Political Parties Notes PDF

Political Parties Features and Functions of Political Parties A political party:  is organised  develops a set of political goals and policies because they share similar political beliefs, preferences or ideology  seeks to obtain government office or a s...

Political Parties Features and Functions of Political Parties A political party:  is organised  develops a set of political goals and policies because they share similar political beliefs, preferences or ideology  seeks to obtain government office or a share in government in order to convert the political ideas into action  mobilises public opinion and support  competes in elections selecting candidates for office and identifying suitable political leaders. Features of Political Parties How can you tell what a party looks like? Organised Political parties have to be organised. A vague or disorganised group of people will find it difficult to create a coherent political programme or fight elections successfully. Most parties have a formal structure except the Green Party which prefers to remain a loose organisation although it does produce election manifestos and selects candidates. Parties need money and activists to get off the ground, and so small parties struggle to get off the ground, such as the UKIP in its early days, and the now past Referendum Party. Ideology and Developing policies. Party members share similar political values and views. Parties follow their beliefs to develop policies and programmes to present to the electorate. Behind such policies usually lies some kind of ideology. This may be relatively weak, as in the case with the Conservatives and Labour Party since the 1990s, but it remains important for a party to have some sort of ideological identity with which people can identify. There are ideological parties in the UK politics such as the Greens and the ultra-left Respect party, but they have failed to make a significant electoral impact. Variations Some parties have mass memberships while others are centred on a small leadership. Some parties are highly organised while others are looser and less permanent. Some parties have a narrow range of values and views e.g. the Brexit Party while others have a broad range of views e.g. Conservatives with its various factions. Some parties are focussed on power while others more realistically seek to influence e.g. the Greens. Left and Right in Politics Typical Features of the LEFT Typical Features of the RIGHT ‘Collectivism’ and the belief in collective action, especially the A rejection of collectivism – the role of the state should be action of the state as a positive force in people’s lives limited as well as other groups such as unions A belief that the interests of the wider community are superior A firm belief in the actions of the individual and the need for to the interests of individuals. individual choice over the interests of ‘society’ or the wider community Universal distribution of welfare – health, education etc That the state should be limited including in provision of welfare. A positive view of human nature and a belief that people are A view that individuals will pursue their own self-interest and essentially social animals rather than selfish individuals that this should be encouraged. The role of the state should primarily be to police abuses by individuals, given that human nature needs discipline The promotion of equality, fraternity. A belief that inequality is inevitable and a positive force encouraging people to better themselves and not rely on the state. Maximum freedoms and rights That law and order to police the security of the community is more important than rights and freedoms of individuals. Examples: socialism, Labour Examples: Thatcherism, Conservatism Consensus and Adversary Politics Consensus Politics Adversary Politics Definition Definition  Where two or more major political parties broadly agree on  The opposite of consensus. This is a circumstance where most basic policies. In other words, a period when there political parties are engaged in considerable conflict over are few or no major political conflicts. political issues.  It suggests parties will secure wide agreement before  It suggests that there are deep ideological differences putting policies into practice between parties.  It suggests that there are few ideological differences  It can also mean a process where opposition parties adopt between parties adversarial attitudes simply in order to force a government  It may also refer to a single issue where different parties to justify its policies. agree to support the same policies.  It can refer to differences between factions within parties. Periods of consensus Period of adversary The Post-War Social democratic or ‘Butskellite’ consensus The 1980s Labour/ Conservative divide saw a division between (after Conservative – Butler and Labour – Gaitskell chancellors the Thatcher government and the socialist Labour opposition. of the exchequer), 1945 to 1979. Agreement on: Disagreement over:  the need for a mixed economy (nationalised and privatised  keeping nationalised industries vs privatisation of state run industries) industries  the welfare state  high progressive taxation vs reducing income tax  acceptance of the role of organised labour through trade  extending welfare benefits vs reducing benefits that were a unions disincentive to work  keeping powerful trade unions vs reducing their power The post-Thatcher consensus (1994-2010)  state management of the economy vs reducing state  1990s and New Labour have seen broad agreement with the management, concentrating on the control of inflation ideas of the Thatcher and Major governments of the 1980s through monetarism (controlling the money supply) and 1990s. Agreement on:  the role of the free market in the economy as often better The Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn 2016-19 saw a clear than the state ideological distinctiveness from the conservatives over issues  a commitment to privatisation such as nationalisation, tax and spending plans, and Trident-  the reduction in power of trade unions renewal.  the acceptance of private sector in having the opportunity to provide state services.  Functions of Parties What parties do. Securing Government office This is the primary goal of large parties. Parties that don’t seek to become the government or at least a share in government are arguably pressure groups. Parties like the Lib Dems hope to have a share in government and have contributed to regional and local government. Even smaller parties hope to have a role in government in the future. To this end parties mobilise support and fight elections. Political parties will have a process of selecting candidates to fight local, regional and general elections. Local parties can also deselect candidates e.g. the pressure from Momentum in the Labour party to try to deselect candidates they saw as not favourable to Jeremy Corbyn. Representative function Parties link government to the people by responding to and articulating public opinion. To get elected, the major UK parties are ‘catch-all parties’ – they have policies that appeal to the widest range of voters. Winning parties claim to have a popular mandate (the authority to govern). Policy-formulation function Parties initiate policy proposals and priorities. In this way they package policy through election manifestos and annual conferences so that it is comprehensible to the public. They also formulate programmes of action - the detailed steps and policies needed to achieve the broad policy goals – this is sometimes called policy aggregation. Policies ultimately then come together in a manifesto in the run up to an election. Different parties have different formal and informal ways of consulting their party members in this process. Recruitment of political leaders Political careers start by joining a political party. By gaining experience in the party, and political office through election (parish, local and regional government, MPs, cabinet), this can lead to leader of the party and perhaps Prime Minister. Different parties have different systems for the nominating of candidates as party leader and for their election. Organisation of government Parties help to form governments. At election time, they play a critical role providing candidates and organise the campaigning for their political views. In office, they give governments stability and coherence as governments are usually drawn from one party. The party in government can coordinate the work of Parliament through the party having a majority of MPs. Her Majesty’s Opposition is formed by the opposition party. Mobilising and educating the public Firstly parties provide opportunities for the public to join political parties (e.g. up to the 1997 election, Labour increased its party membership) and so help to shape policy or to participate actively such as through holding public office. Secondly parties help to educate and mobilise the public, through campaigning, publicity, meetings (e.g. Labour’s consultation of the public called its ‘big conversation’. They set the political agenda that is debated, and by doing this parties build a loyalty and identification amongst the public. Do Political Parties help or hinder representative democracy? Help Hinder  Representative democracy would not function without  Political parties reduce voter choice since voters are made political parties. If politicians simply represented their own to associate themselves with the whole manifesto of a views it would be impossible to establish governments political party. e.g. in the 2019 election you might have united by a common ideology. agreed with Labour’s policy on students but not its position  Political parties develop/ aggregate coherent political on Europe. Parties often only partially succeed in programmes into manifestos giving everyone a rational representing a person’s political views. basis for their choice at elections.  