Political parties

• Parties are organised with the purpose of winning power at a national and regional level, parties put up people for election in order to gain the popular consent to fulfil this, and are joined together often through a broadly defined ideology
• Policy formation role - parties develop programmes for government, providing the electorate with meaningful choices (policies expected to vary and be distinct in nature due to differing ideologies)
• However, parties are becoming increasingly central and the weakened link to traditional ideologies undermines the idea of distinct choices for the electorate, instead results in 

  ‘Technocratic choice’ - leaders chosen based on experience/background rather than policy
• In 2019, Labour/Lib Dems seen to put forward the most candidates in elections, around the 600 mark, Greens put forward 476, however only received 1 seat share in return (comparison to Con 365, Labour 202)
• Party leadership increasingly seen to be chosen by those with party membership, i.e 2019 Boris Johnson chosen as party leader from ballot of party members, despite only 1.6% being a part of a political party
• Partisan dealignment describes the instance where the electorate no longer finds themselves identifying with a particular party on a long term basis, i.e individuals become less ‘partisan’

  1964 - 44% of voters felt a strong connection to a party

  2015 - 9% felt a strong connection 
• A popular mandate can be claimed by the winning party in elections, whereby authority is given to the party, thus providing legitimacy for it to exercise its power
• ‘Catch all parties’ - emerged as a result of the move away from industrial society with stark class divisions, increased overall wealth has meant parties are attempting to appeal to the mass of the electorate rather than certain factions. I.e Blair being Labour but weakening TU links
• Ecclestone F1 Scandal

  £1 million given to the Labour party under Blair before the 1997 election, with another £1 million promised afterwards by Bernie Ecclestone, it later merged that he had entered into talks with Blair over F1 being exempt from tobacco advertising, then the health minister seen to announce they implement this the week after and scandal erupted
• ‘Cash for peerages scandal’ - under Blair, 4 donors who had provided a cumulative total of £5 million between them in donations to the Labour party had been seen to be nominated for peerages
• Party funding largely comprises of subscriptions from party members, individual donors and ones from organisations, as well as a portion of state funding

  However, parties are increasingly reliant upon private donors and individuals
• In 2022, according to the Institute for government, only the DUP was seen to have its state funding exceed that of other sources such as private donors/ membership fees, with Labour having the highest funding from external sources at nearly £40 million
• SNP seen to flag 36 people being raised to the HOL under Johnson’s first year in govt, including a number of conservative party donors, Boris Johnson’s younger brother Jo, and a Russian born billionaire who Johnson was seen to attend a party by when he was foreign secretary, accusations of cronyism 
• Cronyism describes the accusation of appointing friends and associates to positions of power without a proper regard for their qualifications
• Since 2015, Labour/ SNP/ Greens all saw membership income nearly match or exceed fundings from donations
• ‘Short money’ - describes money that is available to opposition parties to help them with Parliamentary duties, but not campaign or election expenses. Calculated based on seats, extra income for leader of opposition’s office

  Around 21k per seat at elections 
• ‘Cranborne money’ - similar scheme that is used in the HOL to help the main opposition party

  Over 800k for Labour in the HOL, and over 400k for Lib Dems
• Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000

  • Donations in excess of 7.5k must be declared to the Electoral Commission 
  • 30k election spending limit on campaigns per constituency 
• In 2019, 93% of Labour party donations seen to come from TUs

  Conservatives received 63% of overall funding in the same year
• In 2024, the Conservative’s biggest party donor Frank Hester (10m in the last year) said fellow MP Diane Abbot ‘makes you want to hate all black women’, yet still maintains to be a party donor, demonstrates even though the money is vetted, the donors are unlikely to be reprimanded in the same way
• The 2009 Parliamentary Expenses Scandal involved outrage over previous claims for expenses being made by HoL and HoC members

  Most infamously, Peter Vigger seen to claim £1675 for a duck house in his garden
• As of April 2024, MPs are paid a salary of £91,000, able to claim for various expenses under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, largely in response to the expenses scandal and set up an independent body to review MPs allowances, for things such as expenses of living in their constituency or london, travel to/from the commons in certain instances
• Arguments suggest that state funding could weaken the vested interests of parties in the electorate’s wants
• Parties would require around £25m of taxpayer money to carry out functions, however effectively would be a minimal impact to the individual

