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Summary AQA Politics - UK Political Parties
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These essay plans include the main points and examples needed to answer nearly every question on UK Political Parties. Best supplemented with case study booklet.
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3 factors affecting electoral outcomes1.Media
The media, especially TV, can provide the electorate key insight into the personalities
- Hence, a person who does well on TV will likely do better in the outcome
e.g In the four months before the election was announced, Thatcher underwent 16
lengthy television interviews, and she also threw open the doors of Downing Street
to the cameras for the first time in her tenure for an ITV documentary called “The
Woman at Number Ten”.
e.g during the broadcast she told everyone how she took down all of the Italian
paintings, and replaced them with British heroes like the Duke of Wellington,
bringing with her a strong sense of patriotism
Comparatively, televised extracts from Michael Foot’s speeches showed Foot
hunched over a lectern and were received in silence as he didn’t tailor his words for
the cameras. This was because Foot had spent 50 years speaking without notes and
now had to use prepared texts.
- This is significant because it then saw Thatcher more easily pick up support from the
newspapers, further seeing positive media coverage, affecting outcomes
e.g 78% of the papers supported her, only missing the Daily Mirror and Sunday
Mirror. They published headlines like “Vote for Maggie”, and “Do you seriously want
this old man to run Britain”
2. Campaign
The campaign is where politicians can make their political goals known, and show the
public their personality
- Hence, the effectiveness of the campaign can greatly affect the electoral outcome for a
party
e.g in 1997, Blair focussed his campaign on the media, trusting his campaign in the
hands of Alistair Campbell and Peter Mendelson who made their positive and upbeat
as possible.
They carefully courted journalists and editors from across the various media and
ensured that they got stories ready-packaged that would put across the message of
the day in a positive light that would benefit labour. Their success was driven by
focus group and poll data to try and ensure that the Labour Party was seen to care
about the issues that the public cared about.
e.g To ensure that Labour kept their positive appearance, they had their own
positive theme tune, D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better”, while also spinning
Blair’s youth and charisma, allowing him to feel very relatable and likeable
This was especially significant as it trumped the Conservatives, who’s campaign
seemed to be the very opposite
e.g They led with a very negative campaign, which served to attack Blair, with the
famous Demon eyes poster and the slogan “New Labour new danger”, while Major
was often mocked in the media, for example on Spitting Image, as being grey,
uncharismatic and elderly.
,3. Leadership
The leader of a party largely controls how the party comes across to the electorate,
and so they control the party’s tactics and methods in gaining votes
e.g The largest impact of the campaign in 2019 was arguably Labour’s missteps
under Corbyn’s leadership, of which there were many, which seemed to make
Labour’s campaign seem messy and unclear to a large proportion of the electorate
Corbyn was also seen by many to be too populist and left-wing
e.g Corbyn focussed too much on specific voter groups, mainly metropolitan voters,
and so was seen as cut off from most voters. Hence, many people in Labour’s
working-class seats switched their vote due to a dislike of Corbyn, seeing the loss of
their traditional “Red-wall” seats, which were crucial for a win.
These missteps were significant as they allowed the Conservatives campaign to
shine, which was comparatively clear and less flawed
- Johnson’s character helped with his message also, as he seemed like a rogue player
slightly outside of the political norm, which arguably reassured the public that he
would get Brexit done – e.g Prorogation case
e.g Under Johnson, the Conservatives stuck to the slogan “Get Brexit Done” which
featured across their televised campaigns, displaying a clear message that gained
traction as they could finally get the years of turmoil over, compared to Labour’s
ambiguous message that dragged the Brexit process on with a “People’s vote”,
compared to Johnson’s ‘oven-ready’ Brexit deal.
, Factions in the Conservative and Labour parties
1. Stop the War Coalition
Founded in 2001 after Bush’s ‘war on terror’ after 9/11, the Stop the War coalition is
a pacifist faction in the Labour party
e.g In 2003 the Stop the War Coalition organised a protest in London, which
according to the BBC had over 1 million attendees, to retaliation for Blair’s
involvement of the UK in the Iraq war
e.g They also campaigned against military action in Syria after MPs authorised action
against ISIL in Syria in December 2015
2. Momentum
Founded in 2015 shortly after Corbyn’s election as Labour party leader, this faction is
a part of the progressive left which aims to implement socialist policies
e.g In 2019, Momentum supported Corbyn’s proposed economically socialist
policies, including the renationalisation of the “Six big energy firms” whilst also
increase tax bracket for £80,000 by 5% and introducing a new 50% tax bracket on
those earning over £123,000
e.g In May 2022, Momentum’s national coordinating group agreed to two motions
which it would support at the nearing Labour party conference, one of which
included the Labour Party to back a £15 minimum wage and an end to 0 hours
contracts.
3. Progress
Founded in 1996 as a Blairite pressure group, Progress champions more centrist
policies and is committed to the New Labour agenda.
e.g Progressive and Labour First launched an umbrella organisation in 2022 called
Labour to Win to better support Keir Starmer due to his more centre, Blairite views,
and his call for more unity in the party
e.g In the 2015 Labour leadership election they supported the neo-Blairite Liz
Kendall, the current shadow minister for social care.
Conservatives:
1. European Research Group
Founded in 1993 and became the voice of hard-line Brexiters.
e.g On 11 March 2019, the University College London reported that "The pro-Brexit
European Research Group forced a vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s leadership
of the party in December, which she won by 200 votes to 117”
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