Political Parties Flashcards
(136 cards)
1
Q
What is a Political Parties?
A
a group of like-minded individuals who seek to realise their shared goals by fielding candidates at elections and thereby securing election to public office.
2
Q
What do most mainstream parties aim to achieve?
A
Most mainstream UK parties ultimately aim to emerge victorious at a general election, however distant that goal might appear at a given point in time. In this respect, parties differ significantly from pressure groups, for while some pressure groups employ electoral candidacy as a means of raising public awareness of their chosen cause, they generally have little interest in, or prospect of, being elected to office.
3
Q
Mandate
A
The right of the governing party to pursue the policies it sets out in its general election manifesto.
4
Q
Manifesto
A
A pre-election policy document in which a party sets out a series of policy pledges and legislative proposals that it plans to enact if returned to office.
5
Q
Sailsbury Doctrine
A
The convention that the House of Lords does not block or try to wreck legislation that was promised in the manifesto of the governing party.
6
Q
What does a political party use its manifesto for?
A
A political party uses its manifesto to set out the policies it would seek to pass into law if elected to office, and so the party that is returned
to power at Westminster in the wake of a general election is said to have earned an electoral mandate — the right to implement its stated policies. This is because popular support for the winning party at the ballot box is taken, rightly or wrongly, as support for the manifesto that the party presented to voters during the election campaign.
7
Q
Labour Party 1997 manifesto
A
In its 1997 general election manifesto, the Labour Party promised to remove the rights of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The party’s landslide victory in the election therefore handed the party a strong mandate to fulfil this first stage of Lords reform, and it duly delivered with the House of Lords Act 1999.
8
Q
Manifesto - in focus
A
A pre-election policy document in which a party sets out a series of policy pledges and legislative proposals that it plans to enact if returned to office. The latter years of the twentieth century saw party leaders taking direct control of the process of drafting the election manifesto. In 1992, the Conservative leader John Major famously declared that the party’s manifesto was ‘all me’.
9
Q
Mandate - in focus
A
The right of the governing party to pursue the policies it sets out in its general election manifesto. The mandate gives the governing party the authority to pursue its stated policies, without the need to go back to voters for further approval — such as through a referendum. Crucially, the mandate does not require the government to deliver on its manifesto promises or prevent it from drafting proposals that were not included in its manifesto.
10
Q
Does the concept of an electoral mandate make sense? NO
A
- The low turnout at recent general elections means that the winning party can hardly claim to have secured a convincing mandate.
- Coalition governments such as that seen in the wake of the 2010 general election mean that two or more parties must agree a compromise programme for which no single party has a mandate.
- Most voters pay little attention to party manifestos, whether in full or digested form. Voting behaviour is more about long-term factors or personalities than it is about policy detail.
- The concept of the mandate is flawed because it is impossible for voters to cast a ballot for or against a given party on the basis of a single policy.
11
Q
Does the concept of an electoral mandate make sense? YES
A
- The franchise is widely held and there is a high level of individual voter registration.
- The first-past-the-post electoral system usually results in a single-party government, so it follows that the victors should have the right to implement their stated policies.
- Each party’s manifesto is readily available to voters ahead of polling day, both in print and electronic form.
- Digested summaries of the main policies of each party are disseminated by the mainstream media. Televised leaders’ debates at the last two general elections have seen the leaders of the parties questioned on their main policies.
12
Q
Five main roles of political parties
A
- providing representation
- encouraging political engagement and facilitating political participation
- engaging in political recruitment
- formulating policy
- providing stable government
13
Q
Providing representation
A
Traditionally, parties were said to represent the views of their members. This was certainly true in an age of mass-membership parties, when parties and voters were clearly divided along class lines. Partisan and class dealignment, accompanied by the rise of centrist ‘catch-all’ parties, can be said to have undermined this primary role.
14
Q
Political engagement and participation
A
By making the wider citizenry aware of the issues of the day, parties perform an educative function that, by its very nature, encourages political engagement. Parties further promote political participation by encouraging citizens to engage with the democratic process and giving them the opportunity to exercise power within their chosen party. The quality of participation afforded to members is shaped largely by the extent to which political parties are themselves internally democratic.
15
Q
Political recruitment
A
Parties assess the qualities of those seeking election to public office, casting aside those who are, for whatever reason, considered unsuitable. Parties also give those who will ultimately become the nation’s leaders an opportunity to serve a form of political apprenticeship at a local level before ‘graduating’ to high office.
16
Q
Policy formulation
A
Parties discuss and develop policy proposals before presenting them to voters in a single coherent programme (their manifesto). It is argued that this process is likely to result in a more considered, joined-up style of government than that which might emerge in the absence of political parties.
17
Q
Stable Government
A
Without parties, it is argued, the House of Commons would simply be a gathering of individuals, driven by their personal goals and political ambitions. Parties present the voters with a clear choice, while also providing order following the general election — by allowing a single party to form a government and secure the safe passage of its legislative proposals through the Commons.
18
Q
Politcal parties vs Pressure groups
A
Political parties:
- Political parties tend to offer a broad portfolio of policies, informed by a guiding ideology.
- The main UK political parties have open membership structures and are therefore inclusive.
- Political parties contest elections with a view to securing control of governmental power.
- The main UK parties are highly organised and offer their members an input into key decisions through formalised rules and procedures.
Pressure Groups:
- Pressure groups generally pursue a narrower cause or sectional interest.
- Many pressure groups — particularly sectional groups — are more exclusive in their membership.
- Those pressure groups that field candidates in elections generally do so simply as a means
of raising their own profile — or to encourage candidates representing the mainstream parties to adjust their policies for fear of losing votes.
- Even the larger, more established pressure groups are often dominated by a small leading clique; few pressure groups display high levels of internal democracy.
19
Q
Types of political parties
A
- Mainstream parties
- Minority or ‘niche’ parties (nationalist and single-issue parties)
20
Q
Mainstream parties
A
In the modern era, UK politics has been dominated by three main national political parties: the Conservative Party, which emerged from the Tory group within parliament in the mid-nineteenth century; the Labour Party, formed by trade unions and socialist organisations at the start of the twentieth century; and the Liberal Democrats, which came into being as a result of the merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1988.
21
Q
Nationalist or ‘niche’ parties
A
Nationalist parties look to nurture the shared cultural identity and language of those indigenous to a given geographical area — whether a ‘nation’, as in the case of the Scottish National Party (SNP), or a region, as in the case of Mebyon Kernow (The Party for Cornwall). While some nationalist parties campaign for full independence for their region or nation (e.g. the SNP), others may have more modest goals (e.g. Plaid Cymru in Wales). Although always much smaller than Plaid Cymru or the SNP, the British National Party (BNP) differs from most other nationalist parties in that it campaigns in support of the way of life and values that it claims are common to all indigenous UK peoples. However, having achieved some electoral success in the early part of the twenty-first century, the party had been reduced to a single local councillor and just 500 members by 2016.
