UK Political Parties

Introduction ‘A political party is a group of like minded individuals who agree to abide by a set of rules and set out to win political power in order to achieve their common goals.’ Parties play an essential role in any representative democracy. In the UK they are particularly important because of the strength of the party system which in turn reflects the fact that the UK has a parliamentary system of government. At the most theoretical level parties act as a gear box in the system between the State which makes laws and allocates resources and those groups in society who would like a share in those resources.

Roles of Political Parties Parties have a number of roles: –The role of governing –The electoral role –Political recruitment and participation –Policy formulation –Representation –Communication of ideology

Criticisms of Political Parties The role of parties in politics has been criticized for the following reasons. –Parties impose uniformity on the views of their members, therefore stifling debate. –Parties perpetuate social divisions. –Parties prevent the emergence of new ideas. You should consider if these criticisms are only relevant to political parties in the UK.

Ideology Political ideology has been described as: ‘…reasonably coherent structures of thought [which provide] explanations of how and why people act as they do and what direction society should or could follow.’ In the UK there are three dominant ideologies: –Liberalism –Conservatism –Socialism

Liberalism This ideology has traditionally been identified with the Liberal, now Liberal Democrat, Party. However the Conservative leader, Margaret Thatcher, advocated a form of liberalism. Liberalism finds it roots in the writings of men such as John Locke and Adam Smith. Classical liberalism stresses the importance of the individual in society and, therefore, looks to limit the role of government.

In the 19 th Century progressive liberalism became important. This accepted that some people were not in a position to help themselves therefore the State had a duty to intervene in some areas. The welfare state and the NHS are the best examples of progressive liberalism. Neo – Liberalism (or New Right Conservatism) was advocated in a form by Thatcher. This felt that the State had grown too large and that more emphasis should be placed on the individual and the free market.

Conservatism Conservatism is perhaps the most difficult ideology to define. Especially within the context of the Conservative Party in British politics. Conservatism has a pessimistic view of the individual regarding people as flawed. As a result of this there is a need for a strong family and State and an acceptance of inequality. Perhaps the most important conservative philosopher is Edmund Burke. He was wary of change and advocated a respect for tradition.

3 strands of conservatism have been identified within the Conservative Party. Traditional conservatism ‘One nation’ conservatism became important from the 19 th century. This accepts inequality but also felt that the privileged in society had a duty towards those at the bottom of society, if for no other reason than to prevent rebellion or gain electoral victory. ‘Liberal’ conservatism aims for the greatest economic freedom whilst at the same time believing that a strong State was needed in order maintain order and uphold traditional values. This was expressed in the New Right conservatism or Thatcherism in the Conservative Party from the 1980s onwards. Since Thatcher there has been an ongoing ideological rift within the Conservative Party between those ‘revolutionaries’ who want to carry on what she started and ‘consolidators’ who prefer a more cautious approach. This was best shown during the premiership of John Major but has continued since.

Socialism Socialism was developed as an alternative to liberalism and conservatism in the 19 th century. The earliest socialist philosophers were Marx and Engels. Socialism views capitalism as wasteful and destructive. It views society in terms of class and believes that there is a positive side to human nature. Socialism aims to improve society by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor and through a strong State with important roles in organising society and planning for the use of scarce resources.

In practice socialism can be classified in the following ways. Revolutionary socialism is Marxist in its belief that capitalism will inevitably lead to class conflict which in turn will lead to the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system. Reformist Socialism takes two forms: –Democratic socialism which aims to secure control of the State through non – revolutionary means but then transform society to such an extent that capitalism ceases to exist. –Social democracy accepts capitalism but aims to ensure that resources in a capitalist society are redistributed so that the majority rather than just a few can benefit.

How ‘Socialist’ is ‘New Labour’? A string of election defeats in the 80s and 90s led the Labour Party, eventually under Tony Blair, to move away from democratic socialism. However some commentators would argue that the Party is now no longer socialist at all. His critics would point to the redrafting of Clause 4 of the Labour Party’s constitution as evidence of this. His fiercest critics may even claim that Blair advocates ‘Thatcherism with a human face’.

Other commentators would argue that Blair stands neither in the democratic socialist or social democratic camp. As such ‘New Labour’ is certainly not the same as ‘Old Labour’. Rather his ‘3 rd Way’ is made up of a mixture of ideas including, –Stakeholding –Communitarianism –Christian Socialism They would argue that there are significant differences between both Blair and Thatcherism and the Labour and Conservative Parties.