Parties may oversimplify issues or present information in a  Without political parties voting at elections would be more misleading way at elections. complicated because voters would not be able to associate a  Parties often fail to reflect the society they ‘represent’. candidate with a particular party manifesto. Women and ethnic minorities are under-represented, particularly in senior party roles.   The way in which the main political parties benefit from disproportionate funding also ensures that they are able to monopolise political decision-making unfairly.  Political parties uphold the authority of parliament,  Political parties engage in adversarial politics which reinforce respect for the political institutions and ensure threatens to reduce Parliament and politics to silly ritual that there is a peaceful transition of power after elections. and point-scoring. This gets in the way of politicians  Political parties are vital in organising parliamentary working together for the greater good. business, allowing governments to have more united and  The freedom of action of MPs is reduced because party reliable majorities to get their work done. whips will expect them to support the party programme.  Opposition political parties can hold governments to account in a way that is difficult for individual MPs.  Political parties select suitable candidates to stand for  Political parties give excessive power to the party election and to select their leader from. Without such membership in selecting candidates and leaders. The pool mechanisms a representative democracy would not be able of candidates is limited. to function.  By selecting the party leader, the membership effectively determines the choice of PM at the next election.  Political parties encourage people to participate in politics  Turnout at elections is not as high as it could be which may via party activity, election campaigning, voting and indicate that the public’s faith in political parties is low. standing for office. (e.g. only 59% in 2001)  This helps with the organisation of elections  Only some parties, like Labour recently under Corbyn with  It provides a channel of communication between over half a million members, claim to have a healthy level government/ parliament and the people. of membership. Most political parties have had declining levels of membership. Membership of parties has declined from over 3 million in 1960s to around 384,000 in 2015. Party Funding Parties are funded in a number of ways:  Membership subscriptions  Fundraisers  Donations from supporters  Loans from banks and wealthy individuals  Up to £2 million per party available in grants from the Electoral Commission. Why is party funding controversial? Political inequality  Inequality in funding makes the difficulties smaller parties already have in the UK electoral system.  Larger parties have better access to funds than smaller parties o Conservatives from wealthy individuals and companies o Labour from the trade unions (11 million in 2014-15)  Smaller parties have no such regular sources of income, have smaller memberships and are less likely to attract large individual donations.  Consequently, there is great unevenness in the funds available and a heavy bias towards the larger parties. In 2015 Labour’s income was £51 million, Conservatives £42, Lib Dems next with only £8 million. Buying influence  Parties are not meant to change policies because of donations, but donors must expect something in return for their investment. Such donors have undue influence. o e.g., Conservatives received between 2015-7 £11 million from the companies and individuals in the finance sector, £3.6 million from property companies. o Lubov Chernukin, married to Putin’s former finance minister – donated over £2 million since 2012 o Frank Hester, donated at least £10 million, IT businessman with contracts with the government (came to prominence over comments about Diane Abbott) o One individual, Angus Fraser donated £1.1 million alone to the Conservatives in this same period  o The Unite trade union gave over £650,000 to Labour in 2017, UNISON gave £380,000.  Aspects of funding may well verge on being corrupt e.g., ‘cash for honours’ scandal under Tony Blair  Decline in most parties’ membership means greater reliance on big donors. There has been some regulation of party funding:  2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act – greater transparency rather than any serious limits on donations. o Limiting foreign influence: people not on the UK electoral roll could no longer give donations o Limits on spending on parliamentary elections (but the limits were still generous and there are no limits on size of donations) o Greater transparency: donations over £500 had to be declared, over £7500 placed on an electoral register. o An independent electoral commission set up to monitor party spending on elections.  2016 Trade Union Act made it necessary for members to ‘opt-in’ if they wished to give a contribution to the Labour party, increasing the advantage the Conservative party has in its source of private donations. But there could be further changes Regulation to make voluntary fundraising fairer:  Place caps on individual donations, as in the US, but the cap would have to be relatively low  Impose tight restrictions how much parties are allowed to spend to make large fundraising pointless.  Restrict donations to individuals i.e., outlawing donations from businesses and trade unions. And state funding:  Replace all funding with state grants from general taxation. And there is already some limited state funding of political parties:  All main parties receive funds from the Electoral Commission called ‘Policy Development Grants – upto 2 million.  In addition, there is ‘Short money’ given to the opposition parties for their work in parliament. It favours the largest opposition parties – in 2015 Labour received £6.7 million, the SNP £1.2 million.  Similar funds called ‘Cranborne money’ is available for parties in the Lords. Should the state fund political parties? In 2007 the Phillips Report state that there was now a strong case for political parties to be funded through taxation  15 EU countries and others such as Canada and Australia have state-funding.  There have been funding scandals. Arguments for Arguments against  It will reduce inequality – the huge financial advantage  It will be difficult to know how to distribute funding. that large parties enjoy and give smaller parties the Should it be on the basis of past performance (in which opportunity to make progress case larger parties will retain their advantage) or on the basis of future aspirations (which is vague)?  Funding extreme parties such as the BNP in the same way as more mainstream parties would be extremely controversial.  It will end the opportunities for the corrupt use of  Parties may lose some of their independence and will see donations themselves as organs of the state.  It will end the possibilities of ‘hidden’ forms of influence  State funding may lead to excessive state regulation of through funding parties.  It will improve democracy by ensuring wider participation  Taxpayers may object to funding what can be considered to from groups that have no ready source of funds. be private organisations.  Parties can focus on representing the electorate rather than  In a democracy, people should be free to support who they fundraising want with their own money. Overall, in the near future, it seems unlikely that state-funding will be agreed on with the way the major parties are favoured by the current system. There may be a greater chance of donation limits which would impact on the Conservatives in exchange for limits on trade union funding.  Established Parties Summary With the established parties these have been the main fault lines in recent years:  Labour o Between the social democracy of Old Labour vs the more market friendly New Labour o Under Corbyn, this was played out in part between those who supported the return to Old Labour that Corbyn represented and those who saw this as an unelectable position. o Today under Starmer, it is unclear where he stands, except in trying to make himself distinctive from the Corbyn past.  