22
Q
§Single-issue parties
A
Recent years have seen a rise in the number of single-issue parties contesting elections in the UK. In some cases, these parties offer a wide-ranging programme of policies rooted in a particular ideological perspective (e.g. the Green Party). In other cases, they campaign on a particular issue (e.g. UKIP on the European Union), or even a specific policy (e.g. the ProLife Alliance on abortion). Recent elections have also seen the rise of local single-issue parties such as the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern Party, whose candidate
Dr Richard Taylor won the Wyre Forest constituency at the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In many cases, such single-issue or ideological parties blur the boundary between political parties and pressure groups, as their primary goal is to raise awareness of a particular issue as opposed to winning an election and/or securing power. UKIP can be seen as a case in point.
23
Q
Dominant-Party system
A
Where a number of parties exist but only one holds government power, e.g. in Japan under the Liberal Democratic-Party between 1955 and 1993. Some argue that the UK party system has, at times, resembled a dominant-party system — with the Conservatives in office 1979–97 and Labour in power 1997–2010.
24
Q
Multiparty system
A
Where many parties compete for power and the government consists of a series of coalitions formed by different combinations of parties, e.g. in Italy between 1945 and 1993.
25
Single-Party system
Where one party dominates, bans other parties and exercises total control over candidacy at elections — where elections occur at all, e.g. in Nazi Germany or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
26
Two-party system
Where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly.
27
What system does Britain traditionally have
Two-party system
28
Party systems throught the times
While there have been times when a period of domination by a single party has led onlookers to herald the emergence of a dominant- party system, the UK has never witnessed a single-party system. Similarly, although the rise of the Liberal Democrats and a range of other smaller parties in the early part of the twenty-first century led some to suggest that the UK was morphing into a multiparty system, most still regard it as conforming broadly to the two- party model.
29
UKIP after BREXIT
- In 2016, Paul Nuttall was elected leader of the UK Independence Party, replacing Nigel Farage. The 39-year- old Member of the European Parliament, who served as UKIP’s deputy leader for 6 years, won 62.6% of support among party members.
- He promised to ‘put the great back into Britain’ and force the government to ‘give us a real Brexit’. It was UKIP’s second leadership election in a year, after previous winner Diane James quit after 18 days in the role. Mr Farage acted as interim leader while the second leadership race took place.
- In his acceptance speech, Mr Nuttall said: ‘The country needs a strong UKIP more than ever before. If UKIP is to be an electoral force, there will be an impetus on [the Prime Minister] Theresa May, and her government, to give us a real Brexit.’ He added: ‘I want to replace the Labour Party and make UKIP the patriotic voice of working people ... speaking the language of ordinary working people. We’re going to move into the areas the Labour Party has neglected. We will be focusing on the issues that
really matter to working-class people on doorsteps — immigration, crime, defence, foreign aid, ensuring that British people are put to the top of the queue in the job market’
30
Does the UK now have a multiparty system? YES
- In the 2015 general election, 13.5% of UK voters (and 61% of Scottish voters) backed parties other than the ‘big two’.
- In some parts of the UK, such as Scotland, there is genuine multiparty competition for elected office.
- Although parties such as UKIP, the Green Party and the BNP have struggled to secure parliamentary representation at Westminster, they have achieved success in second-order elections.
- Any party that was able to mobilise non-voters would stand a chance of winning the election — in the 2015 general election, that was 33.8% of registered voters.
31
Does the UK now have a multiparty system? NO
- The Labour and Conservative Parties are the only parties that have a realistic chance of forming a government or being the senior partner in a coalition at Westminster.
- Even in 2015, Labour and the Conservatives secured 67.2% of the popular vote (up 2.1% from 2010), winning 86.5% of the 650 seats contested.
- The success of parties such as the BNP at second- order elections has proved fleeting. The Green Party has failed to add to its single Commons seat. UKIP was widely seen as a spent force by the end of 2016.
- Of the parties that contested seats across mainland Britain in 2015, the Liberal Democrats (in third place) finished with 22.5% of the vote and 224 seats behind Labour (in second place).
32
Political spectrum
A device by which different political standpoints can be mapped across one axis or more, as a way of demonstrating their ideological position in relation to one another.
33
Three main political parties
- Conservative party
- Labour
- SNP
34
Conservatism
A loose ideology favouring a pragmatic approach to dealing with problems, while seeking to preserve the status quo. Some argue that conservatism is, in fact, not an ideology at all because it looks to work with, and improve upon, what exists already, as opposed to building from the ground up from a more ideological standpoint.
35
Monetarism
An economic theory which advocates controlling the money supply as a means of keeping inflation in check.
36
Neo-liberalism
A political ideology closely related to classical liberalism. Neo-liberals stress the importance of the free market, individual rights and limited government. In the UK context, neo-liberalism is closely associated with Thatcherism.
37
Paternalist conservatism
Where power and authority are held centrally but the state acts benevolently and cares for the neediest. Paternalism is said to be a key characteristic of traditional one-nation conservatism.
38
Before the Great Reform act of 1832
UK parties existed not as mass- membership organisations with formal structures outside of parliament, but as groups of like-minded individuals within the legislature. These groups were bound together by shared ideals, friendship or family ties. With electoral reform came the need to organise in order to mobilise the growing electorate. It was at this point that UK political parties as we know them today began to emerge.
39
The Conservative Party
The Conservative Party emerged from the Tory Party in the 1830s, with many dating its birth to Robert Peel’s Tamworth Manifesto in 1834. In the twentieth century, the party was in office (either alone or in coalition) for a total of 67 years and enjoyed two extended periods in office:
- 1951–64 under Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home
- 1979–97 under Margaret Thatcher and then John Major
40
One-nation conservatism
For most of the twentieth century, the Conservative Party was truly conservative in ideology: that is, rooted in pragmatism and a belief in gradual improvements founded on experience and existing institutions. This was a form of collectivist or paternalist conservatism which favoured pluralism and social inclusion and held that, while authority should be centralised, the state should be benevolent and care for the neediest.
The proponents of this form of conservatism, now commonly referred to as ‘one-nation Tories’, were committed to:
- slow, gradual change — ‘evolution’, not ‘revolution’
- a Keynesian mixed economy — with significant state intervention,
where necessary
- support for a universal welfare state
- internationalism and increasing European integration
41
Thatcherism
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the rise of a new form of liberal or libertarian conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic. Dubbed the ‘New Right’, this movement combined a belief in monetarism, free market economics and deregulation (an approach commonly referred to as neo-liberalism) with a more orthodox conservative approach in the sphere of social policy, such as support for the traditional
family unit and more traditional views on sexual orientation. The US president Ronald Reagan (1981–89) and UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) were key figures in this movement — the latter to such an extent that this broad approach has become known simply as Thatcherism in the UK.
