Unit 1 quick notes Flashcards

Question

# 3 Minor Parties & Local Elections

Answer 1

- Greens: 12% EU vote in 2019; 74-seat local gain in 2024. - Lib Dems: +104 seats in 2024 locals. - Reform/Workers Party: George Galloway wins Rochdale by-election.

Answer 2

- Labour: ~24,000 votes per seat - Reform UK: 800,000+ votes per seat (14.29% vote share → only 5 seats) - Green Party: 6.39% votes → 4 seats - Lib Dems: 12.22% votes → 72 seats → third-largest party

Answer 3

- Disproportionate: Large vote shares don’t always convert to seats (Reform, Greens) - "Winner’s Bonus": E.g., Labour 1997 landslide (179-seat majority) → passed HRA 1998 - Clear Single-Party Government: Conservatives 2019 (80-seat majority) → passed Coronavirus Act 2020 - Hung Parliaments: Only 3 since WW2 (e.g., 2010 coalition, 2017–19 minority govts) - Keeps Extremists Out: E.g., BNP 2010 = 1.9% vote → 0 seats (could've been 1–12 under PR) - Contradiction: George Galloway (far-left Workers Party) won Rochdale by 40% (FPTP); lost it again in 2024

Answer 4

- Mix of FPTP + closed party list - Corrects FPTP imbalance: 2011: Labour had 32% of vote → almost half the seats via FPTP → adjusted to 29% total via party list 2021: Won only 5 FPTP seats but added 26 regional list seats → total = 31 seats - Promotes multi-party system, reduces tactical voting - Still vague accountability (esp. in list seats)

Answer 5

- Ranked voting, no wasted votes, better reflects voter preference - Promotes coalitions & power-sharing, key for NI peace (Good Friday Agreement) - Examples: Sinn Féin–DUP coalition Issues: Complex and confusing for voters Stormont suspended 3× (2002–07, 2017–20, 2022–24) → governance instability Accountability unclear: 6 MLAs per constituency

Answer 6

- One winner, majoritarian - Promoted two-party dominance → only big parties make final round - Sadiq Khan: Won 3rd term in 2024 (43.8% vote), highest margin since 2016

Answer 7

- FPTP favors large, regionally concentrated parties → hurts small or evenly spread parties - AMS & STV offer fairer representation, but trade-off is complexity or weaker accountability - FPTP can deliver strong, stable govs… but also distort public will - PR systems = better voter choice, more parties → but risk of fragmentation or unstable coalitions

Answer 8

- Millennials are 15 points less conservative than national avg — breaks the “older = more conservative” trend - 2019: 18–24s: 21% Tory 70+: 14% Labour - 2024: 18–24s: 5% Tory 70+: 23% Labour YouGov: Age = “biggest dividing line” in British politics

Answer 9

- Media focuses on looks of female candidates → “Blair’s Babes”, “Labour Lovelies” - Women used to lean Tory → switched to Labour under Blair 2019: All parties had gender-related policies 2024: Gender gap in voting disappeared → 34% men, 35% women voted Labour Lib Dems: 12% each

Answer 10

- North = Labour: e.g., Liverpool Walton: 87% Labour (2024) - 2019: Tories broke “Red Wall” due to Brexit + Corbyn’s image - 2024: Reform UK gained coastal seats by using anti-immigrant rhetoric Class dealignment (since 1970s) → People less likely to vote based on class Voting by class: 1997: 59% of AB class voted Labour 2010: 40% of AB class voted Labour 1997: 21% of DE class voted Tory 2019: 41% of DE class voted Tory

Answer 11

- 2019: 64% Labour, 20% Tory Labour's BAME vote based more on class than ethnicity - 2024: BAME vote for major parties dropped Labour: –18% Independents: +13% Greens also gained

Answer 12

- 2017: Degree holders: 47% Labour/Lib Dem No qualifications: 53% Tory - 2019: Tories popular across all education groups Recent trend: education less predictive

Answer 13

Media obsession with Corbyn failed in 2017 → Labour still got 32.1% - 2017: 74% of Daily Mail readers voted Tory But 26% didn’t → not all influenced Media reflects, not just shapes, opinion → polls shape headlines TV debates: Limited effect; often dull and don’t change minds May’s refusal to debate damaged her image - 2019: Brexit-focused slogan + simple manifesto helped Tories Labour = unclear on Brexit, unpopular leader (Corbyn) Corbyn vilified in media: “Most dangerous man” (The Sun)

