UK Government and Politics - Political parties.

VIEWPOINT: Is Britain a two-party system? NO

-34.9% of voters backed parties other than the 'big two' in 2010. -although the Lib Dems are the 'third party', they are other second to Labour in the north and west and to the Conservatives in the south and east. -the UK has the potential to evolve into a 'two-and-a-half party system' - where the Lib Dems would be involved in a series of coalitions with one or other of the big two. -in reality, different parts of the UK operate under different party systems. For example, in some parts of Scotland there is genuine four-way competition. -any party that could mobilise non-voters - 34.9% of registered voters at the 2010 general election - would stand a chance of winning the election.

Political spectrum

-A device by which different political standpoints can be mapped across one axis or more as a way of demonstrating their ideological position in relation to one another. -some commentators have argued that it is better to see the linear political spectrum as a circle or 'horseshoe' with the extremes of 'left' and 'right' coming together. -others argue that it makes more sense to move towards a four-pointed 'compass' because this allows us to make a distinction between those approaches to govt which are more authoritarian and those which are more libertarian.

Conservative ideology: reaching beyond the party's core support

-Cameron sought to detoxify the Conservative brand as a means of making it more appealing to those who might not normally have considered supporting the party. -he attempted to court the 'green vote' - not least through the adoption of the new green tree logo in preference to the long-established blue torch and the suggestion that voters should 'vote blue, go green'. -Cameron's decision to side with the Lib Dems and the Gurkhas in their fight with the incumbent Labour govt over residency rights also played well with many voters,as did the party's admission that Thatcher was 'wrong' when she asserted that there is 'no such thing as society', with Cameron asserting that there was such a thing as 'society' - but that 'society' was not the same as 'the state'.

The Conservatives under Cameron

-Cameron's election was significant because it marked the point at which rank-and-file party members recognised the need to choose a leader who could appeal to those outside of the party - and thereby win an election. -Cameron sought to lead the Conservatives away from those areas of policy over which the party was deeply divided (eg Europe) and towards those where it could gain electoral advantage (eg the environment). He recognised the extent to which the party had come to be regarded as unelectable and set about 'detoxifying' the Conservative brand. -this shift towards the centre saw the 'greening of conservatism'. The desire to challenge the perception that the Conservatives were the 'nasty party' was also reflected in former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith's association with the Centre for Social Justice, whose work was at the heart of the Conservatives' 2010 general election pledge to fix 'broken Britain'. -many commentators drew parallels between the Cameron-Osborne double act and that of Blair-Brown in the early days of New Labour. Some dubbed Cameron's Conservatives the 'New Tories' or, as Cameron himself put it on at least one occasion, 'liberal Conservatives'.

Labour Party after Blair

-Gordon Brown's accession as Labour leader in June 2007 was greeted with optimism by those on the left who felt that his commitment to the concept of social justice was greater than that of his predecessor, Blair. -as chancellor, Brown had favoured deregulation and a 'light touch' approach to economic management. As PM Brown was forced to nationalise a number of high-street banks, while overseeing an apparent return to 'tax and spend'; with a tighter top rate of income tax and an explicit commitment to maintain public spending during the recession. -new Labour's hard-fought reputation for economic competence - key to the party securing three consecutive general election victories (1997,2001,2005) - was ultimately surrendered, along with much of the political capital that the former chancellor had accrued during his decade in charge of the treasury. -even in the field of constitutional reform, where Brown had widely been expected to take the lead in a process that might result in a more fully codified constitutional settlement, the Governance of Britain Green Paper (2007), the Constitutional Renewal Bill (2008) and the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (2010) that followed largely failed to fulfil expectations.

Different types of political party - minority parties (Nationalist)

-Nationalist parties look to nurture the shared cultural identity and language of those indigenous to a given geographical area - whether a 'nation', as in the case of the SNP, or a region. -while some nationalist parties campaign for full independence for their region or nation (SNP), others do not (Plaid Cymru in Wales). -the British National Party is different from most other nationalist parties in that it campaigns in support of the way of life and values that it claims are common to all indigenous UK peoples.

UK parties sitting in the European Parliament

-UK members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sit in a number of transnational groups as opposed to a single UK block within the chamber. -following the UK elections to the European Parliament in 2009, the 25 Conservative MEPS elected sat with the newly formed European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, the 13 Labour MEPs sat with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PASD), and the 11 Lib Dem MEPs sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

Internal Party Democracy

-a measure of the extent to which rank-and-file members have genuine power within a given political party. -three processes are commonly considered when assessing how internally democratic a political party is: the way in which leaders are chosen; the way in which candidates for parliamentary elections are selected; and the way in which party policy is formulated.

Lib Dem policy under Clegg: a more realistic foreign policy

-a party's 2010 manifesto called for 'a full defence review' in order to ensure that the UK's armed forces 'are equipped for modern threats'. -although Clegg's commitment to the operation in Afghanistan remained, it was suggested that the conventional military resources needed in such theatres of war could be funded in large part by a 50% cut in the UK's nuclear arsenal and a commitment 'not to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system on a like-for-like basis'.

Socialism

-a political ideology advocating greater equality and the redistribution of wealth. -socialists are suspicious of capitalism. -they favour greater govt intervention, both in economic policy and in social policy. -in the 19th century, socialism was often seen as similar to communism. -in the UK, socialism was closely associated with the Labour Party, from the party's creation at the start of the 20th through to the emergence of New Labour under Tony Blair in the 1990s. Broadly speaking, socialism can be subdivided into two distinct strands: -revisionist (or 'reformist') socialism, which looks to improve capitalism (eg social democracy). -revolutionary (or 'fundamentalist') socialism, which aims to abolish capitalism and bring all property into common ownership (eg Marxist communism).