42
Thatcherism in the UK
The advent of Thatcherism marked the death of the postwar consensus and the rise of a more adversarial politics. Supporters of this approach, known as Thatcherites, favoured the importance of the individual over the needs of society as a whole. Thatcherism offered a radical agenda including policies such as:
- deregulation in the field of business
- privatisation of publicly- owned industries
- statutory limits on the power of trade unions
- a smaller state (‘rolling back the frontiers of the state’) and more limited state intervention in the economy
- a greater emphasis on national sovereignty
- more limited state welfare provision (a lower ‘safety net’)
Thatcher referred to those who were not prepared to sign up to this agenda, in many cases the old one-nation Tories, as ‘wets’. Committed Thatcherites were referred to as ‘dries’, with Thatcher’s most loyal acolytes dubbed ‘ultra dry’.
43
Adversarial politics (or ‘yah- boo’ politics)
The instinctive antagonism between the two main Westminster parties. The term was used by Professor S. E. Finer and commonly applied to UK politics from the 1970s.
44
Postwar consensus
The broad agreement between the Labour and Conservative Parties over domestic and foreign policy that emerged after the Second World War. The consensus saw the parties cooperating over the creation of the welfare state and the adoption of a Keynesian economic policy. The postwar consensus began to break down in the 1970s and was said to have ended with the more ideological, adversarial approach that accompanied Thatcherism.
45
Thatcherism
An ideological approach combining a free- market, neo-liberal economic policy with a more orthodox conservative social policy in areas such as the family and law and order. Thatcherism was the dominant Conservative Party ideology of the 1980s and 1990s, and was closely associated with the ideas of Sir Keith Joseph and right-wing think-tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute.
46
Intra-party squabbles
The factional infighting that came to the fore as a result of this shift in direction under Thatcher led to formal challenges to her leadership of the party in 1989 (Anthony Meyer) and 1990 (Michael Heseltine). Though the latter
led to Thatcher’s resignation in November 1990, the leaders who followed on from her — John Major, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard and David Cameron — often struggled to command the full confidence of the entire parliamentary party due to internal party factions and personal rivalries. In the 1990s, Philip Norton identified seven broad and overlapping factions within the parliamentary Conservative Party. By 2013, Richard Kelly was able to identify three broad ideological strands
47
One-nation conservatism vs Thatcherism
One-nation Conservatism:
- It takes a pragmatic approach.
- It advocates incremental change.
- It is paternalistic.
- It favours a mixed economy.
Thatcherism:
- It is dogmatic.
- It advocates radical change.
- It is individualistic.
- It favours a free-market economy.
48
The Conservatives under David Cameron
- David Cameron’s election as party leader in 2006, in the wake of three successive general election defeats for the Conservatives, was widely seen as analogous to the kind of epiphany that the Labour Party had experienced a decade earlier under Tony Blair. Indeed, Cameron was himself widely referred to as the ‘heir to Blair’.
- Cameron initially sought to lead the Conservatives away from those areas of policy over which the party was deeply divided (e.g. Europe) and towards those where it could gain electoral advantage (e.g. the environment). He recognised the extent to which the party had come to be regarded as unelectable — or the ‘nasty party’, as Theresa May had put it back in 2002 — and set about ‘detoxifying’ the Conservative brand. The desire was reflected in the Conservatives’ 2010 general election pledge to fix ‘broken Britain’.
49
Locating David Cameron and his supporters on the political spectrum
Some dubbed Cameron’s Conservatives the ‘New Tories’ or, as Cameron himself put it on at least one occasion, ‘liberal Conservatives’. Back in 2008, Richard Kelly offered three possible early judgements on Cameron’s conservatism:
- first, that it represented a ‘flagrant
capitulation to New Labour’
- second, that it should be seen as a ‘subtle
continuation of Thatcherism’
- third, that it amounted to little more than
‘shameless opportunism’
While there were elements of truth in all three of these judgements, it was the last that presented the most enduring obstacle. Cameron’s promise of an in/out referendum on the EU ahead of the 2015 general election was certainly seen as evidence of such opportunism, with the party internally divided on the issue and facing a challenge from UKIP in its electoral heartlands.
50
The susbstance of Policy
Although David Cameron’s Conservative Party issued a swathe of policy proposals in the run-up to the 2010 general election, the party’s manifesto favoured style over substance. For example, the early talk of replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 with a new UK Bill of Rights appeared without further elaboration in the party’s 2010 manifesto. Even in the wake of the 2010 general election, it remained unclear as to how Cameron intended to reconcile (or triangulate) his desire to adopt traditionally liberal positions on the environment and social welfare with his commitment to pursue the Thatcherite agenda of ‘rolling back the frontiers of the state’. Moreover, the need to keep the party’s Liberal Democrat coalition partners engaged made it difficult for the Conservatives to deliver even on those very few explicit promises that they had made in the run-up to the 2010 general election.
51
The 2015 general election and beyonf
- While the Conservatives in coalition (2010–15) could be forgiven for not delivering on some of their more radical policy pledges, it is perhaps more surprising that they did not make more substantive changes after being returned to office as a single-party government in 2015. The party had, after all, set out a number of significant proposals in its election manifesto this time around.
- The decision to schedule the EU referendum so early in the parliament clearly made it harder for cabinet colleagues to work together towards policy goals in a more conventional way. Cameron’s resignation as prime minister in the wake of that vote, and the need to establish a new government under his replacement, Theresa May, can also be seen to have limited the government’s ability to implement its programme.
- May’s first keynote speech as party leader at the Conservative Party conference in October 2016 certainly gave weight to the view that the government was going to be largely preoccupied by the task of preparing the path for Brexit. High on rhetoric and low on policy commitments, May’s speech did little to suggest that there would be significant policy initiatives in areas entirely unconnected to the UK’s efforts to disentangle itself from the EU. That speech aside, however, the early months of May’s premiership had seen some significant moves on the policy front.
52
Early policy initiatives under Theresa May
- Although the Conservative government was understandably preoccupied with the Brexit agenda in the wake of the decisive ‘Leave’ vote in the 2016 EU referendum, prime minister Theresa May did look to set out a different path in a number of significant areas.
- On the environment, May infuriated green campaigners by scrapping the Department for Energy and Climate Change, created only 8 years ago, while at the same time establishing two new government departments to negotiate the UK’s departure from the EU and make the
economy ‘Brexit-ready’: the Department for Exiting the European Union, under David Davis, and the Department for International Trade, under Liam Fox.
