Political Parties Flashcards
(25 cards)
Main functions of political parties
1) Selecting candidates and leaders
2) Creating policy
3) Encourage political participation
4) Representation eg demographic groups and geographical areas
5) Educating voters about the impact of policy and importance of voting
Features of UKs party system
1) Long term dominance by Labour and Conservatives
2) Parties are mostly self-funding
3) Two main parties have traditionally been ideologically bib tents meaning they have several factions which spam from the left wing, right wing and centre ground
UK generally seen as having a two party system
1) Only three elections since 1929 have failed to produce a conservative or Labour majority government
2) Labour has been the biggest party in Wales since the first devolved election in 1999
3) The two main parties share of the popular vote increased to 82% in 2017 and was 76% in 2019
4) In 2019, Boris Johnson refused to take part in a TV debate with any other party leaders expect Jeremy Corbyn
5) After the 2019 general election, Labour and the conservatives shared 87% of the seats in the HoC
6) The conservatives and Labour accounted for over 80% of the combined fundraising total across all political parties for the 2019 general election
7) In 2024, Labour once more won the majority of the Scottish seats in the UK general election, after a period of ten years where they had fallen behind the SNP
But there can also be a case made for it being a multi party system
Scottish national party
-The SNP has been the biggest party in the Scottish Parliament since 2007
-Between 2015 and 2024, the SNp replaced Labour as the biggest party in Scotland in general elections to the UK Parliament
-In 2023, the Scottish Green Party had two ministers in the devolved Scottish Parliament
Multi party system
Coalition
-Gave Lib Dem’s five ministerial positions
-In 2024 general election, the two main parties shared only 57% of the vote which is a record low
-In 2024, the Lib Dem’s took 59 seats from the conservatives, including previously safe seats
Multi party system
UKIP
-Threat posed by them led to the Brexit referendum
-The last two European Parliament elections were won by the BREXIT party and UKIP
-However, the Brexit party never had a seat 8n the commons whereas in 2024, Reform Uk won a record of 5 seats having gained 14% of the vote
Party funding main sources
1) Individuals
2) Businesses
3) Trade unions
4) The state
2017 general election campaign funding
The conservatives have raised and spent the most money in recent elections
The conservatives spent £18.6 million, Labour spent £11 million, lib dems spent £6.8 million, SNP spent £1.6 million, Green Party spent £299,000 and UKIP spent £273,000
The conservatives spent more than Labour and the Liberal Democrat’s combined
Fundraising allows parties to spend more money on campaigning
In 2017, Labour spent over 1.3 million on digital strategy, including creating a Jeremy Corbyn filter
In 2019, the conservatives fundraising success allowed them to spend nearly £6 million on a mail campaign, more than Labour raised for their whole campaign
The conservatives also spent £2 million on Facebook adverts in 2017, and £1 million in 2019
Many believe that the current party funding system is unfair
1) Some feel that allowing large donations from individuals adds to the problem of elitism in UK politics, giving more influence to the most wealthy eg the Conservatives dominance makes it hard for other parties to campaign on equal terms and during Covid conservatives donors were awarded contracts worth an estimated £880 m
2) There have been allegations that senior Labour figures may also be influenced by donations eg Lord Ali made gifts to Keir Starmer and was later offered a temporary security pass to Downing Street
3) A funding scandal led to the arrest of former FM Nicola Sturgeom and the resignation strong and arrest of both SNP chief executive and treasurer in 2023. It was alleged that the party had misspent funds that had been donated to campaigning for independence
Conservative policies
Boris Johnson
Took a one nation approach
Approach to Covid- temporarily increased welfare payments by £20 per week and collaborated with Rashforf on his free school meals campaign
Net zero agenda- pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050
Also announced significant increases for renewable energy and electric vehicles
Conservative policies
Rishi Sunak
Sunaks government blocked the Scottish Parliaments Gender recognition reform bill
His government pursued a tougher approach to law and order
Also announced state plans to help with the costs of childcare
Labour policies
Jeremy Corbyn
The 2017 and 19 manifests promised to nationalise rail, energy and water companies
The 2019 manifesto also pledged to nationalise broadband, abolish uni fees and and increase income tax for people earning above 80,000 a year
He opposed air strikes in Syria
Labour policies
Keir starmer
Labour scrapped abolishment of tuition fees
Starmer supported the UKs military aid to Ukraine since the Russian Invasion 2022
In 2024, the only nationalist that staermer promised was great British energy
Supported Rashforf
Increase in welfare payments proposed a windfall tax on energy companies
Scottish national party policies
Scottish independence
Rejoin the EU
Free university tuition for Scottish students at Scottish universities
Implemented current top income tax of 47%
Net zero by 2045
Liberal Democrat’s
Net zero emissions by 2045
Windfall tax on energy companies profits
Rejoin the EU single market
Green Party
Net zero as soon as possible
Free university tuition across the UK
Reduce consumption of meat and dairy in the UK
Taxes on carbon and frequent flyers
Why do parties fail?
The success of parties can be affected by how party leaders are seen by the public, what the general public thinks of the party policies, campaigns, public perceptions of party performance and how the media covers a party
Party leaders
Leaders often shape their parties public profile, for better or worse
1) In 1992, John Major polled far better than Neil Kinnock, leader of Labour Party although Labour led the national polls, conservatives managed to keep their majority
Every time Jo Swinson appeared on radio or television in 2019, the Lib Dem’s poll ratings fell
2) Campajgns are becoming increasingly presidential, simplifying elections as contestants
Every campaign since 2010, has featured at least one leaders TV debate, which Theresa May did not participate in 2017
3) Prime ministers lead the largest party in the HoC, which makes them the highest profile spokes person for their party
Maybe not so crucial?
Minor parties often have popular leaders, but first past the post makes it difficult for these parties to achieve electoral success
During his time as leader of Lib Dem’s, Charles Kennedy polled above Tony Blair and Michael Howard, however the Lib Dem’s won under 10% of the seats in 2005 election despite winning 22% of the popular vote
Policy and campaigning
Popular policies and effective campaigning allow parties to target specific seats and groups of voters that can swing election result
-Theresa Mays 2017 policy proposal for adult social care was unpopular with the general public and contributed to the conservatives losing their majority. Policy was nicknamed dementia tax by Labour
-The conservatives had huge success with their get Brexit done slogan in 2019 which helped them to win many Brexit supporting constituencies in labours red wall
-In 2024, Rishi Sunaks decision to leave d day commemorations to return to general election campaigning harmed the public’s opinion of him, which disadvantaged rest of campaign
Where policy and campaigning doesn’t work
-Nick Clegg was seen to have a highly effective campaign for Lib Dem’s in 2010. He was considered best performed in the televised leaders debates and the party’s pledge to scrap university tuition fees was popular among younger voters. But Lib Dem’s still won 5 seats fewer than in 2005
-In 2019, Labour economic policies were more popular than the conservatives but Jeremy Corbyn was a lot less popular than Boris Johnson, which contributed to Labour losing the election
Public perceptions of their performance
-Voters perceptions of a party’s economic competence often shape their chances of success, eg the past three elections when the party in government changed (1979,1997,2010) all followed or were held during economic crises
-Scandals can also harm parties chances. The conservatives were punished for sleaze in the 1997 general election
-A strong performance as the main opposition boosted the chances of the Conservatives 1979, Labour in 1997 and conservatives in 2010, and Labour in 2024