Conservative ideology: the substance of policy

-although David Cameron's Conservative Party issued a swathe of policy proposals in the run-up to the 2010 general election, the leader was frequently accused of 'playing to the galleries' with carefully crafted rhetoric as opposed to coming forward with substantive detail on specific policy. -this is a failing forgivable in a party in opposition but less so in detail on the verge of taking up the reins of power. -talk of replacing the Human Rights Act (1998) with a new UK Bill of Rights, mooted early on in Cameron's stewardship of the party, appeared without further elaboration in the party's 2010 manifesto. The same was true of many of Cameron's other proposals in the area of democratic renewal. -the party's position on tax appeared similarly opaque. Back in 2007 the emphasis had been on bringing back the married person's allowance and raising the threshold for inheritance tax. -by the time of the 2010 general election, however, the focus had switched to pensions and public sector pay cuts, with the party even giving up its inheritance tax pledge as part of the coalition deal brokered with the Lib Dems in the wake of the election. -while the unravelling global crisis clearly played a part in reordering the party's priorities, some criticised what they saw as a tendency to issue policy statements for short-term effect without really taking the time to consider the mid- to long-term consequences of what was being proposed.

Labour ideology: Old Labour vs New Labour

-although the Labour Party was formed to represent the working classes, changes in the class and occupational structure of the nation since the 1960s, together with the general election defeats of 1979, 1983 and 1987, saw the party looking to broaden its appeal beyond this core support. -this process of 'outreach', started by leaders such as Neil Kinnock (1983-92) and John Smith (1992-94), is most closely associated with the leadership of Tony Blair (1994-2007). -under Blair, the party was rebranded as New Labour and the iconic Clause Four was controversially reworded. -some critics accused Blair and other Labour modernisers of abandoning the socialist principles upon which the party was founded.

Party funding: creeping towards the state-funding of political parties?

-although the case in favour of the comprehensive funding of UK political parties is still widely contested, it is worth remembering that 'public funds' have long been in place in the form of the Policy Development Grants (PDGs) established under Section 12 of the PPERA - short money and Cranborne money. -the PDGs are particularly significant as they are available not only to the main opposition parties - but as a share of a £2 million annual pot to any party that has two or more sitting MPs taking the oath of allegiance: there were 7 such parties in 2012. -parties also receive subsidies in respect of their TV broadcasts and help with their postage costs during election campaigns. -Scottish parties receive assistance from the Scottish Parliament under the Assistance to Registered Parties scheme.

The deselection and imposition of candidates

-although the constituency-level party in all three major parties is normally allowed the final say in selecting parliamentary candidates from the approved lists, this is not always the case. -in 1986, for example, the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock deselected MPs Dave Nellist and Terry Fields for being part of the banned Militant Tendency. -the Labour Party has also imposed candidates on constituencies (eg parachuting the former Conservative MP Shaun Woodward in as the Labour candidate for the safe seat of St Helens South ahead of the 2001 general election). -more recently, the scandal over MPs expenses saw both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party seeking to bar certain MPs from defending their seats at the 2010 general election.

Party funding: has the reformed system worked?

-although the new system has made party funding more transparent, there have been significant teething problems - not least the Labour Party's efforts to circumvent the PPERA's regulation of 'donations' by encouraging supporters to offer the party long-term, low-interest 'loans'. -it was this tactic, and the inducements supposedly offered to secure such lines of credit that gave rise to the 'Loans for Peerage' scandal. Although the police investigation into the scandal ultimately ended without any prosecutions being brought, it is clear that the issue of party funding is still controversial. -this can be seen, for example, in the efforts to address the status of donors not registered as taxpayers in the UK under the PPEA - a measure that many saw as being aimed squarely at individuals such as the long-term Conservative Party backer and party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, whose tax status provoked debate and controversy until March 2010, when we finally revealed that he did not pay UK tax on his overseas earnings. -statutory regulation and public funds aside, it is clear that the main UK political parties still receive considerable sums in donations: the three main parties were all reporting significant 'gifts' in the run-up to the 2010 general election. -it is clear also that the wealthy individual backers that the PPERA sought to identify have not been put off by the prospect of losing their anonymity. -for example,the Labour Party received two £1 million+ donations in the last quarter of 2009 alone: one from Lord Sainsbury; the other from Nigel Doughty. -although the scale of donations to the main parties is obviously greatly reduced when there is no general election in prospect, the sums flowing into the parties' coffers in such years are significant nonetheless. -in 2011 for example, the Conservative Party received donations totalling some £14 million, with the Labour Party collecting £12 million and the Lib Dems banking £4 million.

Why was the 2017 election seen as such a disaster for the Conservatives?

-at the start of the campaign the Conservatives were, according to most opinion polls, between 14% and 20% ahead of Labour in terms of national support. At the end of the campaign they beat Labour by only 2.3% of the national vote. -having been on course for a majority of over 100, the Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority altogether. -in the contest between the Conservatives and Labour, the later made huge progress. Labour's share of the national poll rose by nearly 10%. -the UKIP vote collapsed from over 12% to less than 2%. It was expected that the Conservatives would and should pick up most of these defecting UKIP voters, but it was Labour that gained more of them, suggesting that it had made a stronger appeal to the less well of in UK society. -there was, however, a positive aspect for the Conservatives. In Scotland, the party increased the number of seats won from only one in 2015 to 12 in 2017, five more than Labour's representation there. This was largely the result of a successful campaign run by the Conservative party leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson.

Party policy in an age of coalition govt

-critics of coalition govt commonly argue that it lacks legitimacy as a result of the horse-trading and compromise that inevitably follows in the wake of a hung parliament: where party ideology and principles are sacrificed upon the altar of political expediency. -so it was that the Lib Dems were cast in the role of 'king-makers' in 2010, having to choose between returning Labour to office for a fourth consecutive term or, in effect, handing the baton on to David Cameron's Conservatives. -yet the very fact that the Conservatives were able to reach an accommodation with the Lib Dems, forming a coalition that left a few on the left would previously have considered either likely or tenable, suggests that we might need to start thinking about the whole concept of party policy in an entirely different way. -the terms of the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition were indeed remarkable - with the Conservatives giving up their pledge on inheritance tax and accepting the Lib Dem policy of moving towards a personal income tax allowance of £10,000, as well as guaranteeing a referendum on the introduction of the AV system for elections to the Westminster Parliament. -equally remarkable was the extent to which the parties were able to reach agreement on Europe; in part a result of Cameron's desire to avoid reopening splits within his own party, but also a consequence of the shift in the Lib Dem approach towards Europe signalled 2 years earlier.

