Party funding.

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Party Funding

        Political parties require funds so that they can pay for election campaigns and wages and so forth. Donations can range from a mere £5 a year to millions of pounds, or funding for offices and equipment. Frequently, a party spends a lot more money in a year than they will receive in donations or membership fees. To see how the parties are funded, it is best to look at them individually.

        The Liberal Democrats, in comparison to the big two, have a relatively small income of about £3m. For the Lib Dems, their 85,000 members are vital for their existence, as they lack support from institutions and wealthy individuals, which gives them a handicap when it comes to elections. Also, their members are vitally important for election campaigns, as the Lib Dems lack support from a newspaper and cannot afford to spend huge amounts of money. This means that they have to spread their resources very thinly across constituencies, and as a result will not gain many votes as they struggle to get their manifesto across.

        The Conservatives have increasingly worrying money woes, as their income is continuing to drop. Even though they have more money on paper than they did a while ago, it is not in line with inflation, so they are losing money. A big reason for this is their drop in membership. In the 1950s, the Conservatives could boast a membership of over 2m, but that has fallen to 330,000. The Conservatives have enjoyed huge donations from wealthy people and businesses (in the early 90s especially), though there is a sleaze factor in this. Wealthy families of Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have donated huge amounts to the Tory party, and got military help in return for their generosity. They also received funding by Li Ka-Shing and Rong Yiren; in return they received passports to come to this country. The Conservatives have been criticised for being funded by a handful of wealthy individuals.

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        The bulk of Labours income comes from the Trade Unions, though they still have wealthy individuals, such as Bernie Ecclestone and Lord Sainsbury, donating large quantities of money to the Labour Party. Like the other parties, a fall in the number of members has led to a decline in revenue, of which most of their money comes from, which has effected their earnings. It is well known that the Labour party would collapse without its vital Trade Union beneficiaries, though Labours reliance on them has declined over recent years.

        Critics argue that parties funded by private means, like the previously ...

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