- In regional government, May pledged that she would abandon George Osborne’s plans for directly elected mayors for city regions, once the 2017 Manchester and Liverpool mayoral elections were over. She also abandoned Osborne’s plans for a ‘northern powerhouse’ of jobs and investment to reduce the economic disparity between the north and the south.
- In education, May promised to allow all comprehensive schools to apply to become grammar schools, while also allowing existing grammar schools to expand. However, new grammar schools will be required to take a proportion of pupils from lower-income households
53
Social democracy
A political ideology that accepts the basic premise of capitalism while advocating a more equitable distribution of wealth along the lines favoured by all socialists.
54
Socialism
A political ideology advocating greater equality and the redistribution of wealth. Socialists are suspicious of capitalism. They favour greater government intervention, in both economic and social policy.
55
The Labour Party
The Labour Party was created at the start of the twentieth century. Although the Independent Labour Party, the Fabians and the
Social Democratic Federation were involved in forming the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, it is important not to underestimate the role of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). In 1900, 94% of the Labour Representation Committee’s affiliated membership was from the unions and in the 1990s they still controlled around 80% of the votes at party conferences and provided a similar proportion of the party’s annual income.
56
Why was the Labour party formed?
The Labour Party was formed to represent the working classes at a time when the franchise had not yet been extended to such groups. The decision to give all men over 21 the right to vote in 1918 provided the Labour Party with the potential base of support necessary to launch a serious electoral challenge.
57
Origins of the Labour party
The party’s origins in the unions and socialist societies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries meant that it originally pursued an agenda centred on socialism.
58
Socialism in the 19th century
In the nineteenth century, socialism was often seen as similar to communism. In the UK, socialism was closely associated with the Labour Party, from the party’s creation at the start of the twentieth century through to the emergence of New Labour under Tony Blair in the 1990s.
Broadly speaking, socialism can be subdivided into two distinct strands:
- revisionist (or reformist) socialism, which looks to improve capitalism (e.g. social democracy)
- revolutionary (or fundamentalist) socialism, which aims to abolish capitalism and bring all property into common ownership (e.g. Marxist communism)
59
1918 constitution
The extension of the franchise to all adult men in 1918 coincided with the adoption of the new Labour Party constitution. Clause IV of that constitution provided a clear commitment to public ownership of key industries and the redistribution of wealth.
60
Labour factions
- Despite its left-wing origins, the party was home to a number of ideological factions by the 1970s. For example, the Labour prime minister James Callaghan (1976–79) and those on the right of the party took the view that public sector pay demands had to be resisted, whereas those on the left (e.g. Michael Foot and Tony Benn) still favoured greater wealth redistribution.
- Labour’s defeat in the 1979 general election, in the wake of the period of industrial unrest known as the ‘Winter of Discontent’, saw those on the left gain control of the party under the leadership of Michael Foot. Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election with one of the most left-wing manifestos in the party’s history. It included commitments to state control of all major industries, tighter regulation of business, enhanced workers’ rights, support for unilateral nuclear disarmament and a withdrawal from NATO. At the time dubbed ‘the longest suicide note in history’ by the Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, the manifesto was seen as a key factor in the Conservative Party’s landslide victory. Indeed, the manifesto was so left-wing in its approach that the Conservatives ran an advertisement in the Daily Mirror newspaper carrying the tagline ‘Like your manifesto, Comrade’, drawing parallels between key clauses in Labour’s programme and the provisions of the Communist Manifesto.
61
New Labour
A term that characterises the party that emerged to fight the 1997 general election following a process of party modernisation completed by Tony Blair. Blair first used
the phrase ‘New Labour’ when addressing the Labour Party conference as party leader in 1994. Labour’s modernisation programme began under Neil Kinnock, following the party’s landslide defeat at the 1983 general election. It involved a less powerful role for the trade unions and a rebranding exercise designed to make the party more appealing to middle-class voters. In ideological terms, the New Labour project was characterised by the concept of triangulation and the Third Way.
62
Old Labour
A term that characterises the Labour Party prior to the modernisation programme begun by Neil Kinnock in 1983 and completed by Tony Blair. It refers to the party’s historic commitment
to socialism and its links with socialist societies, trade unions and the old working class.
63
Third way
An ideological position said to exist between conventional socialism and mainstream capitalism, closely associated with Tony Blair and New Labour, and also referred to as the ‘middle way’.
64
Triangulation
The process of melding together core Labour Party principles and values, such as the party’s commitment to greater social justice, with the lessons learnt from Thatcherism. It was closely associated with New Labour and the notion of a Third Way.
65
Original 1918 clause IV of Labour party constitution
To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production
66
1995 clause IV of Labour party constitution
[We] work for a dynamic economy, serving the public interest, in which the enterprise of the market and the rigour of competition
are joined with the forces of partnership and cooperation to produce the wealth the nation needs and the opportunity for all to work and prosper, with a thriving private sector and high-quality public services
67
Old Labour vs New Labour
Old Labour:
- It is dogmatic.
- It is predominantly the party of the working class.
- It is interventionist.
- It favours public sector provision.
- It advocates social justice.
- It supports universal welfare.
New Labour:
- It takes a pragmatic approach.
- It markets itself as a catch-all party, not limited to the working class.
- It favours a market economy.
- It favours public–private partnerships.
- It advocates social inclusion.
- It supports targeted welfare.
68
Social Justice
The goal of greater equality of outcome, as opposed to equality of opportunity alone. It is achieved through progressive taxation and other forms of wealth redistribution. The idea
is closely associated with the Labour Party and with other parties of the left and centre- left, such as the Greens.
69
Labour under Gordon Brown
- Gordon Brown’s accession as Labour leader in June 2007 was greeted with optimism by those on the left who felt that his commitment to the concept of social justice was greater than that of his predecessor, Tony Blair.
- As chancellor, Brown had favoured deregulation and a light touch approach to economic management. As prime minister, he was forced to nationalise a number of high-street banks, while overseeing an apparent return to the ‘tax and spend’ approach of Old Labour. New Labour’s hard- fought reputation for economic competence was ultimately surrendered, along with much of the political capital that the former chancellor had accrued during his decade in charge at the Treasury.
Even in the field of constitutional reform, where Brown had been widely expected to take the lead, the Constitutional Renewal Bill (2008) and the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (2010) largely failed to fulfil expectations.
70
Labour under Ed Miliband
- Even the most ardent former Blairites, such as the former foreign secretary, David Miliband, were keen to distance themselves from the New Labour tag in the wake of the Labour Party’s defeat at the 2010 general election. ‘New Labour is not the future’, Miliband acknowledged, ‘I’m interested now in Next Labour’ (Observer, 16 May 2010). However, the question of precisely what ‘Next Labour’ might mean dogged the party’s efforts to regroup under the leadership of the Miliband’s younger brother, Ed.