Labour Party ideology: Labour factions

-despite its left-wing origins, the party was the home to a number of ideological factions by the 1970s. For example the Labour PM James Callaghan (1976-79) and those on the right of the party took the view that public sector pay demands had to be resisted, whereas those on the left (eg Michael Foot and Tony Benn) still favoured greater wealth redistribution. -Labour's defeat in the 1979 general election, which came in the wake of the period of industrial unrest known at the 'Winter of Discontent', saw those on the left gain control of the party under the leadership of Michael Foot. Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election with one of the most left-wing manifestos in the party's history. It included commitments to state control of all major industries, tighter regulation of business, enhanced workers' rights, support for unilateral nuclear disarmament and a withdrawal from NATO. -dubbed 'the longest suicide note in history' by the then Labour leading-light, Gerald Kaufman, the manifesto was seen as a key factor in the Conservative Party's landslide victory. -indeed, so left-wing was the manifesto that the Conservatives ran an advertisement in the Daily Mirror carrying the tag-line 'Like your manifesto, Comrade'; drawing parallels between key clauses in Labour programme and the provisions of the Communist Party manifesto.

Conservative ideology: a new 'Third Way'?

-even in the wake of the 2010 general election, it remained unclear as to just how Cameron intended to reconcile (or 'triangulate') his desire to adopt traditionally liberal positions on the environment and social welfare with his commitment to pursue the Thatcherite agenda of 'rolling back the frontiers of the state'. -the kinds of change envisaged could surely not be brought about entirely by voluntary groups and charitable institutions, the 'little platoons' championed by many Cameroons. -yet there was little appetite for simple 'throwing money' at these problems while the economy continued to founder. -moreover, the need to keep their coalition partners engaged made it difficult for the Conservatives to deliver on those very few explicit promises that they had made in the run-up to the 2010 general election .

Conservative ideology: one-nation conservatism

-for most of the 20th century, the Conservative Party was truly conservative on ideology: that is rooted in pragmatism and the belief in gradual improvements founded on experience and existing institutions. -this was a form of collectivism or paternalist conservatism which favoured pluralism and social inclusion, and held that while authority should be centralised, the state should be benevolent, caring for the neediest. -the proponents of this form of conservatism, now commonly referred to as one-nation Tories, were committed to: a mixed economy (Keynesianism); more significant state intervention, where necessary; slow, gradual change (evolution,not revolution); internationalism and increasing European integration; and support for a universal welfare state.

Revival of support for Labour in 2017

-foremost was the performance of the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Starting the campaign as a 'no-hoper', he grew in stature over the weeks before the election and caught up with Theresa May in popularity polls. -young people voted in much larger numbers and these were largely Labour supporters. -in areas where there had been a strong 'Remain' vote in the 2016 EU referendum Labour did especially well. The Conservatives were unseated in seats such as Twickenham and Battersee.

Affiliated organisations

-groups that are formally linked to the Labour Party without their members holding regular membership of the party. -most trade unions are affiliated to the Labour Party, as are many socialist societies such as the Fabian Society and the Cooperative Society.

VIEWPOINT: should political parties be state funded? YES

-if parties are not funded by taxpayers, they will be funded by interest groups. -state funding would allow politicians to focus on representing their constituents. -parties such as the Lib Dems could compete on an equal financial footing.

Striking the right balance on policy

-in an age of mass-membership parties, the views of members might have been a fair indication of how the broader public would react to a given policy. -in the modern era, however, party membership is falling and those who do join are increasingly unrepresentative of the broader population. -in this context, allowing regular members to determine policy in isolation could constitute electoral suicide. -while the Lib Dems are seen as having the most democratic method for determining party policy, some argue that some of the policies adopted in the past (eg on cannabis possession and asylum seekers) were rather too easily picked-off by Labour and Conservative activists during general election campaigns.

Party policy in an age of coalition govt: from theory into practice

-in economic policy, the coalition partners have pursued those objectives they hold in common (with a concerted attempt to tackle the deficit and a steady 'creep' towards a personal tax allowance of £10,000), while placing the manifesto policies that divided them (for example,the Conservatives' pledge on inheritance tax and the Lib Dems' plans for a 'mansion tax') to one side. -in the area of constitutional reform, however, progress has been more haphazard. -although the Conservatives fulfilled their promise to deliver a nationwide poll on AV, most leading Conservatives campaigned for a 'No' vote in an acrimonious campaign that saw the proposal comprehensively defeated in the referendum held in 2011. -the failure of the Conservative Party whips to mobilise the Tory backbenches in support of Lords reform (a key element in the coalition agreement), resulted in the Lib Dems' tit-for-tat refusal to approve the proposed changes to parliamentary constituency boundaries (another element of that agreement). -the coalition also failed to deliver to voters the power of recall over their MPs - despite the fact that all three of the main UK parties had supported such a move at the time of the 2010 general election. -in areas not covered by the Coalition Agreement - for example on the implementation of the Leveson Report in 2013 and the abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England back in 2010 - the Lib Dems have been willing to side with (or at least threaten to side with) the Labour opposition as a means of extracting the necessary concessions from their Conservative coalition partners. -such politicking between the coalition partners is likely to become more frequent as the two parties seek to 'disengage' and establish clearly delineated positions ahead of the 2015 general election.

Party funding: the changing basis of party funding

-most political parties receive income in the form of membership subscriptions. -until the 1990s, however, the lions share of Labour Party funding came from fees paid by trade unions and other affiliated organisations, while the Conservative Party was said to be bank-rolled by wealthy business interests. -the decline of UK political parties as a mass-member organisation has adversely impacted on party finances. -the efforts to reduce the influence of trade unions within the Labour Party, under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair, also resulted in falling revenues. -such developments led parties to court donations from wealthy individuals such as Bernie Ecclestone and Lord Salisbury for Labour, and Sir Paul Getty and Stuart Wheeler for the Conservatives.