Conservatives o Between the Thatcherite nature of the party in the decades after Margaret Thatcher was deposed vs an attempt to move the party back to a more One-Nation and inclusive party. o Alongside has been the issue of Europe which has divided the party, evident in the in-fighting over Brexit under Theresa May o Under Boris Johnson the party has largely settled the Europe question. Johnson’s past e.g. as London Mayor and the response to the Covid pandemic demonstrates both aspects of Thatcherite instincts e.g., ‘war on woke’ as well as more One-Nation state-spending orientated features e.g., ‘build back better’. o The subsequent governments under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak has shown the continued divisions within the party  Liberal Democrats o Between the Classical Liberal/ Orange Book strand of vs the Modern Liberal/ Social Liberal strand of the party. o Today, both during the coalition, and under the various leaders since, both aspects of the party are in evidence. LABOUR  Labour has historically been the party of SOCIALISM. The key question is how socialist is the labour party now and in the past.  The Labour party is not a revolutionary socialist party (not a Communist with the intention to seize power) What is Socialism? Socialists believe:  Human Nature is essentially good. Cooperation is the natural inclination of human beings.  Capitalism: It is the capitalist system (private ownership and free markets) which distorts peoples’ human nature. It encourages suspicion, rivalry and conflict – creating an unequal society.  Equality: in capitalism only the rich are free, material disadvantage prevents the poor from developing their potential. Thus economic equality is a goal of socialists. The wealthy should pay more tax and the government should then redistribute it.  Role of the State: to be given a powerful role in the creation of an equal society o Welfare State - there should be a universal system of health care and education. o Public Ownership - production should be planned for the good of all society.  Two types of socialism: o Fundamentalists who believe more in the writings of Marx, that equality will only be achieved by revolution o Revisionist or social democrats who believe that democracy can be used to achieve the same ends. Labour 1945 to today After 1945 – Social Democracy (Old Labour) Labour followed a revisionist socialist ideology called social democracy. They believed that capitalism should be reformed through social and economic intervention. They believed capitalism was good for generating wealth but poor at distributing wealth equally. They pursued a policy of SOCIAL DEMOCRACY – a belief in a broad balance between capitalism or market economy, on the one hand and state intervention on the other. The goal of this balance was to achieve social justice or the fair and more equal distribution of wealth. So Labour pursued policies of:  a mixed economy – Atlee’s 1945 government set about a programme of nationalisation to achieve a balance of state or publicly and privately owned.  economic management – that the state should have a leading role in managing the economy as advanced by the economist Keynes. This would involve the state in ‘tax and spend’ to intervene in the economy.  comprehensive social welfare – the expansion of the welfare state to include comprehensive ‘cradle to the grave’ social security, health care and education.  progressive taxation – to pay for the costs of welfare and government intervention by taxing the rich proportionally more than the poor through direct taxation. 1980s – Old Labour Socialism Under the radical governments of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) which broke the post-war political consensus, Labour moved to the left and adopted even more radical socialist policies which were electorally unsuccessful.. Since 1994 – New Labour Under Neil Kinnock and from 1994 under Tony Blair, the Labour party sought to modernise itself – to show that it had put the 1980s behind them and learnt from their mistakes. Labour was re-branded as New Labour. This process can be seen in the rewriting of the Clause Four of the party’s constitution in 1995. The change was from a very socialist statement committing the party to nationalising industries to a statement that recognised the role of the free-market. Blairism has been interpreted in several ways, but it is its ambiguity that shows that Blair was pragmatic – responding practically to the circumstances of the time  Old (Social Democratic) Labour VS New Labour Ideological  Pragmatic - based on socialist ideas - an acceptance of Thatcherite ideas which became dominant in the 1980s Managed economy  Market economy - controlling capitalism, through regulation, and a - acceptance of individualism – seen in lower personal balanced economy involving nationalised industries, taxation, encouraging home ownership, individual strong trade unions. aspiration e.g. education - free market – no return to nationalisation, lower corporation taxes, private sector involvement in the delivery public services e.g. PFI, rewriting of clause 4 Social justice  Social inclusion - desire explicitly to improve equality – e.g. welfare, - continued belief in social justice e.g. minimum wage, education, council housing, strong laws to guarantee tax credit system, focus on child poverty. However equal rights and outlaw discrimination targeting of welfare on the most needy e.g. ‘Sure Start’ Universal benefits  Targeted benefits - welfare should be applied equally and universally - targeting benefits on schemes such as ‘welfare-to- work’ rather than an entitlement culture of universal benefits Cradle-to-grave welfare  Welfare-to-work Working Class  ‘Big tent’ politics - traditional identity with working classes, and - appealing to all classes e.g. Peter Mandelson organisations such as the trade unions ‘intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they pay their taxes’ Traditional constitution  Constitutional reform - maintaining constitution - constitution innovation such as HofL reform, Devolution  The Gradual movement of the Labour party away from New Labour (and back again?) Labour in the Age of Austerity – Brown Old Labour New Labour Labour was in power when the country was hit by a global However, these ‘Old Labour’ policies should not be over-stated. financial crisis from September 2008. Labour prime minister  Nationalisation was seen as temporary. The new Gordon Brown (Ed Miliband was a member of his cabinet at the nationalised banks were only controlled at arm’s length, not time) responded with what looks like Old Labour-style directly by the government Keynesian intervention in the economy –  and rather most importantly the 2010 manifesto committed  nationalisation of the bank Northern Rock, part any future Labour government to simply halving the deficit nationalisation of RBS and Lloyds TSB. by the end of the next government (the Darling plan) as  Monetary stimulus – quantitative easing opposed to the Conservative plan to reduce it completely in  Fiscal stimulus – introduction of 50p top rate of tax on that time – so the difference was only of speed of deficit income over £150,000, temporary cut in VAT reduction, not the principle.  schemes such as the car scrappage scheme Labour under Ed Miliband 2010-15 Miliband has tried to distinguish himself from the previous unpopular New Labour governments (and this has involved some rowing back from New Labour’s acceptance of the free market). Old Labour New Labour  He only won the leadership because of the votes of the  But Ed Miliband had been a New Labour minister under trade unions, and was labelled by the right wing press as Blair and Brown. ‘Red Ed’  Their economic proposals were not a complete going back  He announced ‘New Labour is dead’ to Old Labour state-orientated solutions  He has rejected New Labour’s full acceptance of the free  With Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor – he has tried to market and has suggested there is the need to intervene in distance himself from the reputation of the previous the market to restructure the economy to reduce its government of having run up the deficit, but emphasising dependence on finance and to expand its manufacturing the need to reduce the deficit (but not as fast as the base. ‘damaging’ speed of Conservative deficit reduction plans)  In 2011 Miliband make the distinction between ‘predator’ capitalists like financiers, or big business that exploited the market (e.g. monopolies in the utilities services) and ‘producers’ who made useful goods and services (e.g. manufacturing for export) and that this latter group should be helped. e.g., stopping abuses of executive pay (e.g. in the nationalised banks) or with companies that did not pay a ‘fair’ level corporation tax such as Google, Amazon, Starbucks.  He proposed more state interventionist policies such as o State intervention in a proposed 20-month price- freeze of the energy prices – intervening in the market. o The role of the state in the building more houses and especially the running of the health service, proposing a combining of health and social care. He pledged to raise money through such measures as a mansion tax on £2 million houses, and a windfall tax on tobacco companies. Labour Under Corbyn – shift back to Old Labour He has won two leadership elections in 2015 and 2016 with the support of unions like Unite and the left-wing grassroots movement ‘Momentum’. This organisation mobilised supporters especially young activists and the use of social media. In 2018 it had 35,000 members. Old Labour New Labour  Labour under Jeremy Corbyn represents a further  However, Corbyn’s left-wing positions were not total. He ideological shift to the left, with clear old labour positions did not propose a return to full nationalisation, or to levels on nationalisation, tax and spend. of taxation seen in the 1970s (where the highest tax rate  Corbyn favoured borrowing to increase investment by the was at 83p in the pound) state in the economy.  