1. Campaigning, programmes and policies in the UK GP1 People, Politics and Participation Political Parties in the UK and Wales

2. This session  Define a political party;  We will identify and explore what is meant by a manifesto;  Examine aspects of a manifesto as to voting appeal;  Explore the Valence Political Model;  The structure of the political parties in the UK  Examine a political campaign with reference to a case study on the 2010 general election;  We will identify and explore what is meant by a manifesto;  Examine aspects of a manifesto as to voting appeal;

3.  It's a group of people organised to win government power, which, under a democratic system, happens under elections - where they hope to gain representation and form/ participate in government.  Their 3 main features are:  (Larger) parties aim to exercise government power by winning political office, while smaller parties use elections to gain a platform for their views  Broad issue focus for larger parties, with policies for all the major government areas, while smaller parties have a narrower focus, resembling pressure groups  Their members are usually united by shared political preferences and ideology, which can be loose and broadly defined Exercise 1a What is a Political Party?

4.  A system through which single parties are able to form governments and carry out policy programmes.  Three main features are:  The major parties have clear ideological convictions and develop rival programmes of government to give the electorate a meaningful choice at election time  The governing party is able to claim a popular mandate, with enough internal unity and ideological cohesion to convert manifestos to government policy  They are accountable to the electorate through a credible opposition party (as a balancing force) and its mandate to govern Exercise 1 b What is Party Government?

5.  Representation - primary function. They link government to the people by responding and articulating public opinion. The major parties are 'catch-all parties' as they try to develop policies with mass appeal, so they can claim a mandate to carry out its policies.  Policy Formulation - parties develop programmes of government, through party forums, annual conferences and in election manifestos. They initiate policies (come up with policy proposals) and formulate them (sets of policy options which are realistic and achievable).  Recruitment of Leaders - parties can recruit and train the politicians of the future. The first step is party membership, gaining experience of canvassing, debating and running a constituency party. This can open the door to political office and Number 10. Functions of Parties

6.  Organisation of Government - they can help to form governments (party government), giving government stability and coherence (as usually a single party), facilitate cooperation between the major branches of government: parliament and the executive. They also provide opposition and criticism of government (scrutiny) and a 'government- in waiting'.  Participation and mobilisation of the electorate - they provide opportunity for citizens to join parties and influence them and to educate and mobilise the electorate. Parties are electoral machines through the building up of loyalty and identification in electorate Functions of Parties

7.  Representation: the electorate can be misinformed and irrational, with a parties image, leaders charisma (important as policies). Also, due to FPTP, they don't need 50+% of vote to win an election  Policy formulation: major parties have distanced themselves from traditional ideologies, not interested in ideas and formulating goals for society. They are now keen to follow public opinion (opinion polls and focus groups) than shape it  Recruitment of Leaders: Government appointed from small pool of talent, i.e. the majority party in the House of Commons. Electioneering and other activities may be poor experience for running a large government department. Effectiveness of Party's Functions

8.  Organisation of Government: declining party unity since the 1970s lessens the majority party's control of the HoC  Participation and Mobilisation: Voter loyalty and identification has declined, with 40% identifying in 1964 to 10% in 2005. Membership of parties has fallen e.g. Conservatives had 3 million in the 1950's, now 130-150000, and Labour's has also fallen from 1 million to 193000 (in 2010, 1% of electorate belong to 3 main parties). General Election turnout has also fallen since 1997 (71.4%), following with 59.4%, 61.4% and 65.1%, still 10% below average  The Conservatives traditionally have the biggest party membership despite Labour’s trade union base Effectiveness of Party's Functions

9. Answers: Leaders Parties recruit these for the future Proposals Parties initiate policy _________ Opinion They respond to public 'catch-all-parties' The term used to describe parties with mass appeal' Scrutiny Opposition provide this role with government Educate Parties _______ and mobilise the electorate Focus These 'groups' together with opinion polls help formulate policy Pool Leaders come from a small ______ of talent Loyalty Voters _______ and identification has fallen since the 1960s Conservatives The party that traditionally has the largest membership Exercise 1c – Cross word

