Party Politics after Brexit Flashcards
(39 cards)
Following the 2010 election, who did Cameron form a coalition government with?
Liberal Democrats
When Gordon Brown resigned as Labour Party leader, who replaced him?
Ed Miliband
What was the ‘Third-Way’?
More left wing economic agenda
How did immigration influence the ‘Third-Way’s’ popularity?
With Labour’s unpopular record on immigration, Ed Miliband couldn’t find sustainable position between anti-immigration and support for free migration in the EU
How did the economy influence the ‘Third-Way’ popularity?
Voters’ believe that 2007 financial crisis and austerity that followed was Labour’s fault
How did the Miliband influence the ‘Third-Way’ popularity?
He was unpopular with voters and MPs
How did the media influence the ‘Third-Way’ popularity?
Hostile media environment circulated negative press about Labour and Ed Miliband, furthering fuelling the discontent for the Labour Party
How did the SNP influence the ‘Third-Way’ popularity?
Opinion polls pointed consistently to a hung parliament in 2015. Tories campaigned relentlessly on prospect of Labour relying on SNP to govern. People did not like the SNP or its leader at the time, very harmful to Labour’s likeability.
Who won the 2015 general election?
Cameron’s Conservatives
How was Jeremy Corbyn able to win the 2015 leadership election?
While leader, Miliband reformed party rules for leadership elections
What were the difficulties of Corbyn’s leadership?
- Mocked by the media
- Unpopular with MPs and voters
What caused infighting in the Labour Party from 2015?
Corbyn’s leadership
What were Corbyn’s views on the EU?
He is a lifelong Eurosceptic, but he was under pressure from his party to campaign for remain.
What is meant by ‘member of the hard left faction’?
Why was Corbyn an outsider?
Few political friends
Serial rebel
Notorious poor performer in the House of Commons
Never held frontbencher position or any serious responsibility in politics
In terms of electoral context, how did Corbyn win?
- Appetite in the selectorate for a change in direction and optimism following Miliband’s leadership
- Welcoming a clear break from New Labour
- Miliband’s reform meant that Corbyn didn’t need to win support of MPs and unions. He could appeal to members and non-members.
In terms of leadership, how did Corbyn win?
Miliband was seen as a weak leader and bad for the economy. Corbyn, in contrast, impressed supporters with his authenticity.
Some were attracted to Corbyn’s ideology, others to the man himself.
Highly effective campaign based on his distinctive character and left-wing politics
Ran as a movement against established ways of doing politics
Corbyn despises media and established ‘rules’ of politics – turned to his advantage
His campaign made very effective social media campaign attracted supporters and money, and allowed Corbyn to exploit new rules
Other candidates looked dull by comparison and struggled to explain what was wrong with Corbyn’s proposals other than them ‘not being electable’
In terms of ideology, how did Corbyn win?
Supporter of Tony Benn & AES, fierce critic of Thatcherism & New Labour
Part of the ‘hard left’ – believed Labour needed to be more socialist and that it could win if it stood on a truly socialist platform that would energise voters
Blamed SDP in 1981 for undermining Labour’s appeal and splitting the ‘left vote’ in 1983 –> The SDP actually took votes from the Tories in 1983!
In 2015, Corbyn’s ideology was very distinct from compassionate conservatism, liberalism, Third Way & Ed Miliband’s ‘One Nation Labour’
What is New Labour?
What is Ed Miliband’s ‘One Nation Labour’?
What was Corbyn’s economic policies?
- Commitment to nationalisation (energy, Openreach, National Grid, Water, rail)
- Council house building and ‘right to buy’ for private tenants
- Increased taxes for corporations and ‘top 5%’
- Abolition of tuition fees
- Higher welfare spending and scrap Universal Credit
- Increased minimum wage and a 4 day working week
- National Care Service, National Education Service and more money for NHS
- 10% company shares transferred to workers
What similarities do Corbynism and ‘Third-Way’ / Liberal Conservatism share?
Social issues, though some of Corbyn’s backers in trade unions supported more conservative stance on immigration
What was Corbyn’s foreign and security policy?
- Critical of NATO & US
- Sympathetic towards Russia, Iran, IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah
- Opposed to ‘Western intervention’ – Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Falklands
- Eurosceptic for the same reason as ‘hard left’ in 1980s i.e., Europe was a capitalist club
- Opposed to nuclear deterrent
- Sceptical of many security and terrorism laws (e.g., ‘shoot to kill’)
What is the size and scope of state in the economy under Corbynism?
Extensive nationalisation and resume commitment to full employment