Lib Dem policy under Clegg: repositioning on Europe

-of the three main UK parties, the Lib Dems have traditionally been the most enthusiastic supporters of the European project. -Clegg himself had served as a leading official at the European Commission in the 1990s and was also an MEP for a time, before he was elected to the Commons in 2005. -from 2008, however, the party sought to neutralise Europe as an electoral issue, by abandoning its previous Europhile position and offering the prospect of a referendum on continued UK membership of the EU. -significantly, this shift in emphasis also served to remove one more of the potential barriers to a coalition with the Conservatives.

The roles performed by UK political parties - POLITICAL RECRUITMENT

-parties assess the qualities of those seeking election to public office, casting aside those who are, for whatever reason, considered unsuitable. -parties also give those who will ultimately become the nation's leaders an opportunity to serve a political apprenticeship at a local level before 'graduating' to high office.

The roles performed by UK political parties - POLICY FORMULATION

-parties discuss and develop policy proposals, before presenting them to voters in a single coherent programme (ie their manifesto). -it is argued that this process is likely to result in a more considered, 'joined-up' style of govt than that which might emerge in the absence of political parties.

The roles performed by UK political parties - PARTICIPATION

-parties encourage political participation by encouraging citizens to engage with the democratic process and giving them the opportunity to exercise power within their chosen party. -the quality of participation afforded to members is shaped largely by the extent to which political parties are themselves internally democratic.

What is a Political Party?

-political parties are groups of like-minded individuals who seek to realise their shared goals by fielding candidates at elections and thereby securing election to public office. -most conventional political parties would ultimately aim to emerge victorious at a general election, and thereby earn the right to form a govt at Westminster.

Different types of political party - minority parties (Single-issue parties)

-recent years have seen a rise in the number of single-issue parties contesting elections in the UK. -in some cases these parties offer a wide-ranging programme of policies rooted in a particular ideological perspective (eg the Green Party). -in other cases, these smaller parties campaign on a particular issue (eg UKIP on the EU) or even a specific policy (eg the Pro-Life Alliance on abortion). -in many cases such single-issue or ideological parties blur the boundary between political parties and pressure groups, as their primary goal is to raise awareness of a particular issue as opposed to winning an election and/or securing power.

Party policy in an age of coalition govt: a sign of things to come?

-should coalition govt become more of a 'norm' in the coming years, it may well be that party manifestos will come to be seen less as an agenda for action - as has been the case in the past - than as a starting point for negotiations. -such a shift in thinking will necessarily involve a reassessment of many of the fundamental principles that are common to any study of UK govt and politics - not least the doctrine of the mandate.

The organisation of the main UK parties - Local and national level: CONSERVATIVE PARTY

-the Conservative Party has a similar structure to the Labour Party at the local level. -branches corresponding to local council wards operate below the constituency level Conservative Associations (CA). The CA plays a key role in organising the party at grassroots level, planning election campaigns, and selecting parliamentary candidates. -as with the Labour Party, however, the CA no longer have a free rein in selecting parliamentary candidates. -the national party is organised around the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) at Millbank, Westminster, previously referred to as Conservative Central Office.

Policy making - LABOUR PARTY

-the Labour Party conferences of the past were genuine policy-making events. -from 1997, however, 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 NEC, before passing to the party conference for approval. -this process afforded the party leader more control and helped the party avoid the kinds of nasty surprises and public shows of disunity that characterised earlier party conferences. -critics have argued that these reforms have seen the conference transformed from being a sovereign policy-making body, to little more than a rubber stamp for policies agreed elsewhere: Ed Miliband was widely credited with having drafted the party's 2010 general election manifesto.

Labour Party ideology

-the Labour Party was created at the start of the 20th century to represent the working classes at a time when the franchise had not yet been extended to such groups. -the decision to give all men over 21 the right to vote in 1918 provided the Labour Party with the potential base of support necessary to launch a serious electoral challenge. -the party's origins in the unions and socialist societies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries meant that it originally pursued an agenda centred on socialism.

VIEWPOINT: Is Britain a two-party system? YES

-the Labour and Conservative parties are the only parties that have a realistic chance of forming a govt or being the senior partner in a coalition. -even in 2010, the Labour and Conservative parties secured 65.1% of the popular vote, winning 86.8% of the 650 seats contested. -the Lib Dems are still a long way behind the second-placed party(6% of the vote and 201 seats behind Labour in 2010).

Choosing and removing party leaders - LABOUR PARTY

-the Labour leader was once chosen by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) alone. Since the 1980s, however, leadership elections have operated under an electoral college employing alternative vote (AV). -in its present incarnation this electoral college is divided into three distinct sections, with one-third of the votes held by the Parliamentary Labour Party and the party's MEPs, one-third in the hands of affiliated organisations, and the final third being cast by ordinary party members. -since 1993 such contests have operated on an OMOV basis. -those seeking election as Labour leader must be nominated by at least 12.5% of the party's MPs where there is a vacancy - or 20% of MPs where they seek to challenge the incumbent. -if no candidate secures more than half of the votes cast on the first ballot, further ballots must be held on an elimination basis, using preferences, until a clear winner emerges. -although the system is obviously far more democratic than the one it replaced, rank-and-file members still have fairly limited influence relative to individual MPs and the affiliated organisations. -indeed, individual members only have a say in the event that more than one candidate is able to secure the support necessary to validate their nomination: when Tony Blair stood down as party leader in 2007, Gordon Brown was elected unopposed. -it is also far hard than it once was to remove a Labour Party leader while the party is in govt - such a challenge can now only proceed following a majority vote at the annual party conference.

Lib Dem policy under Clegg: Taxation and govt spending

-the Lib Dems have long been associated with a commitment to increase public spending and have not been afraid, in the past, to make public their plans to fund such programmes by increasing the basic rate of income tax. -ahead of the 2010 general election, however, Chris Huhne announced that it was 'time to try something different'. The result was a pledge to deliver around £20 billion of cuts in existing public spending as a means of funding improvements in areas such as education and offering voters a cut in income tax worth somewhere in the region 4-6p in the pound. -although many were stunned by the sheer scale of the tax cut proposed, Clegg was quick to defend the move. 'Aspiring to hand back money to people from central govt', he argued in the Guardian, 'is impeccably liberal'. -the repositioning on tax marked the triumph of the Orange Book liberals over the social liberals, while also serving to make the possibility of a coalition with the Conservatives more conceivable.

