Minor Parties And Lib Dem Evidence

Question 1

Which two parties formed an alliance with each other to fight the 1983 and 1987 GE’s before forming the Liberal Democrat’s in 1988

Answer 1

The liberals and the SDP

Question 2

How many seats did the Liberal Democrat’s gain in the 1997 election

Answer 2

46

Question 3

How many seats did the Liberal Democrat’s gain in 2005

Answer 3

62

Question 4

The Liberal Democrat’s in the early 2000’s: they were a centre-left party

Answer 4

They were opposed to the Iraq War, identity cards and tuition fees and wanted to introduce a new 50% tax rate for those earning over £100,000

Question 5

Orange book liberals e.g.

Answer 5

Nick Clegg, one of the authors of the Orange Book, became party leader in 2007 and aimed to position the party so that it could conceivably work in a coalition with one of the other major parties

In their 2010 election, their manifesto included making the first £10,000 people earn tax free, scrapping university tuition fees for undergraduate students, changing the Trident nuclear missives system and backing constitutional reform.

Question 6

In their 2010 election what did the Liberal Democrat manifesto include

Answer 6

In their 2010 election, their manifesto included making the first £10,000 people earn tax free, scrapping university tuition fees for undergraduate students, changing the Trident nuclear missives system and backing constitutional reform.

Question 7

How many seats did the Lib Dem’s win in 2015

Answer 7

8

Question 8

How many seats did the Lib Dem’s win in 2017

Answer 8

12

Question 9

Controversial support from Lib Dem’s

Answer 9

In 2019 they supported the legalisation of cannabis

Question 10

Since 2016 the SNP have been…

Answer 10

Since 2016 the SNP has been in power in Scotland either as a minority government or as the major party in a coalition government with the Scottish Greens.

Question 11

The SNP’s majority in……. Led to the Westminster government agreeing to a Scottish Independence referendum that was held in ……..

Answer 11

2011

2014

Question 12

How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2015 General Election

Answer 12

56/59

Question 13

How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2017 General Election

Answer 13

35/59

Question 14

How many Scottish constituencies did the SNP win in the 2019 General Election

Answer 14

48/59

Question 15

What did the SNP oppose in 2017 and 2019 and argue should be ended

Answer 15

Austerity

Question 16

How many votes did UKIP get in the 2015 General election and how many seats did it get

Answer 16

3.9million votes

1 MP

Question 17

When did Nigel Farage launch the Brexit Party

Answer 17

Nigel Farage launched the Brexit Party ahead of the May 2019 European Parliament elections to pressure for a hard Brexit deal and oppose Theresa May’s moderate withdrawal agreement.

Question 18

In 2015, the Green Party won………….. across the UK but failed to win any more seats (only seat Caroline Lucas)

Answer 18

More than a million votes across the UK

Question 19

In the 2019 European elections the Green Party won …… MEPs

Answer 19

7 and over 2 million votes

Question 20

In the 2019 General Election the Green Party won …… % of the vote but just …… seat

Answer 20

2.7%

One

Question 21

How many seats did Plaid Cymru win in the 2019 UK Parliament election

Answer 21

4 seats (0.5% of the vote)

Question 22

Which party receives significant funding from trade unions?

Answer 22

Labour

Question 23

Conservatives receive major funding from

Answer 23

Businesses and rich individuals

Question 24

Who does FPTP benefit

Answer 24

Labour, Conservatives, SNP, the DUP and Sinn Fein

But it greatly harms the prospects of other minor parties such as UKIP/ The Brexit Party, the Liberal Democrat’s and the Green Party

Question 25

PMs with charismatic

Answer 25

Boris Johnson 2019

Blair in 1997

Question 26

Poor and unpopular leaders can have a detrimental impact on the popularity of political party by deterring voters e.g.

Answer 26

Theresa May 2017

Jeremy Corbyn 2019

Question 27

Popular and charismatic leaders can be particularly important for minor parties who struggle to gain political prominence and voter attention in the context of two-party dominance

Answer 27

Nigel Farage and Nicola Sturgeon

Question 28

Influence of leaders on party success can be overstated ………..

Answer 28

As local MPs play a key role and many voters are likely to vote for the same party irrespective or their leader.

Question 29

Media newspaper example

Tony Blair

Answer 29

Tony Blair’s ability to court traditionally Conservative Party newspapers, including the sun, in the 1997 election is seen by many as an important factor in Labour’s landslide victory in that election.

Question 30

Media damaging corbyn

Answer 30

Many who supported the Labour Party under Corbyn believe the party was presented extremely unfairly by the media when Corbyn was in power, which damaged Labour’s chances of winning the 2017 and 2019 general elections.

Question 31

Voters voting for a party due to their main policy e.g.

Answer 31

The significant support received by UKIP in the 2015 general election was largely due to how their main policy of Brexit appealed to a large number of voters who were disaffected with their lives and the political system, seeing Brexit as offering a change.

Question 32

Rise in SNP

Answer 32

Rise in SNP as a consequence of significant part of the Scottish public’s support for independence

Question 33

Voters reward parties who deliver on their manifesto policies and manage the economy and government effectively, whilst punishing those who don’t

Answer 33

Dramatic drop in support for the Lib Dem’s after they participated in a coalition government with the conservatives.

By contrast labour won the 2001 and 2005 elections in part as a consequence of continued economic growth and effective public service provision when in power.

Question 34

Divided parties seem weak, incompetent and lack effective leadership e.g.

Answer 34

• 1997 - conservative party’s damaging divisions over Europe were important in their poor electoral performance.
• failure of Labour Party in the 2019 general election, party as divided between the more left wing leadership and membership and significant sections of the parliamentary Labour Party, which was much more moderate, as well as over their second referendum policy.