Answer 14

- Labour (2024) hired influencer team to reach young voters (TikTok/Instagram) Labour gained +186 local seats in 2024 Social media = echo chamber → reinforces existing views - 2017: Labour viral moments (e.g., Corbyn crashing May’s FB Live) reached millions - 2019: Tories: 2500 FB ads Labour: 250 FB ads → Tory advantage with older FB audience Campaigns matter more now due to partisan dealignment

Answer 15

- 2010: Nick Clegg’s debate win boosted Lib Dems → hung parliament - 2017: Labour gained support during campaign → 40% final vote Campaigns can influence undecideds, but many voters decide early - Example: 1997: Labour told to “sit tight” → voters already decided 2019: Tory campaign = effective but polls barely shifted Slogans > Manifestos → “Get Brexit Done” worked; Labour’s manifesto too long Corbyn’s unpopularity, scandals, & poor media handling hurt Labour

Answer 16

- Decline in trust in TV news: BBC (2003 → 2020): 81% → 47% ITV: 82% → 41% - Print → Broadcast media pipeline: Daily Mirror/Guardian broke Cummings lockdown story, TV followed - Media pressure can impact leadership: Suella Braverman sacked after press criticism of protest remarks 2024 Rochdale by-election: George Galloway won using pro-Palestine media strategy to target Muslim voters

Answer 17

- WASPI have campaigned for compensation due to the government increasing pension age. They want to receive compensation. 2024 October 2022 two JSO activists scaled the Queen Elizabeth Bridge on the M25 near Dartford and were there suspended in cables for 37 hours, both got sentenced to around 3 years imprisonment. -Just Stop Oil methodology was civil disobedience regardless of public image - getting their message across was the priority rather than public support - although many agreed with the cause of the campaign, they did not agree with the method The National Farmers Union has a close link with its relevant government department (Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs).FU annual conference, stating he had worked with the National Farmers Union to create a £220 million package of funding for technology and innovation to protect British farming which would allow bosses to fire and sue union employees in public sectors during strikes if minimum levels of service aren’t met. - The National Trust is the largest pressure group in the country, having access to huge amount of funding and membership, however, is sometimes unable to influence government. In 2022, it called for the government to stay true to its net zero by 2030 obligation and continue to ban fracking. Sunak has extended the net-zero to 2050, and PM Truss lifted the ban on fracking (although Sunak has reinstated it). - June 2022: Institute for Government issued ‘How metro mayors can help level up England’ - June 2022: Adam Smith Institute released a paper entitled ‘Countdown: Reforming the Cabinet Office, exploring how the Cabinet office could be made more efficient and effective. It released this because it opposed bureaucracy and believed the government should be small. It suggested reducing the size of the cabinet office by 90% (outsourcing some work done by the Cabinet Office to private bodies + keeping a tighter grip on spending

Answer 18

- humans exhibit a “a restless desire” for power - leads to conflict and turning the state of nature into a “war of every man against every man” - absolute government at the consent of the people; sacrifice many freedoms for safety (entering a social contract which surrenders all natural rights minus self-defence to whom they grant authority) - negative view of human nature = humans are inherently violent/destructive and power hungry; must be kept in line by a higher authority - in the state of nature, life of a man would become “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”

Answer 19

- tradition is needed to promote social solidarity and continuity = history roots/ties people in society - the human need for security is met by society’s institutions; provide identity and social cohesion - society resembles a living organism = all areas work together and can be gradually/gently changed to adapt to new circumstances. - reform should be limited and cautious; take accounts of the past and based on empiricism and tradition - ‘Society more akin to a plant than a machine’ (theory of organicism) (Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790) - "Society is indeed a contract... between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born."

Answer 20

- “to be a conservative is to prefer the tried over the untried” - humans are imperfect “but not immoral”; “fallible but not terrible” - parliamentary institutions have developed pragmatically (practical demands of governing) political thinking and action should be guided by pragmatism and practical experience; - - ensures public acceptance and maintains social cohesion and stability - the state existed to “prevent the bad rather than create the good” - rational attempts to make sense of society’s behaviour will inevitably distort/simplify that facts; due to human imperfection - Oakeshott’s critics, especially the new right, claim his philosophy is too fatalistic and underestimates our ability to shape circumstances. For new right philosophers the - ‘Oakeshott mentality’ was ‘lazy’ and had allowed socialism ideas to advance unchallenged after 1945. (On Being Conservative, 1956) ‘In political activity... men sail a boundless and bottomless sea’

Answer 21

- “the small state is the strong state” - the pursuit of rational self-interest is morally right; based on the “virtue of selfishness” - The Voice of Reason- 'Abortion is a moral right' - rejects welfare/wealth redistribution = relies on implicit threat of taxation (opposition to this is known as the nonaggression principle) - condemned personal altruism = acts created an artificial sense of obligation and expectation supports a pure, laissez-faire capitalist economy; claimed it offered a set of principles covering all aspects of human life

Answer 22

- 'tax, for the most part, is theft” - humans are rational, self-aware beings with free; shouldn’t be treated as mere things or used against their will as resources - self-ownership is based on the ideas that individuals own themselves, their bodies, talents, abilities and labour - only a minimal state can be justified = taxes levied for state welfare are immoral as they treat the individuals as a means of resource rather than an end in themselves - The only state that can be justified is one where powers of the state are limited to those necessary = protects people against violence, theft, fraud etc.