Party funding: where to from here?

-the cross-party talks prompted by the Phillips Report were suspended without substantive agreement late in 2007. As a result, no significant progress on the issue of party funding was made ahead of the 2010 general election. -the coalition agreement published in the wake of that election committed the Conservatives and Lib Dems to 'pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove big money from politics'. -although Nick Clegg - within whose portfolio this area of policy fell - made mention of party funding in the debates that followed the Queen's speech, the govt appeared content to pause until the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) had reported the findings of the 'Inquiry into Party Political Finance' it had launched back in July 2010. -the publication of that report - Political Party Finance: Ending the Big Donor Culture - in Nov 2011 appeared to offer a way forward. Once again, however, the hopes of reformers were clashed; with the govt offering little more than warm words and the prospect of yet more cross-party talks. -not even the coverage in The Times in March 2012 of footage showing the Conservative Party treasurer, apparently offering direct access to the PM in return for a donation of £250,000, was enough to re-energise the debate. -while all parties appear to accept that 'big money' in the form of donations should be removed from politics, few at Westminster believe that voters enduring an extended period of austerity could easily be convinced of the need for greater state funding of political parties at tax payers' expense. -moreover, while the Labour Party would be happy to impose tougher restrictions on individual donations, the Conservatives would only accept such an overt attack on their income-streams if similar restrictions were placed on Labour's union backers. Thus further reform of party funding, like Lords reform, appears to have arrived at a natural impasse.

Choosing and removing party leaders - CONSERVATIVE PARTY

-the current system for electing Conservative leaders was introduced by William Hague in 1998. -only sitting Conservative MPs,who take the party whip, and have been nominated and seconded by fellow Conservative MPs may stand. -once nominations close, a series of ballots is held among Conservative MPs with the lowest-placed candidate being eliminated at the end of each round. Individual party members are then invited to choose between the two surviving candidates in a run-off election conducted by postal ballot. -a criticism of the current system is that those in the parliamentary party can manipulate the final choice presented to rank-and-file members by voting tactically in the ballots of MPs. In 2001, for example, those on the right of the party deliberately switched their support in the final ballot of MPs, with the effect of eliminating the early favourite Michael Portillo and presenting the rank-and-file members with a choice between their chosen candidate-the Eurosceptic Iain Duncan Smith - and the moderate Kenneth Clarke, a candidate whom Duncan Smith's supporters knew would not be able to defeat 'their man' in a ballot of individual party members. -although it might appear sensible to offer individual party members the final say in such contests, doing so can prove problematic when the membership of all three main parties as a percentage of the electorate has contracted significantly in recent years and the members are themselves increasingly unrepresentative of the broader population.

VIEWPOINT: is the system by which the Labour Party selects its leaders fair? YES

-the electoral college system puts individual party members on an equal footing with MPs/MEPs and members of affiliated organisations. -the voting for all three sections operates on an OMOV basis. -the weighting of the union vote was reduced from 40% to 33.33% in 1993. -it is right that unions and other affiliated organisations retain a say in electing the party leader as they played a key role in founding the Labour Party.

One-nation conservatism vs Thatcherism

-the late 1970s and early 1980s saw the rise of a new form of liberal or libertarian conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic. -dubbed the 'New Right', this movement combined a belief in monetarism, free market economics and deregulation (neo-liberalism) with a more orthodox conservative approach in the sphere of social policy: for example, support for the traditional family unit and more traditional views on sexual orientation. -the US president Ronald Reagan and the UK PM Margaret Thatcher were key figures in this movement - the latter to such an extent that this broad approach has become known simply as Thatcherism in the UK. -the advent of Thatcherism marked the death of the postwar consensus and the rise of a more adversarial politics. Supporters of this approach, known as Thatcherites, favoured the importance of the individual over the needs of society as a whole, offering a radical agenda including policies such as: - deregulation in the field of business. -privatisation of publicly owned industries. -statutory limits on the power of trade unions. -a smaller state and more limited state intervention in the economy. -a greater emphasis on national sovereignty. -more limited state welfare provision. Thatcher referred to those who were not prepared to sign up to this agenda, in many cases the old one-nation Tories, as 'wets'. Committed Thatcherites, in contrast, were referred to as 'dries' - with the then prime minister's most loyal acolytes dubbed 'ultra dry'.

Candidate selection - separating 'the wheat from the chaff'

-the number of individuals wanting to be elected to parliament exceeds the number of seats available. Parties play a key role in separating the genuine contenders from the 'no-hopers'. -all three major parties have traditionally employed a similar three-stage process in selecting parliamentary candidates: first, hopefuls must get their names on to a centrally vetted 'approved list' of prospective candidates; second, the local party draws up a shortlist from those approved candidates who have expressed an interest; and third, constituency members vote for their preferred candidate, whether in person at a meeting or by postal ballot.

Policy making - LIB DEMS

-the party is federal in structure, comprising English, Scottish and Welsh state parties with a number of organisational tiers below each national party. -what this means in practice is that policy that will only affect Scotland, for example, will be developed by the Scottish party and confirmed at the conference of that party. -policies affecting England and the whole of the UK are dealt with at the main national conference - the Federal Conference - which meets twice-yearly. -this conference is the supreme policy-making body of the party, but it spends most of its time considering proposals from the Federal Policy Committee, state parties, regional parties and local parties. -the party leadership's influence over the Federal Policy Committee allows them to steer policy, at least to a degree.

Party policy at the 2010 general election

-the prevailing economic climate meant that all three of the main UK political parties were forced to accept that there would need to be significant spending cuts and tax rises in the wake of the 2010 general election. -while the Institute for Fiscal Studies criticised all three party leaders for failing to identify the full scale of cuts needed when drafting their election manifestos, few voters would have been under any illusion as to what was to come. -the only significant cleavage between the parties appeared to be on the issue of not 'if' but 'when' the cuts would come, with the Conservatives promising an emergency budget and cuts of up to £6 billion in the first year, and Labour and the Lib Dems favouring maintaining spending in the first year as a means of avoiding a so-called 'double-dip' recession.

