Political parties

• What is a political party?


  A group of people who share a common ideology and puts the policies it aims to pass into law in its manifesto.
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  What are the functions of political parties?

  • Political participation - allows people to have greater participation as they can become party members and parties can increase engagement by educating citizens on issues.
  • Representation
  • Providing government
  • Acting as the opposition to scrutinise the government
  • Creating policies
• Since when has party membership been declining?


  The 1950's.
• How many members did the Labour Party gain under Corbyn's leadership from December 2015?


  200,000
• How do political parties gain funding?

  • Membership fees
  • Donations
  • Short money
• What is short money?

  The funds received by opposition parties that win two or more seats in the House of Commons at the general election or win one seat and gain more than 150,000 votes.
• The Conservatives membership income decreased to under £1 million in 2017.
• The Labour party have seen a rise under Jeremy Corbyn in membership fees to over £16 million reflecting the rise in party membership since he became the leader.
• Why is there controversy over party funding?

  The belief that individuals can buy access to, and influence over political decision makers, e.g. Bernie Ecclestone lobbying Blair to make F1 exempt from the tobacco advertising ban - switched donations from Conservatives to Labour.
• What were the effects of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) in 2000?

  • Party spending limits at general elections for £30,000 per constituency
  • Parties must make any donations over £5,000 public
• What were the effects of the Political Parties and Election Act (PPEA) 2009?

  • Enabled the electoral commission to investigate and fine parties who broke the rules of the PPERA
  • Limits donations allowed from non-UK residents and reduces the amount that donations need to be made public at
• Have the party funding reforms worked?

  • Parties have encouraged long-term 'loans' rather than donations to get around PPERA regulations
  • Donors to large parties have not been deterred
  • Bigger reforms such as state funding are unlikely as they cost the taxpayer
• What are the arguments against state funding of political parties?

  • Taxpayers might oppose funding parties they are opposed to, especially more radical parties.
  • It would be hard to work out how much each party should receive.
  • State funding will not solve the problem of parties having different levels of funding, as parties have different levels of membership to one another.
  • In a democracy and a free society, it could be argued that individuals who wish to donate money to a party be allowed to do so.
• What are the arguments for state funding of political parties?

  • State funding would remove the influence and access private donors have to political decision makers.
  • State funding gives politicians more time to serve the interests of their constituents rather than spending time seeking funding.
  • Minority parties could compete better if the funding gap between major and minor parties was smaller.
  • Greater funding for opposition parties would allow them to research policy and offer a strong alternative to the government, which is good for democracy.
• Which mainstream party has the largest membership base?


  Labour
• The Conservative Party was established from the Tory Party in the 1830s.
• • One-nation conservatives support traditional institutions (eg the Church, the family and the class system) and the enduring rules of British society.
  • The Conservative Party believed in pragmatically dealing with issues whilst looking to maintain the status quo and gradually improving on what already exists.
  • Institutions like the Church are important, and so must be preserved to moderate society.
• How many years was Thatcher PM for?

  11 years
• What is Thatcherism?

  • Conservative ideas on social policy and law and order
  • Neo-liberal ideal - free-market, monetarism and less regulation
  • Importance of individual needs over society
  • Small state
  • Advocated for self-reliance
  • Reducing trade union powers
  • Reducing welfare state
• What were the policy promises in the 2010 Conservative campaign?

  • Stronger economic management with tax and spending cuts and deficit reduction.
  • Replacing the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights
  • Accepting EU principles, but staying opposed to the transfer of powers away from the UK.
  • Tougher exams and reduced state control over schools.
• What were Theresa May's policy promises?

  • Regional government: May decided not to put in place the previous government's proposals for elected mayors in cities and abandoned the ‘northern powerhouse’ plans.
  • Environment: May replaced the government Department for Energy and Climate Change with departments preparing for Brexit, the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for International Trade.
  • Education: May put forward proposals in favour of grammar schools which allowed comprehensives to become grammars.
• What was the result of the snap 2017 general election?


  The Conservatives lost their majority and entered into an informal agreement with the DUP.
• What were the coalition policies?

  Reducing benefits

  Reducing the deficit

  A referendum on the Alternative Vote system
• The Labour Party was established in 1900 by the Trade Union Congress, the Independent Labour Party, the Fabians and the Social Democratic Federation.

  • The Labour Party was founded to represent the working class and bring them into parliament.
• What were Old Labour ideas?

  A belief in nationalisation, opposition to capitalism, a belief in equality and redistributing wealth to the poor from the wealthy, continually investing in welfare services and greater state control over the economy.
• What is Clause 4?

  Clause 4 refers to a section in the Labour Party's constitution that historically committed the party to the nationalisation of key industries.
• What was described as 'the longest suicide note in history'?

  Labour Party's 1983 election manifesto which demonstrated Old Labour ideas such as more workers' rights, nuclear disarmament and greater state control of industries.
• What were the New Labour ideas?

  • Reduced trade union power in the party and decreased the reliance on them for funding.
  • Increasing the party leader's power over areas such as candidate selection, making policy and party structure.
  • Moving away from traditional Labour policies on tax and spending.
  • Acceptance of Conservative privatisation programmes.
  • Acceptance of devolution and membership of the EU and NATO.
  • Support for private schools and healthcare.
• What was the 2010 Labour manifesto?

  • Outlined Labour's support for the NHS and education
  • Focus on the need for constitutional reform
• Why was Ed Miliband labelled as 'Red Ed'?

  As he received a lot of funding from trade unions.
• What were Gordon Brown's policies?

  • Increase the state’s role in both the economic market and society.
  • Some high street banks were nationalised.
  • Brown put in place an economic policy focused on managing the deficit without introducing cuts to public services.
  • Brown’s economic policy was similar to the ‘tax and spend’ policies of Old Labour.
• What were Corbyn's policies?

  • Reducing wealth inequality and promoting a more equal society.
  • Placing peace as the core objective of foreign policy.
  • National education for all.
  • Achieving full employment and increasing job security for workers.
• When were the Liberal Democrats formed?

  In 1988 when the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged.
• What are the classical liberalism beliefs?

  • Argues for limited state intervention, and advocates equality, tolerance and freedom.
  • Proposes that the best way to improve people’s livelihoods is through self-improvement rather than through the state playing a role.
• What are the beliefs of modern liberals?

  Advocates for the need for more state intervention by introducing regulation of the market and providing welfare for people.
• What was the foreign policy of the 2017 Conservatives?

  • Exit EU single market and customs union.
  • Increasing budget of Ministry of Defence.
  • Keep Trident (nuclear deterrent).
• What was the law and order policy of the 2017 Conservatives?

  • Investing to modernise prisons.
  • Restructuring the police force.
  • Limiting stop and search.
• What was the welfare policy of the 2017 Conservatives?

  • Ending triple lock on pensions (pensions rise by inflation, wages, or 2.5%) and having a double lock (pensions rise by inflation or wages).
  • Means-testing the winter fuel allowance.
  • Since being in power, the Conservatives have implemented structural change to the welfare system.
  • The 2017 campaign didn't promise any policy reversals from before.
• What was the economic policy of the 2017 Conservatives?

  • Increase higher tax rate to £50,000.
  • Increase personal allowance (tax-free earnings).
  • Cut corporation tax.
• What was the foreign policy of the 2018 Labour Party?

  • Promoting a global Britain during and after Brexit.
  • Investing in diplomatic services.
  • Foreign policy focusing on human rights and resolution of conflicts.
  • Trying to help the refugee crisis.
  • Stopping support for wars of intervention.