Some policies were ones that were in line with the  He has called for renationalisation of the railways and Conservative position e.g. the 2017 manifesto included utilities. support for Trident renewal and a commitment to 2% of  He favoured the restoration of the 50p top rate of tax GDP spend on defence.  He is opposed to welfare cuts and a fully state-run NHS.  In his 2017 conference speech he showed his more statist attitude in some of his policy positions: o Following the Grenfell fire tragedy, housing will be a priority o Rent controls to make housing affordable and local o Renationalising public utilities such as the water companies o Businesses will have to pay a bit more tax o Scrapping of the public sector pay gap o Abolition of student university fees, making a university education free.  In the 2017 election Corbyn performed better than expected with his agenda of state intervention.  In 2019, this relative success was not repeated, with a manifesto that proposed £83 billion of state-interventionist measures. Keir Starmer Old Labour New Labour  Starmer won the leadership of the party with a manifesto of  Starmer, as leader, has rowed back on many of these ’10 pledges’ that had many Corbyn era ideas e.g. a commitments – e.g. Labour is no longer committed to the commitment to the common ownership of rail, mail, energy nationalisation of existing energy firms. and water and an increase of income tax on the top 5% of  He has worked to disassociate himself from the left-wing earners. reputation – restoring the party’s reputation as not anti-  Even though Starmer has not repeated these commitments, Semitic and removing the whip from Jeremy Corbyn over having won the leadership, the party remains, nonetheless the issue. committed to achieving social justice through a mixed  Commitment to not increasing the rates of the main taxes economy rather than embracing capitalism such as income tax and VAT, nor of introducing a new  e.g. he has made a commitment to ‘GB Energy’ a state- ‘wealth’ tax. owned energy producer; also Labour’s ‘Green New Deal’ involving state investment of £28bn a year in green economic infrastructure (although the figure of £28bn has been reined in)  e.g. commitment to a ‘Great Renewal of the NHS’ involving more investment.  e.g. VAT on private schools – i.e. increasing their taxes. Critics from the Left paint Starmer as returning to Blairism and the centre, however it is clear that many of Starmer’s emerging policies involve a role for the leadership and investment in the state, rather than the private sector and the market.  Modern-day Labour Policies Where there has been division in some areas, under different labour governments and leaders, but these differences have varied. Old Labour New Labour Economy  Policy of publicly owned energy company, Great  A rowing back from the left-wing manifesto of 2019 British Energy such as Labour no longer committed to nationalisation  Commitment to improved work-place rights e.g. access of energy firms. to sick pay, conditions such as contracted hours  Starmer has wooed private business in the 2024  Labour is still more likely than the Conservatives to tax election year with a Fabian Society pamphlet saying wealth e.g. policy that has been co-opted by the ‘the role of government is to be a partner to private Conservatives on taxation of ‘Non-Doms’ enterprise’  Rachel Reeves’ ‘Securinomics’ – using regulation to ensure benefits of business are widely spread.  Starmer’s ‘first steps’ 2024 pledge card promised to set up Great British Energy.  2024 King’s Speech signalled the introduction of government led interventions such as a Planning and Infrastructure bill – to build green infrastructure and more houses; GB energy; a National Wealth Fund Bill to create a £7 billion state run investment fund for green projects; a bill to renationalise the railways; Employment Rights bill to end zero-hours contracts.  Rachel Reeves’ 2024 budget raising £40 billion in new taxes e.g. on businesses (e.g. employers National Insurance Contributions) rather than on ‘working people’  2024 Budget also increased burrowing by £70 billion per year for more state-led investment on e.g. NHS and green energy infrastructure Welfare  Starmer’s promise of a Great Renewal of the NHS  Despite campaigns, including 7 Labour MPs voting  Commitment to abolishing conservative policy of against the King’s speech leading to their suspension Universal Credit because they claim it traps people in from the party, to abolish the 2-child cap on welfare, poverty. Labour have not made this reform.  Charging private schools VAT to channel the funds into state provision.  Starmer’s ‘first steps’ 2024 pledge card promised o Cut NHS waiting lists funded by closing non- dom loopholes o Recruiting 6,500 teachers paid by ending tax breaks for private schools Law and Order  In 2021 conference speech Starmer positioned the Labour Party as being harder on criminals than the Conservative Party – especially in crimes specifically directed against women and girls and to increase the numbers of police on the streets.  Starmer’s ‘first steps’ 2024 pledge card promised o to reduce antisocial behaviour and introduce new penalties for offenders. o To launch a border security command to stop gangs behind small-boat crossings  Encouragement of police and courts to deal with rioters (following the Stockport stabbing of girls at a dance event) harshly and speedily. Foreign Policy  Labour’s foreign policy seems more assertive and interventionist than under Corbyn, with commitments to NATO, the nuclear deterrent, Ukraine defence, AUKUS military alliance with Australia.  CONSERVATISM  Conservatism has traditionally been an ideology that has sought to conserve traditional institutions, and not seek radical change. It is based on a pessimistic idea of human nature – that men need order to keep society from falling into chaos.  The challenges of the industrial revolution and modern party politics has led to a pragmatic party that between 1945-1970s followed the consensus established by Labour Social Democracy.  But 1979 and the economic crises of the 1970s saw the rise of Margaret Thatcher and a new more radical politics that promoted the importance of the market in the running of the economy. Conservative Principles  Human nature is imperfect and corrupt - in the conservative view, it is imperfect in that it is not predictable. Our inconsistencies in behaviour mean that a framework has to be established for us.  Law and Order - the emphasis then is always on law and order and responsibility. People have to be protected from themselves because if they were allowed to behave how they wanted the experience would be destructive. We therefore accept laws because in essences they give us greater freedom - we are protected from excesses.  Conserving and Tradition: o Preservations of Traditional Institutions - other institutions such as the church, education, marriage and private property reinforce the society and the family. o Private Property Ownership - Through gaining property the individual will gain in responsibility and will have an attachment to society. o Hierarchical View of Society - life is bound to be unequal because the talents of people are unequal. Our work and abilities should reward us, but rule should be by the elites and everyone has their place.  Pragmatism: Conservatives have always been suspicious of change. Institutions should be allowed to evolve gradually, responding practically as events dictate, e.g., the monarchy. By contrast they are suspicious of using ideological approaches – where rather than respond to events, a set of beliefs is used to make massive changes. Conservatives 1945 to today One Nation Conservatism 1945-1979 At this time the Conservative party accepted the basic social democratic approach of Labour. There was a consensus of approach. Conservative policy became to be known, after the writings of Harold Macmillan, as the ‘middle way’ between the extremes of full free market or state control. Conservative ideas were also based on Traditional Conservative ideas that date back to the 19th century of One Nation conservatism. This was based on the writings of Benjamin Disraeli, which rejected the extreme of rugged individualism where people looked only after themselves, and suggested that the rich had a duty to attend to the needs of the poor (= Paternalism), and that there should be a narrowing of inequalities between rich and poor In the period up to the 1970s as a consequence, the policies of a mixed economy and welfare provision were maintained by the Conservatives. Thatcherism and the New Right - 1980s onwards? The 1970s saw a period of economic problems, which brought to office Margaret Thatcher. The ‘Thatcherite revolution’ sought to overturn the features of post-war social democracy. Her movement – the New Right has an economic neoliberal side and a social neoconservative side. FIRSTLY Thatcherism is neoliberal: Neoliberalism emphasises the role of the free market in the running of the economy. Thatcher believed that the state should withdraw from intervening in the economy as it had done (=’rolling back the frontiers of the state’ as she said) because government got in the way, stifling individual entrepreneurialism (= the ‘dead hand’ of government) and welfare benefits made individuals lazy (= ‘the nanny state’) To achieve these neoliberalist aims the Conservatives’ policies were:  Privatisation – selling off of the nationalised industries such as BP, BT, British Gas.  