Party funding: why has party funding provoked controversy?

-the rise of large individual donations to political parties since the 1990s led to the perception that one might be able to buy access or political information. -for example, some felt that Bernie Ecclestone's £1 million donation to the Labour Party in 1997 may have prompted the subsequent delay in the introduction of the ban on tobacco advertising in Formula 1 motor racing. -such controversy inevitably led to calls for regulation.

VIEWPOINT: have recent years witnessed 'the end of ideology'? NO

-the three main UK parties still have distinct ideological traditions and a committed core support that strongly identifies with such traditions. -the ideological dividing lines became more apparent in the wake of the global financial crisis. -the rise of smaller ideological and single-issue parties and pressure groups suggest that ideology still matters to a significant proportion of the electorate.

VIEWPOINT: have recent years witnessed 'the end of ideology'? YES

-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. -the ideological wings of each of the three main parties have been marginalised. -there are significant overlaps in the states policies of the three main parties. -parties that once appeared fundamentally opposed to one another were able to enter into coalition in 2010. -there is an increased emphasis on presentation and personality over substance.

VIEWPOINT: is the system by which the Labour Party selects its leaders fair? NO

-there are far more individual party members then MPs/MEPs - yet the electoral college gives these two sections an equal voice. -the unions still have a massive input, even though most of their members are not regular members of the party. -the nomination rules prevent hopefuls from outside of the PLP from qualifying for the ballot. -there may be no election where only one candidate is nominated (as with Brown in 2007). -a candidate can win without majority support among either the PLP or individual party members.

Conservative ideology: intra-party squabbles

-this factional infighting that came to the fore as a result of this shift in direction under Thatcher led to formal challenges to her leadership of the party in 1989 (Anthony Meyer) and 1990 (Michael Heseltine). -though the latter led to Thatcher's resignation, in Nov 1990, the Conservative leaders who followed on from her - Major, Hague, Duncan Smith, Howard and Cameron - often struggled to commend the full confidence of the entire parliamentary party due to internal party factions and personal rivalries. -in the 1990s Phillip Norton identified seven broad and overlapping factions withing the parliamentary Conservative Party. By 2013, Richard Kelly was able to identify 3 broad ideological strands.

The organisation of the main UK parties - Local and national level: LABOUR PARTY

-those who join the Labour Party are assigned to a local branch - the lowest level of the party organisation. -branches select candidates for local elections and send delegates to the General Committee or the Constituency Labour Party (CLP). -the CLP organises the party at constituency level. It takes the lead in local and national election campaigns and plays a part in selecting candidates for parliamentary elections, although the extension of one-member-one-vote (OMOV) has diminished the role of constituency party leaders in relation to regular members. -the National Executive Committee (NEC) is the main national organ of the Labour Party. It enforces party discipline, ensures the smooth running of the party, has the final say on the selection of parliamentary candidates, and oversees the preparation of policy proposals. -although the annual conference was once the party's sovereign policy-making body, its role diminished somewhat in the 1990s.

Candidate selection - LABOUR PARTY

-those wishing to become prospective parliamentary candidates for the Labour Party must first get their names on to the NEC's approved list (the parliamentary panel). -this list is forwarded to the CLPs, which drawup shortlists from those approved candidates who have applied, before selecting their preferred candidate under OMOV. -crucially, even where the CLP has already made a selection, the NEC is free to set aside the entire process and impose its own choice of candidate. -the choice of members has also been limited by the introduction of women-only shortlists in many of Labour's safer seats.

Candidate selection - LIB DEMS

-those wishing to become prospective parliamentary candidates for the party must be vetted by their national party (England, Scotland or Wales). -those selected as approved candidates can then apply to individual constituencies for selection. -candidates shortlisted by the constituency party go forward to a ballot of all constituency party members.

Choosing and removing party leaders - LIB DEMS

-those wishing to stand must have the support of at least 10% of the parliamentary party and be nominated by no fewer than 200 members from at least 20 different local parties. -the election itself then operates on an OMOV basis under a preferential, single transferable vote (STV) system - with losing candidates being eliminated and their votes transferred until one candidate commands the support of more than 50% of those members casting a ballot.

The roles performed by UK political parties - REPRESENTATION

-traditionally, parties were said to represent the views of their members. -this was certainly true in an age of mess-membership parties, when parties and voters were clearly divided along class lines. -partisan and class dealignment, accompanied by the rise of centrist 'catch-all parties', could be said to have undermined this primary role.

Policy making - CONSERVATIVE PARTY

-until the late 1990s, the Conservative Party policy was largely determined by the leader of the day. -although the party leader was expected to canvass the views of senior colleagues on the front benches, the 1922 Committee, party elders and the grassroots membership, it was an unashamedly top-down process. -in 1998 the system appeared to have been democratised somewhat as part of the then party leader William Hague's 'Fresh Future' initiative. This programme saw the creation of a national party Policy Forum, alongside a number of other initiatives ostensibly aimed at enhancing participation within the party. Critics argued that these changes were more of style than substance. -while the party's 2001 manifesto appeared to have been the product of greater consultation, the Policy Forum was downgraded under Iain Duncan-Smith and the 2005 manifesto was largely decided by party leader Michael Howard and advisers. -similarly, the party's 2010 general election manifesto was said to have been framed by David Cameron.

Lib Dem ideology: Liberalism

-whereas Conservatives traditionally emphasise the role of society in shaping individuals, liberalism places a greater emphasis on the importance of the individual. -traditionally, liberals looked to a society formed of free, autonomous individuals of equal worth. -liberalism is the political ideology associated with notions of personal liberty, toleration and limited govt. It is often subsided into two separate strands: classical liberalism and progressive liberalism.

VIEWPOINT: should political parties be state funded? NO

-why should taxpayers bankroll parties that they oppose? -politicians could become isolated if they are denied contact with interest groups. -parties will always have unequal resources, even if state funding is introduced.

The roles performed by UK political parties - PROVIDING STABLE GOVERNMENT

-without parties, it is argued, the Commons would simply be a gathering of individuals, driven by their personal goals and political ambitions. -parties present the voters with a clear choice, while also providing order following the general election - by allowing a single party to form a govt and secure the safe passage of its legislative proposals through the Commons.

