s Question Time in the UK is an example of adversarial politics.