- Dubbed ‘Red Ed’ by the media, due in large part to the fact that his narrow victory over his brother in the election to become Labour leader had relied so heavily on the backing of the trade unions, Ed Miliband struggled to establish a coalition of voters large enough to carry the party back into office in 2015.
- The result at that election, a sweeping defeat for the party, led to a period of introspection not entirely dissimilar to that which came in the wake of Labour’s defeat to the Conservatives back in 1983. For those on the right of the party, the reversal had resulted from Miliband abandoning the formula that had served the party so well under Blair. For those on the left, Miliband’s defeat was evidence of the essential bankruptcy at the heart of the New Labour model; a sign that the party should return to its base and embrace socialism once more.
71
Labour under Jeremy Corbyn
- The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in September 2015 came as something of a surprise to those outside of the Westminster bubble. Corbyn, a committed socialist from the left of the party and a serial backbench rebel of epic proportions during the New Labour era, had only made it on to the ballot paper because a number of fellow MPs felt that the existing field lacked the necessary ideological breadth. Although Corbyn’s victory in the membership ballot that followed was made easier by changes to the rules which allowed registered supporters of the party, as well as members, to vote, the scale of Corbyn’s win (with 59.5% of first preferences) was impressive nonetheless.
- Corbyn’s ideological positioning and track record as a rebellious backbencher made it difficult for him to either demand or command the support or loyalty of his fellow Labour MPs. His re-election as leader in September 2016, in the wake of a vote of no confidence among the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and a botched leadership challenge, offered the prospect of a more polarised political landscape in the run-up to the 2020 general election. The challenge for a leader so long on the backbenches in opposition mode, in relation to both the Conservatives and some of those within his own party, was to articulate a positive vision capable of garnering support among the wider electorate.
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Corbyn’s vision as stated on his website, appeared to look back towards the kinds of policies that the party had pursued pre-New Labour, in the 1970s and early 1980s:
- full employment and an economy that works for all
- a secure homes guarantee
- security at work
- secure our NHS and social care
- a national education service open to all
- action to secure our environment
- put the public back into our economy and services
- cut income and wealth inequality
- action to secure an equal society
- peace and justice at the heart of foreign policy
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Labour Party factions in 2016
Since Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party in 2015, the party has become more divided than ever. Jon Cruddas, the party’s former policy chief, who has produced a report entitled ‘Why Labour lost in 2015 and how it can win again’, has accused the party of becoming ‘dangerously out of touch with the electorate and...unwilling to acknowledge this growing estrangement’. Factions, old and new, continue to divide the party and its supporters. What are the main factions?
- Momentum
- Saving Labour
- Labour for the Common Good
- Consensus
- Progress Labour First
- Socialist Workers Party
- Stop the War Coalition
- Labour Together
- OpenLabour
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Gang of four definiton
Referring collectively to Bill Rodgers, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams and David Owen. Believing that the party had fallen under the control of a left-wing clique led by Michael Foot in the wake of Labour’s defeat at the 1979 general election, these four former Labour ministers left the party in 1981 to from the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
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SDP-Liberal Alliance
An electoral alliance between SDP and the Liberal Party that was in place at the time of the 1983 and 1987 general elections. The alliance won 26.0% of the vote (23 seats) in 1983 and 23.1% of the vote (22 seats) in 1987. The two parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats.
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The Liberal democrats
The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 with the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The Liberal Party
had been the main party of government in the early twentieth century but was a distant third by the 1960s, rarely polling more than 10% of the vote. The SDP, in contrast, had been formed as a result of the decision of four leading politicians to leave the Labour Party in 1981. Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams felt that Labour had come under the control of hard-line left-wingers following the defeat of James Callaghan’s moderate Labour administration in 1979.
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Gang of four
This ‘Gang of Four’, as they were known, launched the SDP with their 1981 Limehouse Declaration. With the Labour Party in disarray,
the SDP formed an electoral alliance with the Liberals (the SDP–Liberal Alliance) in 1983, securing 26% of the popular vote, yet gaining only 23 seats in parliament. Following a similarly disappointing return for the alliance in 1987, the parties merged in 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats and Paddy Ashdown was elected party leader. The following year the party was renamed the Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems for short). While Conservatives traditionally emphasise the role of society
in shaping individuals, liberalism places a greater emphasis on the importance of the individual. Traditionally, liberals favoured a society formed of free, autonomous individuals of equal worth.
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Liberalism
A political ideology associated with notions of personal liberty, toleration and limited government. It is often subdivided into two separate strands: classical liberalism and progressive (or new) liberalism.
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Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg
- From 2007, under the leadership of Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats developed a programme for government that included more orthodox Liberal Democrat policies on issues such as constitutional reform and the protection of civil liberties, alongside other pledges that appeared to challenge the very tenets upon which the party had been founded; not least by offering the prospect of significant tax cuts, if elected. This repositioning on tax marked the triumph of the ‘Orange Book’ liberals over the social liberals, while also making the possibility of a coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 more conceivable
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Key Liberal Democrat factions after 2010
- Orange Book liberals
- Social liberals
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Party policies at the 2015 general election
As was the case 5 years earlier, the prevailing economic climate meant that all three of the main UK political parties were forced to accept that there would need to be further spending cuts and tax rises in the wake of the 2015 general election. The only significant cleavage between the parties appeared to be on the issue of when and where the cuts would fall; and how big they would be. There were also areas of significant agreement between two of the parties (e.g. lowering the voting age to 16) or all three of them (e.g. integrating health and social care) in many other areas of policy.
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The end of ideology?
- Daniel Bell, in his 1960 book The End of Ideology: On the Exhaustion of Political Ideas in the Fifties, argued that the traditional ideological movements that had taken root in the nineteenth century and flourished in the early twentieth century had lost their power to inspire and mobilise the masses by the 1950s. Bell suggested that the postwar period had witnessed the rise of a new consensus around the social democratic model and that, in future, political parties would offer piecemeal, incremental changes as opposed to a more fundamental reordering of society along ideological lines.
- In recent years, the phrase ‘end of ideology’ has been applied more specifically to the changes that have taken place in the field of British party politics since the 1990s. As we have seen, British political parties have moderated their traditional ideological positions as part of an effort to appeal to as wide a range of voters as possible. Although it is probably fair to say that British parties were always broad churches (or ‘big tents’), these modern catch-all parties have increasingly been regarded as little more than election-winning machines.
- Although the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader appeared to offer the possibility of a return to a more adversarial form of UK party politics, it is probably too early for us to make a judgement on the question of whether or not we are seeing a more general drift back towards once-entrenched ideological positions. In a sense, that is a judgement that will need to wait until the 2020 general election, when the wider citizenry will have the opportunity to issue their verdict on Corbyn’s efforts to reposition the Labour Party.