Ideology

A coherent set of beliefs or values that guides one's actions.

Conservatism

A loose ideology favouring a pragmatic approach to dealing with problems, while seeking to preserve the status quo. Some argue that conservatism is in fact not an ideology at all, because it looks to work with and improve upon what exists already as opposed to building from the ground up from a more ideological standpoint.

Backbenchers

A member of parliament who does not hold office in the govt or opposition and who sits behind the front benches in the House of Commons.

Progressive (or 'new') liberalism

A more compassionate form of liberalism that saw the need for some regulation of the market as well as the provision of basic welfare. It was originally advanced by writers such as T.H.Green and L.T.Hobhouse. Progressive liberalism later developed into the mixed economy supported by John Maynard Keynes and William Beveridge. This second, more progressive form of liberalism - with its emphasis on reform, individual rights and a mixed economy - provided the ideological foundations for all of the liberal centre parties of the second half of the 20th century, and most recently the Lib Dems.

Neo-liberalism

A political ideology closely related to classical liberalism. Neo-liberals stress the importance of the free market, individual rights and limited govt. In the UK context, neo-liberalism is closely associated with Thatcherism.

Social democracy

A political ideology that accepts the basic premise of capitalism, whilst advocating a more equitable distribution of wealth along the lines favoured by all socialists.

Policy

A proposed or actual strategy aimed at addressing a particular issue or area of govt provision. Policies are often based upon a deeply held ideological position. However, policy may also serve purposes that are not essentially ideological in nature, such as the desire to appeal to wavering voters at an election or to bring a potential coalition partner on board in the wake of a hung parliament.

Candidate selection - CONSERVATIVE PARTY (under Cameron)

A-LISTS - required CA's to include women and those from ethnic minorities on their shortlists. This move was seen as echoing Labour's use of women-only shortlists. -however, the A-list scheme did not require local associations to select candidates from certain backgrounds; it merely forced them to draw up more socially diverse shortlists. Many of those candidates ultimately selected still fitted the Conservative stereotype of white, middle-aged men. HUSTINGS - allow local voters as well as paid-up, card-carrying local party activists to attend a meeting at which the audience listens to and can pass judgement on the prospective parliamentary candidates assembled before them. -such hustings, sometimes referred to as primaries, were used in around 100 contests ahead of the 2010 general election. OPEN PRIMARIES - a popular ballot in which all registered voters (not just party members) have a hand in selecting the candidate who will run in the election proper. -August 2009 was the first time that a major UK party had employed such a device in selecting a parliamentary candidate. -where the parliamentary constituency of Totnes primary differed from the hustings used elsewhere was that participation was widened not simply by inviting non-members to attend a one-off meeting, but by sending out postal ballots to all 68,000 registered voters in the constituency - and estimated cost to the party of £38,000.

Classical liberalism

An early form of liberalism favouring minimal state intervention, which emerged in the 19th century. Classical liberals stressed the importance of freedom, toleration and equality. They believed that self-reliance and self-improvement had a bigger part to play than the state in improving the lives of those from less privileged backgrounds. Some of the classical liberal agenda was adopted by the Thatcherite New Right from the later 1970s, resulting in their being referred to as neo-liberals.

Monetarism

An economic theory advocating controlling the money supply as a means of keeping inflation in check.

Thatcherism

An ideological approach combining a free-market, neo-liberalism economic policy with a more orthodox conservative social policy in areas such as the family and law and order. Thatcherism was the dominant Conservative Party ideology of the 1980s and 1990s, and was closely associated with the ideas of Sir Keith Joseph and right-wing think-tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute.

Third Way

An ideological position said to exist between conventional socialism and mainstream capitalism, closely associated with Tony Blair and New Labour, and also referred to as the 'middle way'.

Libertarian

Any approach that favours civil liberties and the rights of the individual over the authority of the state. Libertarians generally believe that society as a whole is best served by allowed citizens to operate relatively free from state intervention.

Conservative ideology: locating the 'Cameroons' on the political spectrum

Back in 2008, Richard Kelly offered 3 possible early judgements on Cameron's conservatism: -first, that it represented a 'flagrant capitulation to New Labour'. -second, that it should be seen as a 'subtle continuation of Thatcherism'. -third, that is amounted to little more than 'shameless opportunism'. In reality, while there are elements of truth in all 3 judgements on the approach that Cameron has taken since becoming the party leader, it was the last that presented the biggest obstacle as he looked to move the Conservatives from the mentality of a party in opposition to that of a party in power.

'Old Labour'

Characterising the Labour Party prior to the modernisation programme begun by Neil Kinnock in 1983 and completed by Tony Blair. It refers to the party's historic commitment to socialism and its links with socialist societies, trade unions and the old working class.

'New Labour'

Characterising the party that emerged to fight the 1997 general election folllowing a process of party modernisation completed by Tony Blair. Blair first used the phase 'New Labour' when addressing the Labour conference as party leader in 1994. Labour's modernisation programme began under Neil Kinnock, following the party's landslide defeat at the 1983 general election. It involved a less powerful role for the trade unions and a rebranding exercise designed to make the party more appealing to middle-class voters. In ideological terms, the New Labour project was characterised by the concept of triangulation.

Seats won in 2015 and 2017

Conservative- 2015: 330 2017: 317 Change: -13 Labour - 2015: 232 2017: 262 Change: +30 LibDem - 2015: 8 2017: 12 Change: +4 SNP - 2015: 56 2017: 35 Change: -21 UKIP - 2015: 1 2017: 0 Change: -1

Percentage of national vote won in 2015 and 2017

Conservative- 2015: 36.9 2017: 42.3 Change: +5.4 Labour - 2015: 30.4 2017: 40.0 Change: +9.6 LibDem - 2015: 7.9 2017: 7.4 Change: -0.5 SNP - 2015: 4.7 2017: 3.0 Change: -1.7 UKIP - 2015: 12.6 2017: 1.8 Change: -10.8

Frontbenchers

Either a govt minister or an opposition shadow spokesperson who sits on the front benches of the UK parliament.