Reduced union power – laws were introduced to weaken trade unions. Notably, the taking on of miners strike in 1984-5 showed their weakness.  Reducing progressive taxation – reducing direct taxation (e.g. income tax) and shifting the burden to indirect taxation (e.g. VAT)  Deregulation – removal of restrictions on the economy, e.g. the ‘big-bang’ deregulation of financial markets. SECONDLY Thatcherism is neoconservative Neoconservatism is an authoritarian attitude to order and behaviour in society And was pursued by the following policies:  ‘Tough’ law and order – emphasis on ‘prison works’, tougher sentences, numbers of police.  Traditional values – emphasis on ‘Christian’ and ‘family’ values as the best guarantees of an orderly behaviour.  National patriotism – strong national identity gives strength to the nation. Seen in Euroscepticism.  (Traditional) One Nation Conservatism VS Thatcherism Paternalism  Self-interest - in a society ordered by hierarchy the rich had a - that people are motivated by self-interest and that is fatherly obligation to attend to the needs of the poor the engine behind individual initiative and enterprise Social duty  Personal advancement ‘Middle way’ economics  Free-market economics - a practical approach to have a balance between state - that all solutions were to be found in the operation intervention and nationalised industries and of free markets in which individuals had choice and cooperation with Trade Unions alongside private freedom to act. In such a situation, collectivist ideas business such as state run businesses and trades unions have no - a practical acceptance of welfare as part of the place. state’s duty to its citizens - that benefits should only provide a basic safety net to prevent a generous welfare system from creating a dependency culture amongst the poor. Pragmatic intervention  Ideological Rolling back the state - practical minded policies - ideological basis to Thatcherite ideas of the primacy of the free market. Tradition  Neo-Conservatism on Social issues but Radicalism or - society based on traditional value of order, private neo-Liberalism on the economy. property and the responsibilities that came with - similar neo-Conservative ideas of strong law and position. Maintaining the traditional status quo. order as with traditionalists but neo-conservatist on social issues – a harsher attitude to personal responsibility. Organic Society  Rugged individualism - a naturally ordered society where sections of society - ‘there is no such thing as society’ only individuals are dependent on each other as part of a whole. We who should have the freedom and choice to act. are not merely free individuals Allowing individuals to fail is a necessary part of a free-market based society.  Conservatism since Thatcher Conservatives Under Cameron On the one hand, Cameron inherited a party when he became leader in 2005 with two basic tendencies within it:  traditional wing of ‘One Nation’ Tories, a view dating from the post-war period and  a more dominant Thatcherite wing dating from changes in the party since the 1980s. Added to this Cameron wanted to ‘modernise’ the party and lose the ‘nasty party’ label that had prevented the previous 3 party leaders from appealing successfully to the electorate. Thatcherite Not Thatcherite Neoliberal (economic) One Nation  Response to austerity is to reduce the state. This  Described himself as such in 2005 approach to deficit reduction through cuts rather  ‘Big Society’ – while in some ways an anti-state than tax rises has been confirmed with the recent idea the contrast is with Thatcher and ‘no such autumn statement which suggested that austerity thing as society’. An example of this is the would be extended to 2018 setting up of a ‘Big Society’ bank to help support  Cuts e.g., in armed forces, public services, such community action. ‘bonfire of the quangos’, welfare spending will  Health spending – maintaining this despite cuts to reduce the state other budgets  Instead, growth is to come from the private sector  ‘compassionate conservative’ – not so much the  Market reforms to state services, e.g. NHS nasty party concerned about ordinary people introduction of commissioning groups where the  Introduction of the National Citizen Service to emphasis is on competition, free school, encourage young people to support their expansion of academies, reform of the police communities according to the Winsor report (reducing pensions and pay) Moderniser Neoconservative (social issues)  Non-traditional ideas such as endorsing gay  Euro-scepticism – the pressure on Cameron to marriage, A-list candidates to encourage more make a new deal in Britain’s relationship with BME and female conservative MPs Europe (his use of the veto on the issue of  ‘compassionate conservative’ in a modern sense, financial measures to shore up the Euro), more concerned about overseas aid (budget commitment by Theresa May to withdraw from maintained), ‘hug a hoodie’ and Ken Clarke’s many areas of cooperation over law and order proposal for more community sentencing which including the European Arrest Warrant. are still going through Parliament.  The pressure of the Euro-sceptic wing, the  ‘vote blue go green’, to make the government the European Research Group (ERG) in the party ‘greenest government ever’. A modern attitude to helped to force Cameron into agreeing to the 2016 the environment. (Photograph with huskies on a Referendum on Brexit. Norwegian glacier in opposition). (although there  Targets in immigration e.g. Metropolitan is scepticism that this is a policy that Cameron is University’s license to support student visas pushing with Osbornes ‘push’ for gas with plans suspended. The commitment to reducing net to build more gas-fired power stations and the immigration to 10s of 1000s. appointment of Owen Paterson as a junior  Resistance to Scottish independence or more environment minister – regarded as a climate devolution ‘Devo Max’. sceptic)  Law and order – a hardening of attitudes, with the  Pressing the issue of ‘gay marriage’ accepting replacement of Ken Clarke with Chris Grayling – modern ideas about sexuality against the his ‘stab a burglar’ speech showed a hardening of objections of vocal traditionalists in his party (and attitude and change back to a belief in a policy of outside such as the main Christian churches). prisons and punishment. The Conservatives under May Theresa May became leader of the party and Prime Minister after the Brexit referendum went against Cameron’s remain position in 2016. She called an early election in 2017 that has led to the loss of the conservative majority. Leading a minority government has weakened her position and the issue of the Brexit negotiations dominate the work of the government. Thatcherite Not Thatcherite  May presented herself as being tough in Nonetheless there is evidence that May would like to negotiations with Europe. pursue a more ‘one nation’ policy of using the state to  Also, the government has little room to intervene to care for the poor. manoeuvre over the economy. The policy of  This was emphasised in her speech in Downing completing the Cameron policy of deficit Street on becoming party leader where she reduction has been pushed further into the future, underlined her desire to govern for ordinary but the party was still not committed to increase working people – the JAMS – the Just About spending through more borrowing or more Managing taxation.  May had warned her party in 2002 that the Conservatives were seen as the ‘nasty party’ for being too illiberal (e.g. towards needy)  Some of these ideas were present in her 2017 conference speech: o The need for the NHS to help better those with mental health issues, launching an independent review o Promising £2 billion for new council house building o A cap on energy bills o A review of student university fees, freezing the cap on fees at £9,250 and increasing the threshold for repayment to £25,000 However, May’s premiership was dominated by the failure to deliver a Brexit deal rather than achieve major domestic reforms. Also, the pro-European tradition in the Conservative Party represented by the likes of Ken Clarke and Michael Heseltine has come close to extinction. Boris Johnson Boris Johnson came to power in 2019 and won a snap election with an 80-seat majority (largest Conservative majority since 1987) winning particularly on the slogan of ‘get Brexit done’. Thatcherite Not Thatcherite  On the one hand, Johnson has a record as a  On the other hand, there are suggestions that libertarian e.g. on Brexit and the accusations of Johnson has moved in some ways from a his preference for earlier rather than later easings Thatcherite agenda to a more ‘One-Nation’ one. from Covid lockdowns.  