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Have recent years witnessed the ‘end of ideology’? YES
- The three main parties are all essentially social democratic in nature. They are concerned with making piecemeal changes to the current arrangements as opposed to imposing an ideological model.
- The ideological wings of each of the three main parties have been marginalised.
- There are significant overlaps in the stated policies of the three main parties.
- Parties that once appeared fundamentally opposed to one another were able to enter into coalition in 2010.
- There is an increased emphasis on presentation and personality over substance.
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Have recent years witnessed the ‘end of ideology’? NO
- The three main UK parties still have distinct ideological traditions and a committed core support that strongly identifies with such traditions.
- The ideological dividing lines became more apparent in the wake of the global financial crisis.
- The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015 offered the prospect of a return to a style of ideologically polarised politics not seen since the early 1980s.
- The rise of smaller ideological and single-issue parties and pressure groups suggests that ideology still matters to a significant proportion of the electorate.
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Labour Party (local and national level)
- Those who join the Labour Party are assigned to a local branch — the lowest level of the party organisation. Branches select candidates for local elections and send delegates to the General Committee of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP). The CLP organises the party at constituency level. It takes the lead in local and national election campaigns and plays a part in selecting candidates for parliamentary elections, although the extension of one member, one vote (OMOV) has diminished the role of constituency party leaders in relation to regular members.
- The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the main national organ of the Labour Party. It enforces party discipline, ensures the smooth
running of the party, has the final say on the selection of parliamentary candidates, and oversees the preparation of policy proposals. Although the annual conference was once the party’s sovereign policy-making body, its role diminished somewhat in the 1990s.
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Conservative Party (local and national level)
The Conservative Party has a similar structure to the Labour Party at the local level. Branches corresponding to local council wards operate
below the constituency-level Conservative Associations (CA). The CAs play a key role in organising the party at grassroots level and planning election campaigns. As with the Labour Party, however, the CAs no longer have a free rein in selecting parliamentary candidates.
The national party is organised around the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) at Millbank, Westminster. The party’s headquarters were previously referred to as Conservative Central Office (CCO).
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Liberal democrats (local and national level)
- As a party, the Liberal Democrats are organised along federal lines. Separate national parties in England, Scotland and Wales operate with
a fair degree of autonomy within their own geographical jurisdictions — and a series of regional parties exist under each national party. - In the absence of a separate ‘English Parliament’ (or ‘English Assembly’) to mirror those institutions in Scotland and Wales, the English Liberal Democrats are governed by the English Council Executive. This body comprises the representatives of all 11 English regional Liberal Democrat parties.
- At the UK level, the Liberal Democrats are governed by a number of federal institutions that were traditionally coordinated by the Federal Executive. However, the party’s 2016 autumn conference opted to replace this executive with a new Federal Board — a body that would shape the strategic direction of the party and oversee the work of the party’s other federal committees.
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UK parties sitting in the European Parliament
UK members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sit in a number of transnational groups in the chamber as opposed to a single UK block. Following the UK elections to the European Parliament in 2014, the 19 Conservative MEPs sat with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, the 20 Labour MEPs sat with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PASD), and the single Liberal Democrat MEP sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
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Internal party democracy
As political parties seek to exercise control over our democratic institutions, it is only proper for commentators to question the extent to which parties are themselves internally democratic. This means measuring the extent to which rank-and-file members have genuine power within
a given political party. Three processes are commonly considered when assessing how internally democratic a political party is:
- the way in which leaders are chosen
- the way in which candidates for parliamentary elections are selected
- the way in which party policy is formulated
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Ordinary party members and ordinary Members of Parliament
Ordinary party members:
- These are individual members of a party.
- They form the rank-and-file, grassroots membership.
- They are paid-up party members who do not hold senior positions within their chosen party.
Ordinary Members of Parliament:
- These are elected Members of Parliament (also known as backbenchers).
- They do not hold front-bench responsibilities as government ministers, shadow ministers or party spokespersons.
- Although every MP will be a paid-up member of his or her chosen party, when thinking about ordinary party members you should focus on regular party members, rather than the influence of backbenchers.
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Choosing and removing party leaders
All three of the main UK parties now operate a two-stage system that places the ultimate responsibility for electing the party leader directly into the hands of grassroots party members (or members and registered
supporters in the case of the Labour Party).
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How do the conservative party remove leaders?
- Conservative MPs vote in a series of ballots designed to narrow the field of leadership candidates down to two.
- Party members vote on a one member, one vote (OMOV) basis to decide which of these two candidates becomes party leader.
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How do the Labour party remove leaders?
- Candidates must secure the nomination of 15% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to qualify for the ballot.
- Party members and registered supports vote on a one member, one vote basis under an alternative vote system.
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How do the Liberal democrats remove leaders?
- Candidates must secure the nomination of 20 local parties or 200 party members to qualify for the ballot.
- Party members vote on a one member, one vote basis under an alternative vote system.
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All-women shortlists
A Labour Party initiative which requires a constituency party to draw up an entirely female shortlist from which their parliamentary candidate will be chosen.
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Hustings
A meeting at which an election candidate can address local voters, as well as paid-up party members.
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Open primaries
A popular ballot in which all registered voters (i.e. not just party members) have a hand in selecting the candidate who will run in the election proper.
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Priority lists
Lists of candidates intended as a means of boosting the number of women and ethnic minority Conservative MPs.
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Choosing parliamentary candidates
All three major parties have traditionally employed a three-stage process
to select parliamentary candidates:
- First, hopefuls must get their names on to a centrally vetted, approved
list of prospective candidates.
- Second, the local party draws up a shortlist from those approved
candidates.
- Third, constituency party members vote for their preferred candidate,
whether in person at a meeting or by postal ballot.
In recent years, Labour and the Conservatives have looked to widen the pool from which prospective parliamentary candidates are chosen. The Conservative Party experimented with public hustings, open primaries and priority lists (A-lists), while the Labour Party pioneered the use of all-women shortlists.
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All-women shortlists
- The Labour Party’s practice of employing women-only shortlists existed in its original form between 1993 and 1996. Although it was briefly outlawed under the Sex Discrimination Act in 1996, the government subsequently amended the legislation to allow such lists. This exemption to anti-discrimination legislation was subsequently enshrined in the Equality Act 2010.
- The use of all-women shortlists in many safe Labour seats contributed to the significant increase in the number of women MPs returned to parliament at the 1997 general election. However, such shortlists have proven controversial — not least because they serve to discriminate against suitably able and qualified male candidates. At the 2005 general election, the independent candidate Peter Law was elected to represent the constituency of Blaenau Gwent, having been prevented from seeking selection as the official Labour Party candidate by the party’s imposition of an all-women shortlist.