  Could, however, risk allocation to more extremist parties, i.e the British National Party or UKIP/ Reform UK, which the general public may not be happy with
• Whilst Socialism has typically been associated with Labour, and Conservatism with the Conservatives, in reality, the increasing centralisation of parties has meant they identify with these ideologies in a less rigid manner
• Conservatives established themselves as having a ‘pragmatic approach’, underpinned by the conservation of institutions such as the church, sceptical of change and rooted in tradition 
• One Nation Conservatism - dates back to Disraeli, paternalistic, encouragement of the state to support the less well off in society

  • i.e attempts by Cameron to help both the rich and poor (introduced 31 new free schools in 2016, whilst also raising personal allowance for income tax bands)
  • However, some argue he lacks the paternalistic approach, with the nature of his austerity measures (cuts to the NHS and public services) leading to between 50-300k deaths in the UK as a result of it
• Thatcherism/New Right Conservatism - fusion of neoliberalism and neoconservatism

  • tough on crime, euroscepticism, low taxes, minimal state intervention and importance of inequality
  • Thatcher, privatised industry (electricity and gas), decreased power of trade unions and sale of council houses- emphasis on private property ownership
  • Truss, advocated for no new taxes, however opposed bill of rights, despite facing backlash from right wing factions , perhaps role of pressure groups
• Con modern day:

  • Commitment to a points based immigration system
  • Net Carbon Emissions by 2050
  • 2019 manifesto, aimed to raise personal allowance to first 12.5k being tax free
  • Build 40 more hospitals
• 2010-17 Austerity remained a priority, however in 2019 the manifesto promise of 20,000 more police officers and 17,000 more doctors, same for nurses (one nation influences)
• One Nations have endorsed policies that arguably restrict individual freedoms, Cameron endorsed repeal of the HRA, however was aimed to limit immigration, and Johnson advocated for the 2020 Coronavirus Act (fines for not wearing masks)

  New Right conservatives saw Covid restrictions as the state playing too large of a role in individual’s lives
• New Right typically hard Brexiteers, advocating for free trade and a closer relationship with the US

  One Nation are more aligned with the EU, i.e Cameron did not expect Brexit to occur, did it to avoid UKIP taking Tory seats, mitigate Conservative divisions over the EU
• The Labour party was built around the moderate strands of socialism, key principles of equality of outcome and opportunity

  • Progressive taxation, provision of public welfare services and principle of common ownership 
• Old Labour was based on the redistribution of wealth, influenced by Atlee and the introduction of the welfare state in 1945

  • Atlee nationalised coal/ steel and railways, whilst maintaining some private ownership
  • Keynesian ideology, public spending to rectify the state of the economy
  • Social welfare ‘cradle to the grave’ support for British citizens
• New Labour was seen as a ‘third way’, belief that left and right politics were obsolete and that Liberalism paired with a sense of social democracy was the way forward (manifested in Blair’s govt

  • Market economy, private ownership and reduced union power/ lower taxes
  • Social justice, equality of opportunity rather than outcome
  • Community not equating to class, individuals balancing rights with responsibilities, Blair’s ‘Respect Agenda’, creating a community of law abiding citizens
• New Labour unified over social welfare, ending poverty, however based on minimum state intervention rather than a redistribution of wealth

  Blair implemented new and old policies around crime, tackling institution’s role in crime (old) alongside commiting to introducing 13,000 police officers (new)
• Starmer promised to implement the Prevention of Military Intervention in 2020 leadership race, pledging no more illegal wars (old), however alongside a more patriotic approach, increased spending on defence and Labour’s recent rebrand with the British flag on advertisement (new)
• Lib Dems formed as a result of a breakaway from the Labour party and the Liberals, encompassing classical Liberalism beliefs in minimal state intervention, and modern beliefs in relative social and economic intervention for individuals to flourish 

  Aim to provide a ‘centrist’ alternative to left/right politics, however in effect are a centre left party
• Lib/Con coalition initially seen to be surprising, however Libs seen to increasingly shift towards the economic right wing, build up to election, Clegg was seen to contribute to the ‘Orange Book’, a more right wing account on classical liberalism
• 2019 Lib Dems had the toughest proposed policies on govt spending, only 1% surplus, however combined this with a 20% minimum wage boost, elements of left and centre left

  Also policies on extra policing and free childcare

  Uphold importance of international institutions, such as EU/ NATO/ WTO (world trade organisation)