10.  We saw in the Downsian model how voters determine which party’s ideology is closest to their own and then vote for them  In contrast, valence issues arise when there is broad agreement about the desired policy outcome—such as the achievement (or maintenance) of low unemployment, low inflation, high educational standards, or good healthcare.  Voters support the party that appears to offer the best chance of delivering competent performance in these policy areas.  Major variables in valence politics model of electoral choice are: 1.Leader Images – key heuristic – a quick based solution 2.Partisan attachments - key heuristic, dynamic properties 3.Evaluations of parties ’ actual and anticipated performance on ‘ valence ’ issues - the economy, public service delivery, and national and personal security. 4.These are issues where there is strong consensus on the ends of policy, and political debate concerns ‘ who ’ and ‘ how ’, not ‘ what. Explaining Electoral Choice: The Valence Politics Model

11.  Parties typically have local, regional, and national organizations that do not always convey a single, unified political message.  The platform that a party presents at election time is frequently the result of public, intra-party debate among competing personalities who have previously articulated different policy positions and even represented different intellectual traditions.  In these circumstances, it is not always clear to voters what ‘the party’ actually stands for.  Voters therefore know better, then, to crystallize their view of a party by making a judgment about the character and competence of its leader?  The leader is not an amorphous, vaguely perceived entity. Rather, he or she is a clearly identified, single individual who, if elected, will take ultimate responsibility for any hard choices that the government needs to make.  For many voters, then, assessing the leader is a very convenient way of assessing the likely competence of the party in office. Explaining Electoral Choice: The Valence Politics Model

12. Under the Valence Politics Model assessing the leader is a very convenient way for voters to determine the likely competence of the party in office. Exercise 1 d Under the Valence Model

13.  Which are they three main political parties in the UK?  What is the fourth one in Wales?  The structures of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties and their leadership election will now be examined Party political structures

14.  Leadership elections in the Labour Party normally follow one of three reasons:  Resignation following election defeat – Neil Kinnock, James Callaghan, Gordon Brown  Resignation to retire or seek other offices Harold Wilson, Tony Blair  Death – Hugh Gaitsell and John Smith  Labour's National Executive Committee decides the timetable of such an election How the Labour Party Leader is elected

15.  If there is a vacancy, candidates must have the support of 12.5% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (currently 33 MPs). If there isn't a vacancy, there must have 20% of PLP support within a time- limit. (This was how leaders were originally elected).  The voting takes place in three sections of their electoral college, each having 1/3 of the final vote, counted under AV. The first is Labour MPs and MEPs, the second is their individual party members (voting under one member one vote) and the third was of individual members of affiliated organisations (trade unions are allowed to make recommendations to their members, but not in the same 'communication' that contains the ballot paper)  If no candidate receives more than half of the votes, the least popular drops out, with the votes being redistributed until one candidate has 50% (there were 4 rounds in the 2010 election, with Ed Miliband having 50.65%) How the Labour Party Leader is elected

16.  Exercise 1d – What make a good political leader?  Think of five points  Exercise 2 – Labour  Watch the clip and note who you think is the most effective as a leadership candidate and why?the clip  Match these against the leadership points Labour leadership hustings

17.  Exercise 3 – How many bodies are member organisations of the Labour Party?  Which do you feel is the most powerful?  Exercise 4 – Which is the most powerful decision making body in the Labour Party?  Is the National Policy Forum at the heart of Labour policy making? Labour Party

18.  If there is a vacancy, they can be nominated by two Conservative MPs. If there isn't a vacancy, a leadership contest can begin by passing a vote of no confidence in the leader, called if 15% of Conservative MPs write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee (open to all Conservative MPs, but frontbenchers aren't allowed to vote) and (the incumbent is barred if they get a vote of no confidence)  When more than two candidates stand, a series of ballots is held, the candidates with the least vote that round drops out, until there are two. When it reaches or starts with two, there is a ballot of all party members to decide the leader. If only one stands (2003 - Michael Howard) they are immediately elected  All paid up party members are then eligible to vote for one of the candidates, whoever gets the most wins (David Cameron - 67.6%) How the Conservative Party Leader is Elected

19.  Exercise 5 – Conservative leadership election  Watch the clip from the 2001 Conservative leadership election and note who you think is the most effective as a leadership candidate and why?the clip  Match these against the leadership points  Exercise 6 – The Conservative Party structure  How significant is the grass roots in the party organisation Conservative leadership hustings