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Establishing party policy - Conservatives
Until the late 1990s, Conservative Party policy was largely determined by its leader. Although the leader was expected to canvass the views of senior colleagues on the front benches, the 1922 Committee, party elders and the grassroots membership, it was an unashamedly top-down process. As John Major famously said of the party’s 1992 general election manifesto, ‘It was all me.’ The establishment of a national party Policy Forum as part of William Hague’s ‘Fresh Future’ initiative in 1998 appeared to allow for grassroots participation in the process but the initiative was short-lived. The party’s 2010 general election manifesto was said to have been written entirely by David Cameron, Oliver Letwin and Steve Hilton (Cameron’s director of strategy), while Jo Johnson MP (younger brother of Boris Johnson) was said to have been behind the drafting of the 2015 manifesto.
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Establishing party policy - Labour party
The Labour Party conferences of the past were genuine policy-making events but from 1997 the party adopted a 2-year policy-making cycle. The National Policy Forum appointed policy commissions to make proposals which were then formalised in the National Executive Committee, before passing to the party conference for approval. Although this process helped the party to avoid the kinds of nasty surprises and public shows of disunity that had characterised earlier party conferences, such reforms could be said to have reduced the party conference to little more than a rubber stamp for policies agreed elsewhere. Ed Miliband, who later succeeded Gordon Brown as Labour leader, was widely credited with having drafted the party’s 2010 general election manifesto, and the 2015 document was supposedly drafted by a team comprising academics such as Jonathan Rutherford, MPs including Jon Cruddas, and Marc Sears — Miliband’s long-time friend and speech-writer.
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Establishing party policy - Liberal Democrats
Though the Liberal Democrats’ federal structure once led commentators to argue that they were the most democratic of the three main parties in terms of policy making, the party leadership’s influence over the Federal Policy Committee has also allowed it to steer policy, at least to a degree.
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The changing basis of party funding
Most political parties receive income in the form of membership subscriptions. Until the 1990s, however, the lion’s share of Labour Party funding came from fees paid by trade unions and other affiliated organisations, while the Conservative Party was said to be bankrolled by wealthy business interests. The decline of UK political parties as mass-member organisations in the 1980s and 1990s had an adverse impact on party finances. Efforts to reduce the influence of trade unions within the Labour Party, under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair, also resulted in falling revenues. Such developments led parties to seek donations from wealthy individuals such as Bernie Ecclestone and Lord Sainsbury for Labour, and Sir Paul Getty and Stuart Wheeler for the Conservatives, though Wheeler later defected to UKIP — becoming the party’s treasurer.
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Controversy and regulation
The rise of large individual donations to political parties in the 1990s led to the perception that access or political influence could be bought. For example, some felt that Bernie Ecclestone’s £1 million donation to the Labour Party in 1997 may have prompted the subsequent delay in the introduction of the ban on tobacco advertising in Formula 1 motor racing. Such controversy inevitably led to calls for regulation.
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Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000
The PPERA (2000) imposed an overall limit on party spending in general election campaigns (£30,000 per constituency), established additional spending limits for elections to devolved bodies and the European Parliament, and required parties to declare all donations over £5,000 to the Electoral Commission. In so doing, the Act sought to make parties less reliant on wealthy individual backers.
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Political Parties and Elections Act (PPEA) 2009
The PPEA (2009) built upon the regulations established under the PPERA: imposing tighter regulations on spending by candidates in the run-up to an election, allowing the Electoral Commission to investigate cases and impose fines, restricting donations from non-UK residents and reducing the thresholds for the declaration of donations.
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State funding of political parties
- The 2007 Phillips Report, Strengthening Democracy: Fair and Sustainable Funding for Political Parties, concluded that one way forward might be greater state funding for UK political parties, perhaps through some form of ‘pence-per-voter’ or ‘pence-per-member’ funding formula.
- Although the case in favour of the comprehensive funding of UK political parties is still widely contested, it is worth remembering that public funds have long been in place in the form of the Policy Development Grants (PDGs) established under Section 12 of the PPERA, Short money and Cranborne money. The PDGs are particularly significant as they are available not only to the main opposition parties but also as a share of an annual pot of £2m to any party that has two or more sitting MPs taking the oath of allegiance. Parties also receive subsidies in respect of their television broadcasts and help with their postage costs during election campaigns.
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Cranborne money
Funds paid to opposition parties in the House of Lords in order to help them cover their administrative costs and thereby provide for proper scrutiny of the government. In 2014–15, the Labour Party received £572,717 in Cranborne money.
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Short Money
Funds paid to opposition parties in order to help them cover their administrative costs and thereby provide for proper scrutiny of the government. It is available to all opposition parties that win at least two seats — or win a single seat while also securing over 150,000 votes nationally — at a general election. In 2014–15, the Labour Party received a total of £6,684,794 in Short money, which included £777,538 to support the work of the Leader of the Opposition.
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Should political parties be state-funded? YES
- If parties are not funded by taxpayers, they will be funded by wealthy individuals and interest groups.
- State funding would allow politicians to focus on representing their constituents rather than courting potential donors.
- Parties such as the Liberal Democrats could compete on an equal financial footing because funding would be based entirely on membership or electoral performance.
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Should political parties be state-funded? NO
- Taxpayers should not be expected to bankroll parties that they oppose.
- Politicians could become isolated from real-world issues if they are denied access from interest groups.
- Parties will always have unequal resources, even if state funding is introduced — not least because there will be differences in membership levels, and human and material resources.
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Value of Conservative party, Labour, UKIP and Liberal democrats grants
£359,478
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Value of DUP, social democratic and labour party grants
£137,929
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Value of Plaid Cymru grants
£132,553
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Has the reformed system worked?
- Although the new regulations have made party funding more transparent, there have been significant teething problems — not least the attempts by parties to circumvent the PPERA’s regulation of donations by encouraging supporters to offer the party long-term, low-interest ‘loans’. It was this tactic, and the inducements supposedly offered to secure such lines of credit, that gave rise to the ‘loans for peerages’ scandal during Labour’s time in office (1997–2010). Although the police investigation into that scandal ultimately ended without any prosecutions being brought, the issue of party funding is still controversial, as seen in the efforts to address the status of donors not registered as UK taxpayers under the PPEA.
Many considered this measure to be aimed squarely at individuals such as the long-term Conservative Party backer and party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, whose tax status provoked debate and controversy until March 2010, when he finally revealed that he did not pay UK tax on his overseas earnings. It is telling that even in 2015, when the Labour Party’s membership enjoyed an unprecedented upsurge, membership fees only accounted for 19% of the party’s overall annual income.