Authoritarian

In the political sense, describing any approach that favours strict obedience to the authority of the state.

DISTINGUISH BETWEEN: old Labour and new Labour

OLD LABOUR: -dogmatic -working class -interventionist -public sector provision -social justice -universal welfare NEW LABOUR: -pragmatic -catch-all -market-economy -public-private partnerships -social inclusion -targeted welfare

DISTINGUISH BETWEEN: one-nation conservatism and Thatcherism

One-nation conservatism: -pragmatic -incremental change -paternalistic -mixed economy Thatcherism: -dogmatic -radical change -individualistic -free-market economy

Gang of Four

Refers in the UK context to the four former Labour cabinet ministers who left the party in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The four were Bill Rodgers, Roy Jenkins Shirley Williams and David Owen. The creation of the new party was announced in the Limehouse Declaration of 25 January 1981. The Gang of Four left Labour believing that the party had fallen under the control of left-wingers in the wake of Labours defeat in the 1979 general election. They lacked confidence in the party's then leader, Michael Foot.

Short money and Cranborne money

SHORT MONEY - comprises those funds paid to opposition parties in order to help them cover their administrative costs and thereby provide for proper scrutiny of the govt. It is available to all opposition parties that win at least two seats - or win a single seat while securing over 150,000 votes nationally - at a general election. The Labour Party received £5,917,159 under this scheme in 2011. CRANBORNE MONEY - in the House of Lords, such payments to opposition parties are known as Cranborne money. The Labour Party received £548,752 under this scheme in 2011.

The UK party system

TWO-PARTY SYSTEMS - where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly (Britain). SINGLE-PARTY SYSTEMS - in a single-party system, one party dominates, bans other parties and exercises total control over candidacy at elections - where elections occur at all (Nazi Germany or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - North Korea). DOMINANT-PARTY SYSTEMS - a number of parties exist but only one holds govt power (Japan under the Liberal Democratic Party 1955-93). Some argue that the UK party system has, at times, resembled a dominant-party system - with the Conservatives in office 1979-97 and Labour in power 1997-2010. MULTI-PARTY SYSTEMS - many parties compete for power and the govt consists of a series of coalitions formed by different combinations of parties (Italy 1945-95)

Party funding: The Phillips report (2007)

The 'Phillips Report' (Strengthening Democracy: Fair and Sustainable Funding of Political Parties) concluded that one way forward might be greater state funding for UK political parties, perhaps through some form of 'pence-per-voter' or 'pence-per-number' funding formula.

Party funding: Political Parties and Elections Act (PPEA)

The PPEA built upon the regulations established under the PPERA: -it allowed for the appointment of commissioners with more recent experience. -it imposed tighter regulations on spending by candidates in the run-up to an election. -it allowed the Electoral Commission to investigate cases and impose fines. -it raised the threshold at which donations must be declared from £5,000 to £7,000. -it restricted donations over £7,500 to those who could prove that they were UK residents for tax purposes.

Postwar consensus

The broad agreement between the Labour and Conservative parties over domestic and foreign policy that emerged after WW2. The consensus saw the parties cooperating over the creation of the welfare state and the adoption of a Keynesian economic policy. The postwar consensus began to break down in the 1970s and was said to have ended with the more ideological adversarial approach that accompanied Thatcher.

SDP - Liberal Alliance

The electoral alliance between the Liberal Party and the SDP in place at the time of the 1983 (26% of the vote, 23 seats) and 1987 (23.1% of the vote, 22 seats) general elections. The two parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats.

Labour Party ideology: Labour Party constitution 1918

The extension of the franchise to all adult men in 1918 coincided with the adoption of the new Labour Party constitution. Clause Four of that constitution provided a clear commitment to public ownership of key industries and the redistribution of wealth.

Social justice

The goal of greater equality of outcome, as opposed to equality of opportunity alone. It is achieved through progressive taxation and other forms of wealth redistribution. The idea is closely associated with the Labour Party and with other parties of the left and centre-left, such as the Greens.

Adversarial politics

The instinctive antagonism between the two main Westminster parties. The term was used by Professor S.E. Finer and commonly applied to UK politics from the 1970s.

Rank-and-file

The ordinary members of an organisation as opposed to its leaders.

Triangulation

The process of melding together core Labour Party principles and values, such as the party's commitment to greater social justice, with the lessons learnt from Thatcherism. It was closely associated with New Labour and the notion of a Third Way.

Mandate

The right of the governing party to pursue the policies it sets out in its general election manifesto. The doctrine of the mandate gives the governing party the authority to pursue its stated policies, but it does not require it to do so or prevent it from drafting proposals not included in its manifesto.

Different types of political party - Mainstream parties

UK politics is dominated by 3 main political parties: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Lib Dem policy under Clegg

Under Nick Clegg's leadership, from 2007, the Lib Dems developed a programme for govt that included more orthodox Lib Dem policies on issues such as constitutional reform and the protection of civil liberties, alongside other pledges that appeared to challenge the very tenets upon with the party had been founded.

Paternalism

Where power and authority are held centrally but the state acts benevolently, caring for the neediest. Paternalism is said to be a key characteristic of traditional one-nation conservatism.

Party funding: Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA)

the PPERA (2000) imposed an overall limit on party spending in general election campaigns (£30,000 per constituency), established additional spending limits for elections to devolved bodies and the European Parliament, and required parties to declare all donations over £5,000 to the Electoral Commission. In doing so, the Act sough to make parties less reliant on wealthy individual backers.

Candidate selection - CONSERVATIVE PARTY

traditionally, those seeking to represent the Conservative Party in parliamentary elections were subject to a tortuous and largely 'closed' process: -prospective candidates had to get their names on an 'approved' list of candidates by attending a formal panel interview. -approved candidates would apply to a constituency Conservative Association and succeed in getting their name onto a shortlist. -short-listed candidates would need to garner the support of those party activists attending a constituency general meeting. Even those candidates who were successful in securing the nomination of their constituency association by such means could find their nominations vetoed by the national party's Ethics and Integrity Committee, established in the 1990s by the party leader William Hague.