His policy of ‘levelling up’ using public spending  In his 2020 conference speech, he defended the to help more deprived areas – such as the ‘Red use of the private sector in providing services Wall’ formerly Labour seats in the North. during the pandemic and that the state could not  His support for the NHS - £36 billion over 3 years keep on spending. paid by a 1.25% increase in National Insurance  March 2021 at a meeting of the 1922 committee (2022) and an increase in Corporation tax from of backbench Conservative MPs, Johnson perhaps 19% to 25%.  let slip perhaps his political instincts. At a point  He has spent hundreds of billions on state where 28 million had had their first Covid jab, he intervention during the pandemic. The increase in said, “The reason we have the vaccine success is April 2022 of National Insurance of 1.25% because of capitalism, because of greed my represented the highest share of GDP taken in tax friends.” since WWII.  In a neoconservative sense, his government has engaged in a ‘war on woke’ by his government and emphasised national culture and symbols. Johnson condemned the defacing of statues of historical slavers. And the government has been negative about Black Lives Matter demonstrations.  The conservatives, under the home secretary, Priti Patel, continued to sound tough on immigration.  Most importantly he was able to pass a Brexit Bill and Britain left the EU in January 2021. Johnson’s premiership ended in scandal over parties at Number 10 during covid and the behaviour of MPs. Truss She won the leadership contest in the Conservative party on a Thatcherite manifesto. Thatcherite Not Thatcherite  The first budget reversed the Johnson tax  She did commit her government to help with fuel increases to Corporation Tax, National insurance. bills because of the ‘cost of living’ crisis,  Furthermore, it cut the basic rate of income tax by involving a massive intervention in the energy 1p, and abolished the 45% top tax rate. market.  She emphasised the need to return to neoliberal free-market ideas of Thatcher with this ‘give away’ budget of tax cuts (mainly to the wealthy) – a ‘dash for growth’  Her premiership was the shortest in recent history.  Relying on borrowing to meet immediate spending needs, rather than taxation led to a run on the pound and turbulence in the markets, damaging the Conservative reputation for economic and governing competence Sunak Sunak has rowed back on the excesses of Truss, committing to a more balanced fiscal position, paying for government-spending through a rise in taxes. Trying to communicate a calmer air of governing competence. Thatcherite Not Thatcherite  This policy of economic stability – of balancing  Reversing Truss’s cuts to income tax and the books and not relying on borrowing could be corporation tax have been seen by neoliberal seen as conventional Conservative, even supporters of Truss and un-Thatcherite. Thatcherite thinking. Sunak committed himself in  Sunak’s government continues to have the highest 2023 to halving inflation. tax burden since 1945, in order to maintain  The 2023 Conservative conference has seen a services e.g. to fund Sunak’s commitment to rolling back on net-zero commitments – such as reduce NHS waiting lists. pushing back on date for end to petrol cars to 2035 – argued as a necessity for the economy.  Rowing back on HS2 to Manchester represents a reduction in state funding in the north and Johnson’s policy of ‘levelling up’.   He has maintained a populist approach to ‘culture war’ issues with the appointment of Suella Braverman and the government’s line on culture issues and immigration. In her 2023 conference speech she warned that 100 million asylum seekers could come to Britain.  Sunak continues to be ‘tough’ on immigration, with a commitment reducing the numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats, and policies such as off-shoring asylum claims to Rwanda. Modern-day Conservative Policies Where there has been division in some areas, under different conservative governments, but these differences have varied. Thatcherite Non-Thatcherite Economy Cutting the state’s share of the economy Continued state spending:  Cameron’s policy of austerity after the 2008  Johnson’s commitment to high government financial crisis, largely maintained by May spending to ‘level up’ society reflected a ‘big represents a cut in the size of the state. government’ approach  Cuts continue in lower funding in parts of the  Sunak and the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt in his state e.g. local government services under other 2023 budget has maintained high taxes, having Conservative leaders. reversed the Truss tax cuts – suggests as period of  Liz Truss’s attempt to cut a range of taxes (top transition over how it prioritises balancing the band of income tax, the basic rate cut by 1p, budget and maintaining spending to protect corporation tax) to encourage growth and wealth families over tax cuts to encourage growth. creation.  Many conservatives continue to claim to still believe in ‘Thatcherite’ neoliberal economics. Welfare Cuts to welfare Some extensions of welfare  Rhetoric against welfare benefits by  For example, George Osborne’s creation of a Conservatives e.g. George Osborne’s language of ‘nation living wage’ that enhanced Labour’s ‘strivers’ versus ‘shirkers’. minimum wage.  Policy of universal credit reduces benefits the  Johnson created a new secretary of state for more you earn – an ‘anti-dependency’ approach levelling up, housing and communities. associated with Thatcherism.  All Conservative leaders – Cameron, May,  The ‘bedroom tax’ is also seen as an example of a Johnson, Truss and Sunak have expressed their penalising approach to those on benefits. commitment to maintaining funding of the NHS Law and Strict enforcement of law and order More understanding attitudes to crime Order/  Cameron’s early softer language on law and order  Cameron’s slogan of ‘hug a hoodie’ – to not Borders gave way to slogans such as Chris Grayling and demonise young people ‘stab a burglar’  May’s expression of a concern to not be seen as  The Regulatory and Investigatory Powers Act the ‘nasty party’ and for those who are (RIPA) 2016 under May, enhance surveillance discriminated by the legal system powers of the police.  Appointment of illiberal Home Secretaries, Priti Patel and Suella Braveman have demonstrated an uncompromising approach to law and order.  The firm approach to immigration best shows this strict enforcement of law and order – the long term commitment to controlling immigration:  o Johnson’s introduction of a points-based system o The policy of off-shoring asylum claims to Rwanda. o Housing asylum seekers not in hotels – e.g., the barge ‘Bibby Stockholm’ o Sunak’s commitment to reduce asylum seekers arriving in small boats Social attitudes More neoconservative attitudes More liberal attitudes  Johnson’s negative attitudes towards BLM  Cameron’s talk of a ‘Big Society’ (of volunteer protests, and protests by environmental groups groups to help the needy) such as Extinction Rebellion.  Cameron’s introduction of gay marriage  ‘War on Woke’ language of many in the  Cameron’s A-list to have more female and ethnic Conservatives e.g., Sunak’s 2023 conference minority Conservative MPs. speech attacking ‘we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be’ Europe Eurosceptic Pro-European  Pressure of the ERG in bringing about a  Conservatives such as Cameron campaigned to commitment to a Brexit in/out referendum. remain in Europe during the Brexit referendum.  Johnson negotiated the withdrawal of the UK  Notable Conservative Europhiles such as from the EU in January 2021 Dominic Grieve and Rory Stewart resisted  Euroscepticism has become a basic belief shared Theresa May’s attempts to introduce a Brexit bill. by any leading Conservative e.g. both Truss and They had the whip removed by Boris Johnson, Sunak during their leadership contest in 2022. effectively ending their parliamentary careers.  LIBERAL DEMOCRATS Liberals have a positive view of human nature – that humans are rational and compassionate. The individual can be trusted, and should be free to act within an equally free society.  The individual: the starting point for liberal thinking is the focus on the individual – that humans can be trusted to act rationally and should be free to do so in an equally free society. Hence the emphasis on individual rights, freedoms and the toleration of differences  Rational: the idea that since individual can be trusted to make their own rational (sensible) choices then they should be left to it. Liberals have the following values:  Freedom and rights – that individuals should have personal freedoms, that all should have rights including minority groups.  Equality of opportunity – that all should have equal chances in life. People should get ahead on their own merit, and not be discriminated against because of class or race for example. Hence policies such as defending civil liberties and an entrenched Bill of Rights.  Social Justice and Welfare – this is to do with the idea that while people should get ahead on their own merit, if they are too burdened with poverty then this is not equality of opportunity. And so it is Liberals such as Lloyd George and Beveridge who thought that the state should play a role in providing welfare.  