Answer 23

- “where there is no law, there is no freedom” - optimistic view of human nature = people are rational - society is made up of self-seeking individuals mechanistic view of the state = it is a servant to the people - the social contract = individuals must sacrifice some of their liberties in return for protection from the state

Answer 24

- “virtue can only flourish amongst equals” - all humans are capable of being rational; everyone should be treated as such - society has infantilised woman which inhibits individualism - women should receive formal equality under law; establishes foundational equality liberated women can thrive independently and enhance a free market economy

Answer 25

- Adapted JSM theory of higher and lower pleasures in her campaign for civil rights - women are as rational as men - society needs to reform in order for women to experience individualism - enabling state = must provide childcare so woman can work liberated women are an asset to the economy

Answer 26

- key concept = harm principle - human nature desires to be free of control by others (negative liberties) wants a limited state; intervention leads to the death of liberal democracy - laissez-faire capitalism = no state involvement within the economy - was critical of democracy(didnt outright reject it)>claims that it could undermine the principles of pluralism as it could lead to the tyranny of the majority. Remember, mill was a huge defender of pluralism, and advocated for a ‘marketplace of ideas’ Feminist philosophy

Answer 27

- “a just society is one where the worst off are well off enough to get by” - optimistic view of human nature = everyone is ultimately rational - difference principle = it is ok for there to be inequality of outcome if it benefits the poorest in society - belief in state involvement within the economy; ensures everyone has a base standard of living - The Veil of ignorance - to make decisions and laws without knowing our own social status so as to create a fairer society and benefit all the people, including ourselves

Answer 28

- “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” - our good human nature is corroded by - - capitalism = loss of meaningful bins between - human that should hold society together “dictatorship of the proletariat” = would be necessary to protect against counter-revolution in the aftermath of a revolution - religion is a tool used by the powerful; helps keep the proletariat suppressed - capitalists extracts the maximum level of surplus value (i.e. profit) from workers; due to the existence of a reserve army of labour

Answer 29

- 'freedom is how free your opponent is” fraternity and altruism still flourish in working class communities, despite the oppression of capitalism - the proletariat dictatorship would be a problem (contrasts Marx’s perspective) revolution would come about spontaneously through the workers - a capitalist economic system requires people to demand products beyond what they actually need

Answer 30

- “matters may be resolved sensibly… by rational, educated and civic-minded officials” the state should be expanded rather than overthrown - humanity needs to be gradually guided back to its original cooperative condition high level of worker’s control within businesses an early thinker on the need for welfare state (via her Minority Report paper) - gradual change is preferable to the bloodshed and chaos caused by revolutionary socialism; there is an inevitability of gradualness

Answer 31

- “what one generation sees as a luxury, the next generation sees as a necessity” - human nature has a powerful sense of fairness and an innate objection to huge inequalities of outcome - socialists must adapt to new circumstances (evolutionary not revolutionary) the state is responsible for delivering both a greater equality of opportunity and greater equality of outcome - focused on ending poverty via comprehensive education, the welfare state, social housing etc. hates grammar schools: ‘if it's the last thing I do, i'm going to destroy every last grammar school in England’

Answer 32

- “welfare system should be restricted in order to give people a hand-up, not hand-out” human nature has been shaped by changing - - socio-economic conditions; pro-fairness instinct is still present welfare recipients should be active rather than passive - New labour figure Peter Madelson ( cabinet minister in Blair's government) famously said “ We don't mind people being filthy rich, as long as they pay their taxes” like Anthony Giddens this shows acceptance of the free market and the states role as social investment in infrastructure and education. - Free market is most effective and efficient economic system ‘get used to it’ - Capitalism is corrosive but too well established to be removed

Answer 33

- An example of representative democracy, gotten through second reading, Kim Leadbeater introduced it as a PMB - legalised assisted dying, one of the the most significant social reforms in this generation - Highlights Parliament legislative function, backbencher can propose - debated on sitting fridays. - Highlights Parliament representative function, voting with conscience, not voting on party lines 'free vote' - 2/3rds of public voted for it - Shows how MPs fulfill the trustee model of representation and exercise their own judgement, rather than be beholden by public view

