Summary UK Political Parties - Notes and Essay Plans
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Course
UK Political Parties
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
A* notes on UK political parties - includes the relevant knowledge as dictated by the Edexcel specification, and each section has an essay plan. Here are the essay plans:
- is the Conservative Party One Nation or Thatcherite?
- is the Labour Party New Labour or Old Labour?
- are the Liberal Demo...
17thC: Conflict between Royal vs Parliament Authority
Royalist 'Tories' vs Parliament supporting 'Whigs'
The ‘Tory Party’ became the ‘Conservative Party’ under Sir Robert
Peel as PM in 1834
Policies determined under the Tamworth Manifesto:
- Pragmatism of reform - the Conservatives "would reform
to survive"
- Opposed what unnecessary change, fearing "a perpetual
vortex of agitation"
One Nation or Traditional Conservatism
Party was reformed under Disraeli (PM 1868 and 1874-80)
Saw that in the aftermath of the industrial revolution, Britain had fallen into “two nations;
between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy … the rich and the poor.”
Policies:
- Conflict and division between the ‘two nations’ is undesirable, so Disraeli wanted
working classes to receive some support from the state
- Social obligation to help one another rather than individualism
- Therefore, the role of the state is larger
Thatcherism or New Right Conservatism
Values and ideas emerging in USA 1970s-80s –
adopted by Conservatives
Against re-emerging socialism, and traditional
conservative values: too weak for modern
economic/social policies
Economic policies - neo-liberalism:
- No state-interference in economy – state
intervention causes inflation & less activity/growth - no nationalisation
- Free markets = economic growth & wealth development of individuals
- No Excessive welfare benefits – creates 'dependency culture' of the unemployed
- Low taxes to incentivise wealth creation
Political policies - neo-conservatism:
- Strong state (small, though) - prevents disorder in society; neo-conservatists =
maintain authority and thus societal discipline
- Morality – restoration of traditional values
- Firm Law and Order – authoritarian
- Nationalistic & Patriotic
- Suspicious of Multi-National associations e.g., EU
- Foreign Policy: nation's own interests = most important
Essay Plan
1
,Cameron Tasker UK Political Parties
INTRO:
Conservatives can be considered One Nation or Thatcherite
Themes: Economy, Welfare, Law and Order
Thesis
P1 – ECONOMY:
One Nation:
Intro to May’s 2017 manifesto: “We do not believe in untrammelled free markets. We reject
the cult of selfish individualism. We abhor social division, injustice, unfairness and
inequality”
- free markets and individualism = Thatcherite
- actively preventing inequality is One nation – Disraeli wanted to prevent class
conflict between the ‘two nations’ due to industrial revolution widening class divide
The Conservatives planned to increase the national living wage to £8.75 by 2020 before
Covid-19 pandemic
- Economic intervention to prevent poverty – One Nation – Thatcherism promotes
free market
Covid-19: Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to cut VAT on hospitality as part of a £30bn plan to
prevent mass unemployment as the economy is hit by coronavirus, furlough scheme, and
eat out to help out
- Economic intervention to prevent unemployment – One Nation policy – Thatcherism
doesn’t condone as can cause inflation & less economic activity/growth
- Growth of the state – requires tax increases – against Thatcherism – wants to
incentivise individual wealth creation
Thatcherism:
Brexit: takes us out of customs union – own trade deal and laws
- Thatcherism suspicious of multi-national corporations
- Interest of the nation comes first
Manifesto 2019: cut the burden of corporate tax on businesses for 500,000 firms
- Low taxes are Thatcherite to stimulate individual wealth creation and the economy
- Supporting innovation and entrepreneurship
May’s manifesto wanted to ‘balance the books’ by 2025
- Likely be achieved by cuts to public spending – austerity – shrinking the state =
Thatcherite, as ‘rugged individualism’ – people provide for themselves rather than
relying on the state – “Who is society? There is no such thing!”
Judgement
P2 – WELFARE:
One Nation:
£33b more spending, 40 new hospitals, more nurses – 2019 manifesto. May offered similar,
but hinted at tax rises
- expanding welfare state for those who could not afford private healthcare
- rising tax against Thatcherite policy
Theresa May on becoming Prime Minister – “The government I lead will be driven not by the
interests of the privileged few, but by yours”
- Implies increased spending into the welfare state (growth of state) to reduce
inequality
2
, Cameron Tasker UK Political Parties
Thatcherite:
David Cameron justified £12billion of cuts to the welfare budget by warning that Britain
must “end the complacency” that has “infected our national life”
- Reduced growth of state
- Reduction of ‘dependency culture’ on benefits etc. – rugged individualism
Theresa May’s welfare cuts will help push almost one million more children into relative
poverty by 2022 and two thirds of those affected will live in working households
- Reduction of ‘dependency culture’ on benefits etc. – rugged individualism
- Shrinking the state
Judgement
P3 – LAW AND ORDER
One Nation:
Boris Johnson’s reluctance to take the UK into lockdown – March 2020
- Didn’t want to risk seeming overly authoritarian/autocratic
Justice Secretary Michael Gove, June 2016: “We want individuals who leave prison to be
changed characters - to be redeemed, to have rejected violence as a way of settling disputes,
to have overcome the impulsiveness, weakness and lack of self-respect which drew them
into crime in the first place, to have become assets contributing to society rather than
liabilities who bring only costs
- Favours rehabilitation over harsh punishment
- Thatcherism supports a firm justice for offenders
Thatcherite:
2019 manifesto pledged 20,000 more police on the streets, with a new National Policing
Board “backed by £750m next year”
- Growth of the state
- Authoritarian – tough on law and order to prevent societal disorder – Thatcherite
policy
Manifesto 2019 pledged to “introduce tougher sentencing for the worst offenders and end
automatic halfway release from prison for serious crimes. For child murderers, there will be
life imprisonment without parole”
- Firm justice for the worst wrongdoers – prevents societal disorder
- Neo-conservative views on law and order
Judgement
CONCLUSION:
Argument for thesis
Argument against thesis
Why for beats against
Labour Party: New Labour or Old Labour?
Origins and Development
3
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