Political parties

• Political party

  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
• Manifesto

  The policies a political party would seek to pass into law if elected to office
• The Salisbury Convention holds that the unelected House of Lords should not, at second reading, oppose any bill that was included in the governing party's manifesto at the time of the general election
• Factors that support the concept of an electoral mandate

  • 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
  • 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
• Factors that undermine the concept of an electoral mandate

  • 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
• Roles of political parties in the UK

  • Providing representation
  • Encouraging political engagement and facilitating political participation
  • Engaging in political recruitment
  • Formulating policy
• Types of political party in the UK

  • Mainstream parties (Conservative/Labour)
  • Minor parties (such as Lib Dem, Green)
  • Regional parties (such as SNP)
  • Single issue parties (such as The Brexit Party or Women's Equality Party)
• Two-party system

  Where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly
• Dominant-party system

  Where a number of parties exist but only one holds government power
• Single-party system

  Where one party dominates, bans other parties and exercises total control over candidacy at elections
• Multiparty system

  Where many parties compete for power and the government consists of a series of coalitions formed by different combinations of parties
• Arguments that the UK now has a multiparty system

  • In the 2019 general election, 24.3% of UK voters (and 56.3% of Scottish voters) backed parties other than the 'big two'
  • The Liberal Democrats were in a UK coalition government (2010–15), and the SNP has been in government in Scotland since 2007
  • Any party that was able to mobilise non-voters would stand a chance of winning the election — in the 2019 general election, that was 33.0% of registered voters
• Arguments that the UK does not have a multiparty system

  • 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 2019, Labour and the Conservatives secured 75.7% of the popular vote (down 6.6% from 2017), winning 87.0% of the 650 seats contested
  • Of the parties that contested seats across mainland Britain in 2019, the Liberal Democrats (in third place) finished with 11.5% of the vote and 191 seats behind Labour (in second place)
• Arguments that recent years have witnessed the 'end of ideology'

  • 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
  • There are significant overlaps in the stated policies of the three main parties
  • There is an increased emphasis on presentation and personality over substance
• Arguments that ideology still matters


  • The three main UK parties still have distinct ideological traditions and a committed core support that strongly identifies with such traditions
  • 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
• Structure of the Labour Party

  • Local branches (the lowest level of the party organisation)
  • Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) (organise the party at constituency level)
  • National Executive Committee (NEC) (the main national organ of the party)
• Structure of the Conservative Party

  • Local branches (corresponding to local council wards)
  • Conservative Associations (CAs) (play a key role in organising the party at grassroots level and planning election campaigns)
  • Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) (the party's national headquarters)
• Structure of the Liberal Democrats


  • Separate national parties in England, Scotland and Wales with a fair degree of autonomy
  • A series of regional parties under each national party
  • The English Council (governs the English Liberal Democrats)
  • The Federal Board (shapes the strategic direction of the party and oversees the work of the party's other federal committees)
• Process for choosing Conservative Party leader


  • Conservative MPs vote in a series of ballots to narrow the field of 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
• Process for choosing Labour Party leader

  • Candidates must secure the nomination of 20% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to qualify for the ballot, plus the support of either 5% of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) or at least three affiliate organisations (two must be trade unions) representing a minimum of 5% of the affiliated membership
  • Party members and registered supports vote on a one member, one vote basis under a preferential ballot system
• Process for choosing Liberal Democrat leader

  • 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
• Process for establishing Conservative Party policy

  • Until the late 1990s, policy was largely determined by the party leader
  • 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 but was short-lived
  • The party's manifestos have been co-authored by senior figures such as David Cameron, Oliver Letwin, Steve Hilton and Rachel Wolf
• Process for establishing Labour Party policy

  • The 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
  • The party's manifestos have been drafted by figures such as Ed Miliband, Jonathan Rutherford, Jon Cruddas, Marc Stears and Andrew Fisher
• Process for establishing Liberal Democrat policy


  • The party's federal structure once led commentators to argue that they were the most democratic in terms of policy making
  • The party leadership's influence over the Federal Policy Committee has allowed it to steer policy to a degree
  • The party's policies still have to be signed off by the party as a whole
• 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
• 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
• Arguments in favour of state funding for political parties

  • 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
• Arguments against state funding for political parties

  • 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