Political Parties
What is a political party?
•An organisation of people with similar political values and views which develops a set of
goals and policies that it seeks to convert into political action by obtaining office, or a share
in government, or by
influencing the government currently in power
• It may pursue its goals by mobilising public opinion in its favour, selecting candidates for
office, competing at elections and identifying suitable leaders
Key features of political parties
• Members share similar political values and views
• Seek to have their candidates elected as
representatives
• Seek to form a government (local, regional, national)
• Have an organisation that develops policy, recruits candidates and identifies leaders
What are the functions of political
parties?
• Representation
• Participation
• Recruiting office holders
• Formulating policy
• Political education
• Providing government
How should political parties be
funded?
•MPs are paid from general taxation
• Their basic annual salary in April 2022 was £84,144—in April 2016 it was £74,692
• They are also allowed to claim expenses to cover the cost of running an office, living in
Westminster and their constituency, and travelling between the two
• However, in the UK there has been resistance to state funding of parties (a practice that
happens in some other countries)
More ways:
•Parties must meet most of their election costs from
– The voluntary subscriptions of their membership
– Fundraising events in MPs’ constituencies
– Donations from individuals and organisations
• A vast majority of the Conservative Party's donations come from
individuals: 68% during the 2019 election campaign
• During the 2019 general election campaign, 93% of Labour Party donations came from
trade unions
• In 2015-17 financial companies donated £11.3m and property companies donated £3.6m to
the Conservatives
• Angus Fraser, a hedge fund manager, donated £1.4m
, • The Unite trade union donated £1.6 million to the Labour Part in 2020 and UNISON
donated £376,242 to Labour
However…
Party funding has been a controversial area because of the suspicion that powerful interests
offer financial support in return for political influence.
– The Conservatives have been the party of big business
– Labour has traditionally been funded by the trade unions
– ‘New Labour’ (1994–2010) were partly funded by donations from successful individuals as
Labour became friendlier towards the business community
– The Liberal Democrats (the least well-funded of the main UK parties) often criticise their
opponents for being bankrolled by the wealthy.
How do we stop people buying influence?
• Political Parties, Elections and
Referendums Act (2000)
– An independent electoral commission was set up to supervise party spending on election
campaigns
– The amount that a party could spend was capped at £30,000 in a constituency
– Donations of more than £5,000 (nationally) or £1,000 (to a constituency party) had to be
declared, and parties had to publish details of donations at regular intervals
– Donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll were banned
Should parties be funded by the state?
•There is already some state funding of parties:
– The main political parties receive a share of £2m in Policy Development Grants to pay
policy advisors
– Short money is given to opposition parties to fund parliamentary work
• Labour receives £6.7m a year, the SNP receives £1.2m
• UKIP rejected its £500k in 2015, claiming it was corrupt and favoured big parties
•It is unlikely that party funding will change:
– Labour and the Liberal Democrats
suggested limiting donations in 2015 but…
• The Conservatives stood to lose most from such a move so would not agree
– In the 2016 Trade Union Act, the Conservatives tried to limit Labour’s funding from trade
unions by making new trade-union members choose whether to ‘opt in’ to making payments
towards
the Labour Party
• Labour peers rejected this in the HoL
What are current Conservative policies?
•Thatcherism is based on the ideas of
The New Right.This consists of…
-Neoliberalism:
→a small state
What is a political party?
•An organisation of people with similar political values and views which develops a set of
goals and policies that it seeks to convert into political action by obtaining office, or a share
in government, or by
influencing the government currently in power
• It may pursue its goals by mobilising public opinion in its favour, selecting candidates for
office, competing at elections and identifying suitable leaders
Key features of political parties
• Members share similar political values and views
• Seek to have their candidates elected as
representatives
• Seek to form a government (local, regional, national)
• Have an organisation that develops policy, recruits candidates and identifies leaders
What are the functions of political
parties?
• Representation
• Participation
• Recruiting office holders
• Formulating policy
• Political education
• Providing government
How should political parties be
funded?
•MPs are paid from general taxation
• Their basic annual salary in April 2022 was £84,144—in April 2016 it was £74,692
• They are also allowed to claim expenses to cover the cost of running an office, living in
Westminster and their constituency, and travelling between the two
• However, in the UK there has been resistance to state funding of parties (a practice that
happens in some other countries)
More ways:
•Parties must meet most of their election costs from
– The voluntary subscriptions of their membership
– Fundraising events in MPs’ constituencies
– Donations from individuals and organisations
• A vast majority of the Conservative Party's donations come from
individuals: 68% during the 2019 election campaign
• During the 2019 general election campaign, 93% of Labour Party donations came from
trade unions
• In 2015-17 financial companies donated £11.3m and property companies donated £3.6m to
the Conservatives
• Angus Fraser, a hedge fund manager, donated £1.4m
, • The Unite trade union donated £1.6 million to the Labour Part in 2020 and UNISON
donated £376,242 to Labour
However…
Party funding has been a controversial area because of the suspicion that powerful interests
offer financial support in return for political influence.
– The Conservatives have been the party of big business
– Labour has traditionally been funded by the trade unions
– ‘New Labour’ (1994–2010) were partly funded by donations from successful individuals as
Labour became friendlier towards the business community
– The Liberal Democrats (the least well-funded of the main UK parties) often criticise their
opponents for being bankrolled by the wealthy.
How do we stop people buying influence?
• Political Parties, Elections and
Referendums Act (2000)
– An independent electoral commission was set up to supervise party spending on election
campaigns
– The amount that a party could spend was capped at £30,000 in a constituency
– Donations of more than £5,000 (nationally) or £1,000 (to a constituency party) had to be
declared, and parties had to publish details of donations at regular intervals
– Donations from individuals not on the UK electoral roll were banned
Should parties be funded by the state?
•There is already some state funding of parties:
– The main political parties receive a share of £2m in Policy Development Grants to pay
policy advisors
– Short money is given to opposition parties to fund parliamentary work
• Labour receives £6.7m a year, the SNP receives £1.2m
• UKIP rejected its £500k in 2015, claiming it was corrupt and favoured big parties
•It is unlikely that party funding will change:
– Labour and the Liberal Democrats
suggested limiting donations in 2015 but…
• The Conservatives stood to lose most from such a move so would not agree
– In the 2016 Trade Union Act, the Conservatives tried to limit Labour’s funding from trade
unions by making new trade-union members choose whether to ‘opt in’ to making payments
towards
the Labour Party
• Labour peers rejected this in the HoL
What are current Conservative policies?
•Thatcherism is based on the ideas of
The New Right.This consists of…
-Neoliberalism:
→a small state