Constitutionalism and democracy – this is to prevent governments from being too powerful, where they become a threat to liberty, and so you need rules to protect the individual, and democracy to keep government responsive. Hence support for policies such as constitutional and electoral reform. Liberals have two contrasting traditions. Both believe in the idea of the rational individual, but the key difference in on Role of the State:  Classical liberalism believes in a minimal state and free-market capitalism – that the individual should be free to act. The role of the state should be limited to guiding, not controlling individuals, and only be there to prevent abuses that get in the way of the exercise of individual choices e.g. people with unfair privileges. This was dominant in the 19th century  Modern liberalism believes in the role of the state in social welfare and economic intervention – this is in order to prevent those inequalities that stop individuals having enough freedom to better themselves e.g. adequate education, poverty. This was more dominant in the 20th century. Today both strands exist in the party:  Orange Book liberals o Lean towards the centre supporting greater choice and competition. To a certain extent they are associated with the economic ideas of classical liberals o They aim to increase social mobility through increasing economic freedom for those from disadvantaged backgrounds o They tend to favour cutting taxes for the poorest in order to increase opportunity. o They include Nick Clegg and the current leader Ed Davey.  Social liberals o They are traditionally seen as being on the centre-left of the party associated with modern liberal ideas. o They desire an increase of social justice through the intervention of the state and increased spending on the disadvantaged. o They include former leaders Tim Farron and Charles Kennedy. The Lib Dems since 2010 After 2010 the coalition with the Conservatives has required the Lib Dems to make compromises. While they have ‘opt outs’ on issues such as nuclear power, the coming together with the Conservatives has given the Lib Dems responsibility for essentially right wing policies such as deficit cuts e.g. Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury (in charge of cuts!) and the student fees issue has shown that despite a theoretical opt out, in practice, Lib Dem ministers voted with Conservatives. 2015-16: Since the general election 2015 the Lib Dems were returned with only 8 seats. They have struggled to be heard politically. Their leader since 2015 – Tim Farron, who comes from the socially liberal side of the party (a modern liberal) replaced Nick Clegg whose economic views with the acceptance of the market was more in line with classical liberal thinking. 2017 Following the snap election and modest gains in seats, Vince Cable replaced Tim Farron as leader. Jo Swinson took over in 2019 but resigned after making little headway in the general election. Ed Davey, an ‘Orange Book’ liberal is now leader. In his conference speech 2021 he has presented policy ideas that on the one hand are classical liberal in nature – on supporting small businesses, and modern liberal – on ensuring state investment in education. The Lib-Dems continue to be committed to being closer to Europe (as well as membership of NATO and an independent nuclear deterrent), and liberal ideas such as continued membership of the ECHR to promote individual rights, and constitutional reform of the HofL and proportional representation for the HofC. Modern-day Lib-Dem Policies Lib-Dems continue to have a mixture of neo-liberal classical liberal ideas, and more social democratic interventionist ideas (modern liberal). Classical Liberalism Modern Liberalism Economy  Ed Davey was a contributor to the ‘Orange Book’  Strong social democratic influence on the party of classical liberal ideas and a minister under the can be seen in its commitment to increasing coalition with the Conservatives. income tax by 1p. Ring-fencing the £7 billion  In his conference speech 2021 he has presented this would raise for the NHS. policy ideas that on the one hand are classical  Investment of £150 billion on infrastructure over liberal in nature – on supporting small businesses 3 years. Welfare  Commitment to social justice – to restore the university maintenance grant to encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university.  Free childcare for pre-school children Law and  Legalisation of cannabis – shows the continued  Support for community policy to discourage Order influence of JS Mill’s ‘harm principle’ crime and develop trust and prevent crime  Emerging and minor parties  Since WWII, UK politics was dominated for much of the time by the Conservatives and Labour.  Against that background, minor parties have had varying levels of political success.  Arguably, since 2010 when the Conservatives and Lib Dems joined in the first coalition government since 1945, minor parties have had a disproportionately greater impact on politics e.g. SNP in Scotland and in Westminster, UKIP and Brexit, the DUP propping up the May government.  Counter to this, on a national level, the 2017 election saw over 80% of the vote go to the two main parties, and in 2019 it was over 75%, with the return of the Conservatives with an 80 seat majority. The impact of the minor parties on:  Policy – setting the policy agenda – e.g., UKIP was a major influence on why the EU referendum was called  Parties – the stability of the major parties – e.g., UKIP and the competition with the Conservatives for the Eurosceptic vote has influenced the splits and fault lines amongst the Conservatives. The displacing of Labour as the dominant force in Scotland by the SNP has greatly weakened Labour prospects of gaining a majority at Westminster.  UK government – forming a stable government at Westminster – e.g., the DUP was needed to prop up May’s minority government  Devolved assemblies – running the regional governments – e.g., minor parties have been in the government of the regional bodies and in the case of the SNP has led the government  The United Kingdom – the unity of the UK – e.g., the SNP’s pursuit of independence threatens the union. The Scottish National Party (SNP)  Founded in 1934 to work for Scottish independence.  In the 2014 independence referendum, the SNP gained 56 out of 59 seats in Scotland at the 2015 general election.  Since 2015 and in the 2017 and 2019 elections, they have been the third largest party at Westminster eclipsing the Lib Dems.  Other policies on redistribution and strong public services Impact  Given the size of the SNP at Westminster, they have been influential in votes such as in preventing the passing of the Brexit Bill by Theresa May  The switch of Westminster seats from Labour in Scotland to the SNP has made it incredibly difficult for Labour to win a majority in its own right at a general election.  In the 2014 independence referendum they gained 45% of the vote in favour. Recent polls in 2021 suggest that there is now a majority in favour of independence.  In Scotland they have supplanted the Labour party as the dominant party.  Since 2007 the SNP has run the government in Scotland, at first in coalition, and subsequently with an absolute majority in their own right. They have introduced key policies that distinguish Scotland from the rest of the UK: o Free university tuition in Scotland o Prescription charges abolished o 16-17 year olds allowed to vote in local council elections and the independence referendum.  Recent events with the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon have undermined and weakened the once-assumed dominant position of the SNP in Scotland. The UK Independence Party (UKIP)/ Brexit Party/ Reform  Founded in 1993 it has campaigned for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. In 2006 Nigel Farage was elected as its leader.  Its effectiveness in UK elections has been limited. It has only held at most 2 seats at Westminster and in the 2017 election gained less than 2% of the vote. While it has had some success in local elections, since the Brexit referendum it has fallen from prominence – in the 2018 local elections it lost 123 out of its 126 seats. Impact  It is in European Parliamentary elections that UKIP had its most sustained success, gaining 24 seats pushing Labour and Conservatives into second and third place in 2014.  Furthermore, although in 2015 it gained only 1 seat, it won 14.6% of the vote in the UK general election.   This political pressure on the European issue led to the Conservative commitment in its 2015 manifesto to hold an in/out referendum on EU membership, which led to the 2016 win for the Brexit vote supported and campaigned for by UKIP>  Even though the prominence of UKIP has faded, the redefinition of the political landscape into ‘remainers’ and ‘leavers’ still influences voting behaviour e.g. in the 2019 election and the slogan of ‘get Brexit done’ has led to the loss of leave- voting constituencies from Labour’s northern ‘red wall.  Nigel Farage was a highly effective politician with his brand of ‘plain-speaking’, ‘common sense’ criticism of establishment politicians influencing the European debate and the fortunes of both the Conservative and Labour parties. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)  A Northern Irish party, founded in 1971 to keep Northern Ireland in the union.  Key in the development of the peace process in Northern Ireland, finally agreeing, despite initially being opposed to the process, to sharing power with Sinn Fein in the Northern Irish Stormont Assembly.  