Why has the membership of the major political parties declined in recent years? Do you expect this trend to continue?

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Why has the membership of the major political parties declined in recent years? Do you expect this trend to continue?

The membership of the major political parties has declined alarmingly in recent decades. In the 1950s, Labour had a million members and the Conservatives over two million, but nowadays they have 360,000 and 335,000 respectively. Parties are keen to recruit as many members as possible as they can provide important campaigning and financial support. There must be some wider reason for this phenomenon, as it did not affect just one party. Political apathy may be one factor, as people lose interest in the political system in general. Another possible reason could be the dissatisfaction the electorate feel towards the political parties of today. The class and party de-alignment arguments could also be used to explain this contrast with yesteryear- that the changes in the class system have left people unsure about whom their natural representatives are. The huge increase in floating voters may have something to do with this decline as well. Evans (1997) suggests another possibility, rather than people not participating in politics, this generation has shifted from party politics to supporting pressure groups.

A politically apathetic electorate would have no interest in politics; therefore they would not join political parties. This state of mind has increased dramatically, possibly as a result of the move by the major parties in their stances. Moves, initially, by the Labour Party but subsequently by the Conservatives have left very little distinction between the parties. As the Labour Party shifted towards the centre under Blair’s early leadership period, so did the Conservatives as a reaction against the Thatcher stereotype. This might have left the electorate feeling discontented, as there would not be as much political debate from two sides that operate so close to each other in their policies. Political apathy can be measured in a number of ways: party membership, turnout, and public opinion polls, although these are not completely reliable, as people might not vote for certain reasons and not join parties for reasons other than political apathy. Without a change in the attraction of politics and parties, this should not change. There would need to be more opportunity to get involved in politics than under the current political system, possibly an increase in referenda and initiatives. This might make the electorate more interested in politics, and consequently political parties.

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Parties and their politicians have also been given a poor image by the media in recent years, which may have resulted in people not supporting the political parties by not joining them. Incidents like the Neil Hamilton saga and the introduction of negative campaigning show politics up to be a dirty business and one that many people don’t want to be a part of. The political parties have become much more centralised now, with less power allowed to the members, and this has been reflected by the membership figures. The politicians in comparison with the constituency groups now hold ...

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