20.  Also known as the ‘1922 Backbench Committee’ and the name comes from ‘Newport’  This comprises all Conservative MPs apart from the leader, and can therefore number in the hundreds.  It has often been referred to as ‘influential’—an understatement, given that it represents all elected Tory members and is therefore able to articulate the ‘mood’ of the parliamentary party like no other organization.  Traditionally, leaders have ignored its views at their peril. Far from being a talking shop, the 1922 Committee retains huge constitutional clout.  It is headed by an eighteen-member executive committee, the chairperson of which is often referred to as the party’s ‘shop steward’, charged  The Committee meets every week when Parliament is in session 1922 Committee

21.  The Liberal Democrats are a federal party with different state parties for Wales, Scotland, England  Each state party make their own rules  The party in England defers their powers to the national or federal party  The Welsh and Scottish Parties have their own leaders and policy making processes  The party has its own federal policy committee but policy is also endorsed by the party’s spring and autumn conferences The Liberal Democrats

22.  The party has both a leader and a president elected by the members  Like the Conservatives the Liberal Democrat MPs have sometimes deposed their leaders, Charles Kennedy suffered a vote of no confidence in 2007  The Federal Executive timetables and handles the voting process.  There is no limit to the number of candidates that can stand for leadership of the Lib Dems, and MPs can nominate more than one candidate. They must have 10% of support of the parliamentary party and 200 party members from at least 20 constituencies. (This was an amendment made at Sep 2005 Party Conference, which needed to pass with 2/3 majority).  Every member of the Liberal Democrats gets an equal vote - OMOV  If there are only two candidates, the voting is reduced to a plurality system. If there are more, all individual members of the Lib Dems can vote under a proportional system.  They are conducted under STV, voting preferentially. The winner has the largest number of first and second preferences wins. How the Liberal Democrat Leader is Elected

23.  Exercise 7 –Liberal Democrats leadership election  Watch the clip from the 2008 Liberal leadership election and note who you think is the most effective as a leadership candidate and why? Huhne clipthe clip Huhne cl  Match these against the leadership points  Why was it fortune that Huhne did not win?  Exercise 8 – Read the extract of the demise of Charles Kennedy  Who was responsible for Kennedy’s downfall? Liberal Democrat leadership hustings

24.  Exercise 9  List the methods of political campaigning:- 1.PPBs 2.Press releases 3.Leaflets 4.Letters 5.Phone calls 6.Internet 7.Doorstep canvassing 8.Adverts – Bill boards 9.TV debates 10.Policies - manifestos Campaigning in elections

25. The actual result of the 2010 general election

26.  Labour vote intentions fell sharply after the 2005 election, and the party trailed the Conservatives by large margins throughout much of the 2005-2010 period.  However, the Conservatives made virtually no net gains in party identification between 2005 and 2010. Going into the 2010 campaign Labour partisanship was off slightly, but the Conservatives were not beneficiaries. Campaigning in the general elections case study on 2010 general election

27. Exercise 10 - What does the polling intentions chart tell us about the political parties between 2005 and 2010?

28.  Gordon Brown was massively unpopular. His numbers rival those of former Conservative leaders Iain Duncan Smith & William Hague.  Competence perceptions could not save Brown – In fact, he was not seen as especially able.  Brown ’ s negatives continued to be strong throughout the election campaign.  Brown was judged to have performed poorly in all three leader debates.  Many voters already had judged that the Labour leader and his party had run an ineffective campaign before Brown ’ s ‘ bigoted woman ’ remarks. Brown’s highly publicised comments confirmed these judgments. What did the BES study tell us?

29.  Labour trailed throughout the entire campaign and was never in position to form a majority government.  As is well-known, the Liberal Democrats made a big move immediately after the first debate – because of the well-received performance by leader, Nick Clegg  The Conservatives led throughout the campaign but, similar to 2005, finished behind where they had been at the outset. What did the BES study tell us?

30. Exercise 11 - What does the polling intentions chart tell us about the political parties vote in the month leading up to the election?

31. Exercise 12a - What does the polling intentions chart tell us about which events were important in the election campaign?

32. Exercise 12b - What does the polling intentions chart tell us about which events were important in the election campaign?

