membership fees

• Labour's main source of funding - 485,000 members in 2019 so rely on fees
• Labour in 2019 lessened membership fees to increase members, revitalising participation
• For - members are citizens so helps keep political parties independent of the state
• For - parties have to reach out to members and therefore engage with a wider range of supporters and are more responsive to their views
• For - members become more assertive and involved in party affairs, deciding on leaders, candidates and policy, thus ensuring active involvement
• Against - excessive power to party members as they can effectively decide on the PM
• Against - core vote so can influence policy to lean to more extremist viewpoints