An MP who does not hold an official role in the government (in particular, cabinet member)

• Dennis Skinner is a humourous, ex-miner thorn in the side of his Labour party
• Tony Benn gave up his title to be in the House of Commons. Later gave up a cabinet post to speak his (old labour) mind in the Commons.

• Friends  of the Earth
• Fathers for justice
• Save the Whales
• Society for protection of the unborn child
• Plane Stupid
• Rock against Racism

Pressure group membership up, political party membership down (10% of 1950)

1. An EU citizen not "from" Britain or Ireland (but its only where you "live" in EU elections
2. Members of the House of Lords
3. Convicted criminal in prison
4. Convicted of corrupt or illegal electoral practice
5. Suffering from mental illness

Whats the typical % election turnout in the 1960s-1980s?

What has it been since 2000?

Around 75%

2001: 59%

2005: 61%

(2005 - labour get 35% of 61% and so only 22% of the electorate)

"Hung parliament"?

"Balance of power"?

Hung parliament = no one party has overall majority

Balance of power = a minority party that exerts influence by deciding which larger party its going to side/vote with

1. Act as link individual > political system
2. Organise into a package a bunch of views
3. Source of knowledge - publicising ideas
4. Mobilise/recruit activists WORKING for ideas
5. Unites informed people to debate and stimulate ideas
6. Organised opposition

1. One party system. China
2. Two party system. UK and US
3. Dominant system. S Africa.  (ANC)
4. Multi party system. Many European countries

• No money for expensive campaigns
• Squeezed, wasted vote status of third parties
• For and against division tends to emerge
• Electoral system FPTP favours big parties
• Rectangular House means "for" or "against"
• Absence of deep sectional/ethnic differences means no parties arising to represent them

1. Simplifies voter choice
2. Promotes stable government.  No multi-party horse trading for control and opposition
3. Promotes experience in individuals/parties
4. Clear accountability.  Electorate can blame
5. Moderation encouraged.

1. Focuses party attention of bitching about the other (Damian McBride)
2. Restricts voter choice
3. Limits compromise.  Encourage adversarial
4. Inhibits growth of third parties when electorate fed up with 2-party. May even turn to extremes (BNP)

A theory about the world and about society and of the place of you and your group within it

Puts ideas under one roof

A thesis by a famous modern historian that says the end of the cold war meant the end of serious ideological opposition.

we are all now for liberal democracy

Innovators (thatcher)

Reformers (atlee - NHS etc)

Egoists (wilson)

Balancers (major)

250,000

200,000

Trade Unions Council

The body that unites policy among trade unions.  Used to influence (and largely finance) labour party.  Bad associations with trouble.  Ties loosened

The "committee on standards in public life"

Established to deal with sleaze claims of the Major government

Used to give to the Tories

Suddenly gave £1m to Labour

Then... Formula One was exempted from the ban on tobacco advertising

1. All donations above a certain figure publicaly declared
2. No more donations from non-UK individuals
3. Thoroughly review system of party funding

Led to the 2000 "Political parties, elections and referendums" Act

Aimed at Tories but applied to labour themselves

1. Donations over £5000 publically disclosed
2. Foreign donations banned
3. Companies must ballot shareholders before making donations
4. Parties submit funding details to a Commission
5. Parties spend only up to max of £20m on a general election
6. Increase existing state funding to parties

After Edward Short 1970s Labour MP

Propose: day to day party activty funded according to how many seats they won at the last election.  Not for campaigning, only for political work.  But releived party funds pressure

Blair made him a junior minister in 2005.

But he gave £1m to Labour.  Plus his company (PowderJect) had one a lucrative contract to supply smallpox vaccine.

1. No longer any obligation to private interests
2. Removes secrecy of those interests
3. Parties not distracted from their more important tasks
4. Reliable funding = more rational planning
5. Makes us like other EU democracies

1. Once in place, might be fixed by an existing government to their particular advantage
2. Impossibility of a formula to satisfy all parties
3. Difficult to ensure the wealthy dont still work around
4. Could disadvantage minor party breakthrough
5. Could deter wealthy and idealistic real benefactors stimulating developments
6. Other EU countries have had mixed success

Are parties a good thing:

(1) They represent?

+ try to build coalitions representing significantly shared interests in the population

- declining membershiop and apathy suggests this is not working

Are parties a good thing:

(2) They recruit leaders

+ find and culitvate national leaders rising to the top on skills and electoral appeal

- But they often endu up out of touch with the elecorate

Are parties a good thing:

(3) They govern

+ usually provide stable government

- but stability may be at the cost of principle as whips impose the party line

Are parties a good thing:

(4) They formulate policy

+ in theory ordinary members can join in

- in practice policy tends to be with the elite

Are parties a good thing:

(5) They participate and mobilise

+ try to increase interest and turnout

- they may actually be putting some off

Conservatives : older, opposed extension of vote, tied to aristocracy, membership based on individual joining

Labour : founded in 1900 when majority already had vote. Represent interests of working class.  Membership often by affiliation (unions) rather than individual joining

Conservatives: Local (eg loughborough) party committee draws up a shortlist and an open members meeting selects. National party oversees the shortlisting

Labour: Central party has an approved list but local shortlist can include nominations from local interests (unions etc).  Must be at least one woman on every shortlist

Conservatives: Once by informal parliamentary party (MPs) discussion.  Hague changed this - MPs reduce the list to just two.  The party members vote on which.

Labour: Voting.  30% to MPs, 30% to constituency associations, 40% to trade unions

Conservative: Deferential, lacking serious influence as decisions only "advisory". Rousing speeches

Labour: From 1918 it was decided conference should have powers over policy making.  Less rousing speeches more apologising, explaining, persuading.  But in 1997 "Partnerships in Power" document ensured that conference would only endorse decisions made elsewhere in the party.

A long labour party committment to nationalise all key industries

Blair managed to get the party to agree (at special conference) to overturn it.  Thus shaping New Labour and also showing that the leader could command the conference

State ownership ...                             public/private mix

Reduce economic inequality ...             equality of opportunity

unemployment worse than inflation ...   inflation worse

Intimate link with unions....                  keep unions at distance

Business kept at distance...                 court business interests

Constitutional change unimportant...      it matters

Better to lose elections than principles .. politics about winning

Blairs attempt to label his new vision

Hard to define!

Compromise to humanise capitalism

Allows Blair to avoid association with old lables (like "social market" of the new Tories)

• Lots of votes.  Few seats
• Strangled by 2-party system
• No ideological identity?
• SDP 1981 break from Kinnocks Labour....
• Merging of Liberals and SDP in 1988
• Paddy Ashdown close to coalition with 1988 labour..
• ...but Blair landslide kills this
• Often favour income tax rises
• Against identity cards etc
• Against Iraq war

SNP

Plaid Cymru

Sinn Fein

Eurosceptics

Basic belief that specific communities should govern themselves (but they might disagree on exactly how to do it)