Answer 34

- Reform UK MP from Great Yarmouth, Rupert Lowe, voted in favour of the landmark Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill after hosting a mini-referendum in his constituency - Promised to vote according to the majority of the wishes of people in his constituency, after 75% of 1181 constituents voted in favourof assisted dying in the poll - cited wanting to consult his constituents and give them power - An example of a representative attempting to give direct democracy - FPTP creates single member constituencies, MPs can represent their interests in Parliament and voters are able to hold their MP to accountand vote them out

Answer 35

- In the summer of 2024, controversy with Lord Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and Labour peer who donated over 500,000 to the party since 2020 - 'Passes for glasses' revealed Starmer accepting substantial gifts from Alli, including clothing and eyewear valued at over 16,000, some not promptly declared - Futher scrutiny shows that Starmer had accepted 107,000 in gifts and hospitality since 2019, surpassing all other MPs (Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves included) - July 2024, granted a temporary pass to Downing Street, used to oirganise a post-election event and reportidly advise on public appointments - 'Operation Integrity' - Cronyism, undermine public trust in politicians and reinforcing perceptions of democratic deficit despite change in gov - those with money can influence - Media can hold governments to account and uphold democracy between elections - scandal was exposed by Freedom of Information requests by media outlets

Answer 36

- Jan 2025, government published the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Landmark legislation introduces counter terror style powers to 'smash the people smuggling gangs' including measures to seize and search phones and expand detention powers - Feb 2025, would make it impossible for a refugee who arrives on a small boat to UK to become a British citizen - attracted criticism from Refugee Council and Labour MPs - Having previously based immigration around firm opposition to Illegal Migration Act and Rwanda Bill - scrapped after winning 2024 election - Highlights the significant impact on minor parties in government policy - Reform UK increased poll ratings considerably since election, especially in 'red wall' areas - 2nd with 89 seats - 'spoiler effect' - can taken away votes from major parties - strong anti-migration mesage, increased saliency of the issue on political agenda

Answer 37

- Since 2024 GE, massive increase - Jan 2025 YouGov poll, party 2nd and within the margin of error to overtake Labour, polling at 25% compared to Labour's 26% and the Conservative's 22% - has overtaken the Conservatives in party membership and polls show gains especially concentrated in 18-24 category - Puts pressure on major parties and driven issues such as immigration up the political agenda, shows the UK as an increasingly multi-party system, highlights the indirect indluence over policy that minor parties can have - mobilise their public support

Answer 38

- Least Proportional Election Result in British History - Gallagher Index - Labour and Lib Dems performed better than 2019 - 411 seats (63% of all seats) and 174 majority despite recieving 33.7% of the vote - winner's bonus - 2019 ge - 32.1% - 202 setas - Lib Dems - record of 72 seats (11% of seats) with 12.2% of the vote - Minor parties increase their vote significantly - 12.7% of the vote in 2019 to 30.4% of the vote in 2024

Answer 39

- Wield significant policy - owing to their close ties with DEFRA and the Tory Party - 2024 PM Sunak attended their annual conference and pledged to protect British Farming in the agricultural market - leading to the UK suspending their trade links with Canada after they refused to loosen food standards - benefitted 55,000 farmers - Influence over policy since Labour Party has declined, possibly due to Labour performing well in rural seats - 2024 budget, Lord Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced a tax of 20% on inherited farming assets over 1M - president of the NFU Bradshaw criticised this for leading to the 'death of family farms' - Has launched a campaign called 'overturn the family farm tax' - e-petition recieved over 200,000 signatures, little impact - Shows how important group status and alignment with government direction is crucial to allow them to extert influence over policy - Scrapped Anti-Strike legislation - Minimum Service Levels Bill 2023, Trade Union 2016

Answer 40

- March 2025, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reevs made her spring statement - not meant to be a 'fiscal event' - turned into one - mounting pressures on the government to do something about stagnant growth and wide dissatisfaction with previous economic policies - Geared to a more centrist ideology - public attitudes can influence governments to shift their ideological positions fron growing support to Reform UK - Major cuts to welfare budget, for those who are disabled, poverty will rise to 14.5M - Eligibility for Personal Independence Payment will be tightened - 1B to help people get back to work, 400M for job centres - Dealignment from commitment to the redistribution of wealth and greater alignment with New Labour - prevent people from 'exploiting' - 'hand up, not handout'