33.  It ’ s the economy I – Concern with the economy dominated the issue agenda. This should have been a major opening for the major opposition party – the Conservatives.  It ’ s the economy II - the Conservatives did not capitalize on the economy as well as they might have. Emphasizing austerity measures as the cure for Britain ’ s economic woes failed to generate voter enthusiasm.  It ’ s the economy III – the Conservatives ’ emphasis on government debt did not resonate especially well. Only one in ten of the BES CIPS respondents ranked government debt as most important in a list of 8 issues and two- thirds did not rank government debt as one of their top 3 most important issues.  Despite their campaign surge, the Liberal Democrats made virtually no headway as the party best on most important issue. Only 9% of the CIPS post- election respondents chose them as best.  Not Making a Case - no party had the overall pulling power on major issues that Labour enjoyed in 1997, 2001 and 2005. In the CIPS post-election survey only 25% chose Labour as best on most important issue and only 30% chose the Conservatives. The parties had big edges among various ‘ issue publics ’ but many of these groups were not particularly large (e.g., nearly 50% of the 3% ranking the environment most important of 8 issues voted Lib Dem). What did the BES study tell us?

34. Exercise 13 - What does the percentage chart tell us about the most important issues in the campaign?

35. Exercise 13 - What does the percentage chart tell us about the least important issues in the campaign?

36. Exercise 15 – Which issues are the parties most likely to campaign on and why?

37. Exercise 16 – Which parties do the voters most trust on the important issues?

38.  For campaigning political parties shape their election campaign and policy ideas around what the voters feel is most important  No party had the three key ‘ fundamentals ’ of the valence politics model – partisanship, party best on most important issue, leader image – secured in 2010.  Labour was in bad shape. Things had ‘ turned brown ’ for New Labour after 13 years in office, and the party ’ s campaign was ineffective at best.  The Conservative ’ s negative campaign message of ‘ cuts, cuts, cuts! ’ was the antithesis of the optimistic ‘ hope, growth and opportunity! ’ message a right-of-centre party needs to attract votes in a world of valence politics.  With weak fundamentals, ineffective campaigns and widespread voter disaffection with politics as usual, the two major parties were susceptible to a move by the Liberal Democrats. The leader debates provided the Liberal Democrats with the exactly the opportunity they needed.  Despite their surge after the first debate, the Liberal Democrats had to rely heavily on Nick Clegg ’ s popularity. Their partisan base remained small, and they had little pulling power on the economy, the issue that dominated the campaign.  Operating in a single-member plurality electoral system with a pro-Labour bias, the factors considered above predictably delivered a hung parliament.*  * it could have been (just) otherwise if all UKIP and BNP voters had cast Conservative ballots. Ceteris paribus, such a ‘ unite the right ’ voting coalition would have delivered 329 seats to the Conservatives – enough to form a majority (not a working majority) government. Having all UKIP voters support the Conservatives would not have given them a majority. 2010 Summary and Conclusion

39.  The principal campaigning document for each political party is its election manifesto.  This is the document, which contains the official programme of public policies of the national party, and the policies themselves constitute pledges as to what the party would do if elected into Government.  The foreword of the manifesto will be written by the party’s leader, and a large photograph of the leader will also feature prominently inside the document or on its front cover.  Party candidates around the country will be expected to campaign during he election upon the policies that are included in in the manifesto, and during the campaign party solidarity is at a premium, since any signs of disunity or division within the party erodes voters’ confidence in the party leadership and will be seized upon and attacked by political opponents. What is a manifesto?

40. .  The general shape and content of party manifestos is usually prepared several months in advance of the general election being called, from the time it is first anticipated,  The final presentation and wording, however, will be approved at short notice at or around the time of the Prime Minister’s decision about the date of polling day being made publicly known.  From 2015, however, general elections are set at every five years.  Therefore the manifesto process can be finalised well in advance of any general elections What is a manifesto?

41. .  F N + + + + + + + + + M T + P  + I O + + + + + + + A N + + O  + + X I + + + + + N E + + + L  + + + E T + + + I M + + + + L  + + + + D C + F N + + + + + I  + + + + + T E R + + + + + + N  + + + + + S E L + + L + + + G  + + + + T V + R E + A + + + D  + + + O O + + + M + R + + + A  + + + G + + + + + S E + S + Y  S O L I D A R I T Y N R + + +  + + N G I A P M A C E + + + +  + + + + + + + + + T G + + + +  + + + + + + + + O + + + + + +  + + + + + + + V + + + + + + + Exercise 17 Manifesto word search

42.  Examine the Education Policies from the three main UK parties for the 2010 general election  See if you can pick out two policies from each party that you think would appeal to the electorate and give reasons why? Exercise 17

43. Exercise 17 – Education Policy