Statutory regulation and public funds aside, it is clear that the main UK political parties still receive considerable sums in the form of donations at key points in the electoral cycle. It is clear also that the wealthy individual backers that the PPERA sought to identify have not been put off by the prospect of losing their anonymity. Although the scale of donations to
the main parties is obviously greatly reduced when there is no general election in prospect, the sums flowing into the parties’ coffers in such years are significant nonetheless
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Party funding: where to from here?
While all parties appear to accept that ‘big money’ in the form of donations should be removed from politics, few at Westminster believe that voters enduring an extended period of austerity could easily be convinced of the need for greater state funding of political parties at taxpayers’ expense. Moreover, while the Labour Party would be happy to impose tougher restrictions on individual donations, the Conservatives would only accept such an overt attack on their own income streams if similar restrictions were placed on Labour’s trade union backers. Thus further reform of party funding, like reform to the House of Lords, appears to have arrived at a natural impasse.
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UK/US comparisons
- The USA, like the UK, is generally characterised as a two-party system. Vacant seats aside, all 435 members of the House of Representatives were either Democrats or Republicans in 2016, along with 98 of 100 US Senators. Every president since 1853 has been either a Democrat or a Republican.
- While one would expect a Conservative Association in Surrey to stand by the same broad programme of policies as one in Yorkshire, many commentators speak of the USA as having 50 party systems or 100 distinctive parties (i.e. two per state). This is because the differences between Democrats (or between Republicans) in different states can be more significant than the differences between the official party platforms of the Democrats and Republicans nationally: in other words, there may be more differences within the parties than between them.
- While some niche parties in the UK are permanent, most minor (or third) parties in the USA are short-lived. Indeed, many might be seen as pressure groups employing electoral candidacy as a means of raising awareness of and support for their cause or sectional interest, as opposed to true political parties.
- US political parties have traditionally been more decentralised in their organisation than their UK counterparts. The main US parties have no party leader as such, and the national parties have a far more limited role outside of elections than their UK equivalents.
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Economic Policy of the conservative party
- We will halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living and give people financial security.
- Remove tax cap on pensions
- We will make sure our national debt is falling so that we can secure the future of public services.
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Home Affairs Policy of the conservative party
- Spend £6.3bn on 2.2 million disadvantaged homes
- Continue the roll out of universal credit
- Create 250,000 extra childcare places
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Education Policy of the conservative party
- Freeze of tuition fees at £9,250 likely to continue
- Maths until aged 18
- the colleges and training providers that teach vocational qualifications and skills – needs to guarantee students high quality teaching and courses to help students into jobs or university and create the skilled workforce employers need.
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Health Policy of the conservative party
- Increase the number of nurses by 50,000
- No-one will sell their home to pay for care
- The Conservatives have promised £1bn per year over the course of the parliament to prop up the existing social care system.
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Environmental Policy of the conservative party
- Reach net zero by 2050
- Invest in the biggest ever UK-wide home insulation programme through a council-led street by street programme and provide additional financial support to low-income households.
- Support calls for the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to be recognised by the UN General Assembly and put this into UK law, as an essential part of protecting people’s health and eradicating environmental inequalities.
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Foreign Policy of the conservative party
- Leave the EU in January
- Introduce a points-based immigration system
- To exceed the NATO defence spending target of 2% of GDP and increase the budget by 0.5% above inflation each year of the new parliament.
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Economic Policy of the Labour Party
- Raise minimum wage from £8.21 to £10
- We’ll ask those who earn more than £80,000 a year to
pay a little more income tax, while freezing National
Insurance and income tax rates for everyone else.
- year-on-year above-inflation pay rises,
starting with a 5% increase to public service workers
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Education Policy of the Labour Party
- Abolish private schools' charitable status
- Labour will end the ‘high stakes’ testing culture of schools by scrapping Key Stage 1 and 2 SATs
and baseline assessments, and refocussing assessment on supporting pupil progress.
- Labour’s funding settlement will ensure pupils are taught by a qualified teacher, that every school is open for a full five days a week, and maximum class sizes of 30 for all primary school children. We will also fund more non-contact time for teachers to prepare and plan.
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Home Affairs Policy of the Labour Party
- Hold a second referendum on Brexit
- Stop state pension age rises
- Nationalise key industries
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Health Policy of the Labour Party
- Increase health budget by 4.3%
- Introduce a National Care Service
- an additional £1.6 billion a year to ensure new standards for mental health are enshrined in the NHS
constitution ensuring access to treatments is on a par with that for physical health conditions.
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Environmental Policy of the Labour Party
- Bring forward net-zero target to 2023
- A new UK National Energy Agency will own and maintain the national grid infrastructure and oversee the delivery
of our decarbonisation targets.
- The supply arms of the Big Six energy companies will be brought into public ownership where they will continue to
supply households with energy while helping them to reduce their energy demands.
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Foreign Policy of the Labour Party
- Give EU nationals the right to remain
- We will re-establish neighbourhood policing
and recruit 2,000 more frontline officers than have been planned for by the Conservatives.
- We will also review the structures and roles of the National Crime Agency, to strengthen the response to all
types of economic crime, including cybercrime and fraud, and ensure a modern, technologically advanced
police service that has the capacity and skills to combat online crime, supported by a new national strategy
on cybercrime and fraud.
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Foreign Policy of the Liberal democrats
- Stop Brexit
- Resettle 10,000 refugees a year
- The Lib Dems will work through international bodies for better regulation and scrutiny of international trade and investment treaties to ensure they do not worsen inequalities or undermine human rights or developing countries’ ability to regulate the environmental and social impacts of businesses.
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Home affairs Policy of the Liberal democrats
- Free childcare
- Legalise cannabis
- Freeze train fares
- Build 300,000 new homes a year
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Education Policy of the Liberal democrats
- Recruit 20,000 more teachers
- Reverse cuts to frontline school budgets, protecting per pupil funding in real terms
- End the 1 per cent cap on teachers’ pay rises
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Health Policy of the Liberal democrats
- Raising £7 billion a year in additional revenue by putting 1p on Income Tax, with this money to be ringfenced for spending on the NHS and social care.
- Transforming mental health by treating it with the same urgency as physical health.
- Reforming the Health and Social Care Act as recommended by the NHS, to make the NHS work in a more efficient and joined-up way, and to end the
automatic tendering of services.
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Economic Policy of the Liberal democrats
- A penny income tax rise for the NHS
- Tax frequent flyers
- Give zero-hours workers a 20% rise
- Tough borrowing rules and targeted tax rises
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Environmental Policy of the Liberal democrats
- Generate 80% of electricity from renewables
- Accelerate the rapid take-up of electric vehicles by reforming vehicle taxation, cutting VAT on EVs to 5 per cent and increasing the rate of installation of charging
points, including residential on-street points and ultra-fast chargers at service
- We will ensure that, by 2030, every new car and small van sold is electric.
