2. Political Parties & Elections

3. Political Parties & Elections
In this unit you will learn about:
the dominant ideas within the Labour Party
The dominant ideas within the Conservative Party
the impact of these ideas on their electoral performance
You will also be expected to:
assess the impact of other factors on the party’s electoral performance such as:
Campaign management strategies, media strategies
Impact of voting behaviour
this will be studied from a UK and Scottish perspective.

4. Unit Content Political parties and ideologies The Big Two
Political Parties and Electoral Success
Thatcherism (79-92)
The Birth of New Labour
Labour Under Blair (97-07)
Labour Under Brown (07-10)
The Impact of the Media

5. Lesson One: Political Parties and Ideologies

6. Success Criteria – I can…
What you will learn…
Success Criteria – I can…
What a political party and ideology is
What the political spectrum is
What is meant by left wing and right wing
The ideological change in the Labour party under Tony Blair
Explain what a political party is and what is meant by the term “ideology”
Define “left” and “right” wing
Describe the changes under Tony Blair

7. Lesson Starter…
Discuss the following questions in your groups and get ready to feedback your responses:
What is a political party?
What are the main political parties in the UK?
What smaller political parties exist in the UK (think about the nations of the UK as well)?
What is an ideology?
Can you detail the ideologies of some of the UK’s political parties?
Can you detail any changes in the ideologies of some of the UK’s political parties?

8. What is a political party?
A political party is a group of people with similar political beliefs who form a group or organisation.
The group then tries to get others to support them by voting for them at election time.
E.g. the Scottish National Party (SNP) believe in independence for Scotland.

9. Some of the Political Parties in Britain
Conservative
Labour
Leader Theresa May (Prime Minister)
Current minority in Westminster (since June 17)
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Official Opposition in Westminster

10. Some of the Political Parties in Britain
Liberal Democrats
SNP
Leader Sir Vince Cable
(Scottish Leader Willie Rennie)
Leader Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish First Minister)
Angus Robertson lead MP for Westminster

11. National Parties Scottish National Party (Scottish)
Plaid Cymru (Welsh)
Sinn Fein/Democratic Unionist Party/DUP (Northern Irish)
English Democrats

12. Extreme Parties
These parties usually only have a small number of voters and can often be quite offensive in the things that they have to say.
Can you think of any examples?
Do you think that it is right
that these parties exist?

13. Parties are formed when like-minded people come together in agreement over how the country should be run. This is known as sharing a common ideology.
An ideology is a set of basic beliefs about how a country should be run, be it political, economic or social.

14. Left and Right Wing Politics
As we have seen in the introduction to this course, while parties in the past stuck to one ideology, nowadays parties borrow from various ones and can shift their ideology to appeal to the electorate (more to come)
A party will be placed on the political spectrum based on the ideology of the party.
The political spectrum is a line which runs left to right.
Parties on the left have always been seen as more liberal and also in favour of ‘big’ government.
Parties on the right are thought of as being more traditional and believing more in ‘small’ government

15. SNP
SNP
SNP

16. Key Phrases
Big government – High taxation, lots of government spending, more government intervention
Small government – More use of private sector, lower taxation, less government spending
Liberal – Happier to welcome fast, rapid changes to society . Liberals have a belief in the freedom of the individual
Traditionalist – Like change to be small and happen over an extended period of time. Traditionalists have a greater respect for state institutions like the Church

17. Group Task
Would the following ideas be right wing or left wing values?
High levels of taxation
Low levels of government spending
Tough on immigration
Pro gay marriage
Pro business and pro private sector
‘Prison works’ – Prison should be used more often than community based alternatives

18. Left Wing
Strong government control over business
Equality – equal opportunities for all
Higher taxes to pay for public services (education, police etc)
Collective responsibility i.e. considering others first
Strict views on law on order (alternative sentencing)
Extreme left – (communist party in Russia)
Right Wing
Less government control - over business
Equal opportunity based on hard work, effort and self help
Lower taxes – less investment in public services
Stronger freedom of choice i.e. individual first
Stricter views on law and order (prison sentences)
Extreme right – (Robert Mugabe the ex president of Zimbabwe)

19. Is the Political Spectrum Still Valid?
Where would you place someone like Stalin?
He was a Communist (very big government), which makes him left wing
However he was also a dictator, an authoritarian who restricted the rights of many of his people (not very liberal at all!) That would make him right wing
Therefore sometimes it is better to use the ‘political compass’ to help place political parties

20. Hitler Stalin Thatcher Gandhi The Political Compass Explained
The Political Compass Explained

21. The Left/Right Social and Economic Issue
The Liberal Democrats are a good example of a party who are best explained through the use of the political compass On social and political issues, they are very liberal (left wing), believing in free education for all, less use of prison, less CCTV etc However on the economy they are quite right wing, believing in small government and the free market (where there is little government intervention)
Therefore, it is important to remember than when we talk about right/left wing policies,
we need to differentiate between social issues and economic issues.

22. What does this suggest about the party?
It is also important to note that political parties very rarely remain static when it comes to ideological ideas. Take the example of the Labour Party. There is marked ideological shift in terms of both economics and social ideals from the 1970s/1980s into the early 2000s and then back again.
What does this suggest about the party?

23. Question Task Define, in your owns words, authoritarianism
Define, in your words, libertarianism.
Explain, with examples, the importance of using the full political compass as opposed to simply the left-right spectrum.
Can a person or political party be economically liberal (decisions made by individuals not the collective) and socially conservative (traditional views)? Explain your answer, providing examples.
Looking at the 2015 policy manifestos, place each of the three main British political parties on the political compass and explain your decision.
Take the political compass quiz – where do you lie?

24. UK Political Profile 2019
Create a profile on the current state of UK Politics. Include the following information:
Current UK Government (Party, No. of MPs, Leader etc)
Parties currently in Opposition (Parties, No. of MPs, Leaders etc)
Current issues in UK Politics
Current Scottish Government (Party, No. of MSPs, Leader etc)
Parties currently in Opposition in Scotland (Parties, No. of MSPs, Leaders etc)
Current issues in Scottish Politics

25. Define “left” and “right” wing Describe the changes under Tony Blair
Explain what a political party is and what is meant by the term “ideology”
Define “left” and “right” wing
Describe the changes under Tony Blair
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