Other policies include resisting socially progressive ideas such as same-sex marriage and legal abortion. Impact  Has led the Stormont Assembly. Although power sharing did break down in in 2017, it has resumed. It is the largest party in the Northern Irish Assembly  In the 2017 general election, having won 10 seats, the DUP became indispensable to Theresa May’s minority government. In exchange for a ‘confidence and supply’ (support the government in any vote of confidence or money bill), the DUP gained 1 billion extra in funding and a veto on May’s Brexit proposals (sensitive to its effect on Northern Ireland and any barriers between it and the mainland) The Greens  A party, under its current name since 1985, committed to an environmental focus in politics – a green economy, protection of the environment.  Despite gaining seats in various local, regional bodies and in the European Parliament, and 3.6% of the vote in 2015, it has not really made a breakthrough in terms of seats. It has only had one Westminster seat since 2010.  Other policies on a radical redistribution and strong public services, and radical constitutional reform. Impact  The impact has been more in terms of maintaining the pressure on the mainstream parties in terms of environmentally friendly policies. For example, the famous slogan of Cameron – ‘Vote Blue, Go Green’ and a change of Conservative emblem from a Union Jack torch to an oak tree, and both Johnson and Starmer have talked about the need to develop a green economy in order to deal with climate-change priorities. Plaid Cymru  Founded in 1925 as a party committed to Welsh independence.  However, unlike the SNP in Scotland, it has not broken through in the whole of Wales to replace Labour as the dominant party. Its seats are confined to the Welsh-speaking parts of north Wales.  In 2017 and 2019 it won 4 out of the 40 Welsh seats, the most it has ever had.  Other policies on redistribution and strong public services Impact  It has had more impact in Wales, in the regional assembly, where between 2007-11 it formed a coalition with Labour on the agreement that there would e a referendum giving the Assembly further devolved powers. However generally Labour has remained the leading and governing party in Wales.  UK Political Parties in context Party Systems There are different party systems: Single-party system – a single party monopolises government, no other parties take part in elections e.g., Communist China, Nazi Germany Dominant-party system – where many parties exist but only one ever gets elected or forms the main party in a coalition. e.g. Japan’s Liberal party for 38 years after 1955, recently in Scottish Parliament despite an electoral system meant to prevent such dominance Two-party system – where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power. There are smaller parties, but they have no realistic chance of power against the big two. e.g., US, and for much of its recent history the UK Westminster parliament. Three-party system – where three parties dominate and the third party plays a pivotal deciding role. e.g., Ireland Multi-party system – where many parties compete for power and government will often pass between coalitions formed by different combinations of parties. e.g., Germany, Israel Is Britain a two-party system? For most of recent history, Britain has been a two- party system. However, there have been challenges at Westminster and beyond. Has two-party dominance been eroded at Westminster? Yes  Most importantly the share of the vote to the two main parties has looked in decline. o In 1979 80.8% of the vote went to the Conservatives/ Labour. o There was a largely steady decline until 2015 where the two main parties won only 67.3%  Eroded by the Liberal Democrats: o The rise of the Liberal Democrats as a third party ignores the fact that they are often second to Labour in the North and West, and the Conservatives in the South and the East. After the February 1974 election, the Liberals held the balance of power as the Labour party led a minority government. o More recently 2010 saw the first coalition government since 1945 of the Conservatives and the Lib Dems  The rise of other minor parties: o Centre-ground strategies had drawbacks – the process of New Labour in the 1990s and Cameron’s attempts to ‘modernise’ the Conservatives led to them fighting for swing voters in the centre. This detached in significant ways sections of their core support for example the ‘left behind’ in the words of Ford and Goodwin (2014) who turned instead to UKIP. The SNP and Greens have also picked up support as a result, especially from Labour. o The minor parties have also had a similar populist and anti-politics appeal as they have been seen as political ‘outsiders’ articulating a distrust and hostility towards ‘Westminster’ and established politics and parties. This partly explains why the Lib Dems have fallen out of favour since 2015 going from an outsider party attracting ‘protest’ votes to a so-called ‘serious’ party during it’s time in coalition. o The rise of the SNP since 2015 in Scottish Westminster seats has meant that the Labour party’s only realistic prospect of government is in alliance with the SNP. No  While there has been a decline in the share of the vote, this has not led to breakthroughs in the number of seats. o Between 1979 and today, the share of seats has not gone below 85% o In 2010 where the two main parties only gained 65% of the votes, they gained 87% of the seats  FPTP for Westminster elections has made it harder to convert increasing share of the vote into a corresponding share of the seats. This has become a self-fulfilling belief that a vote for a minority party is a wated vote. Also, minority parties have suffered from a lack of funding.  While the Lib Dems were in coalition between 2010-15, their vote share went down to 7.9% - their lowest in 45 years.  UKIP that gained 12.6% of the vote in 2015 with its impact on the Brexit referendum, then went down to 1.8% of the vote in 2017.  Most importantly the share of the vote to the two main parties seems to have recovered  o Conservative/ Labour received over 82% of the vote share in 2017, the highest since 1970. o Conservative/ Labour received over 75% of the vote share in 2019, returning Boris Johnson with an 80 seat majority. Beyond Westminster  The other elections other than the general election have led to the development of a multiparty system (although the SNP are dominant in Scotland since the independence referendum)  Many parties gain a significant share of local council seats.  In the devolved bodies power is share much more equally among the parties with the participation of the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Lib Dems and the Greens in regional government.  The mainland parties do not participate in Northern Irish Assembly elections and the Assembly is one designed on the basis of power-sharing.  The use of proportional representations in the regional bodies has made it harder for Labour/ Conservatives to dominate.  Evidence of multi-partyism at national level, 2014 European Parliamentary elections saw UKIP as largest party, with MEPs from 10 different parties. Has the UK now become a multiparty democracy? Yes No  Much more in elections and bodies beyond Westminster  Not convincingly at Westminster  In the devolved assemblies power is shared often by more  In the 2017 general election the Conservative and Labour than two parties, so in the regions there is multiparty parties their biggest share of the popular vote since the democracy. 1970 general election.  Smaller parties have been highly influential – the Lib Dems  In 2017 Labour and Conservatives gained 89% of the seats in coalition in 2010, and the DUP in a ‘confidence and  In 2019 Labour and Conservatives gained over 75% of the supply’ arrangement in 2017. vote and 87% of the seats.  The SNP still has a significant parliamentary presence  Support for the Lib Dems collapsed in 2015 and for UKIP which has been important in the hung parliament after the in 2017. 2017 election  FPTP protects the Labour/ Conservative duopoly.  Between 2005-2017, since neither Labour nor the  Party funding advantages Labour and the Conservatives. Conservatives won large parliamentary majorities, the minor parties have been more important in votes e.g., Theresa May and her multiple attempts to pass the Brexit Bill. Factors that affect party success These factors are covered more thoroughly in the voting behaviour topic  Valence o Governing and economic competence e.g., reputation of Brown and Labour’s management of the economy after the credit crunch – as having ‘maxed out the credit card’ in their overspending. o Leadership e.g., charisma of leaders such as Thatcher and Blair, Nicola Sturgeon o Party unity e.g., lack of unity over issues such as Europe in the 1990s under John Major, Theresa May and failure to unite her party behind her Brexit Bill.  Specific policies e.g., Corbyn proposal to end tuition fees, Johnson and ‘get Brexit done’  Campaigns and the media e.g., Dominic Cummings and his use of social media and messaging in defining the 2019 election as being about Brexit.  Events and context of an election e.g., Brexit referendum of 2016 and its impact on framing subsequent elections  Quality of opposition e.g., Jeremy Corbyn – ‘successful’ in 2017 as a novel campaigner, a liability for Labour in 2019