Analysing The British Political System.

GCSE Politics

HNC Social Science Politics B

Analysing The British Political System

7470844

Outcome 3

Alex Leckie

Langside College Glasgow

The Lords Reform

Following the recommendations of The Royal commission led by Lord Wakem which was tasked with looking at Lords Reform. The Labour government on the 7th February 2001 published a white paper for Lords reform. "Complementing and enhancing, not usurping the House of Commons," was the published aim of the reform.

The main proposals of the governments white paper are;

Remaining 92 hereditary peers to go.

No seats in the Lords for new Life Peers.

Reduce the size of the Lords from just over 700 to 600.

Twenty per cent of peers (120 in total) to be directly elected.

One hundred and twenty peers to be appointed by independent commission as cross-benchers

Reduce the number of Church of England bishops from 26 to 16.

At least 12 Law Lords.

Fifty five per cent of peers - 332 in total - to be nominated by each political party, according to its share of the General Election vote.

Minimum of 30 per cent women.

Powers

Remove the Lords' power to block delegated legislation. They will only be allowed to delay for three months.

No other change in the balance of power between the Lords and the Commons.

Many see the Labour proposals as making the Lords an inactive house with no powers to restrain the House of Commons and thus give Tony Blair the effective presidency of Great Britain as his style of government is often referred to. “Presidentialism on this scale is neither smart nor right. It is not smart because it can produce bad decisions, debauch the authority of other ministers and, if things go wrong, drag the whole enterprise down. A grown-up country deserves grown-up government, with openness and collegiality as its hallmarks. The way Mr Blair does things right now is getting to be a bit scary.” (The Gaurdian October 6, 2001)

The Conservatives' Proposals

In mid-January 2002, the Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith finally produced his own party's proposals on reforming the Lords.

The Conservatives now propose:

- A new name: the Senate

- To halve the number of members to 300

- 60 members to be appointed independently

- 240 members to be directly elected, for 15-year terms

The party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, took personal charge of publicising the new policy. "Despite its often immense contribution to our national life," he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph "I am convinced that we now need a new upper chamber, a smaller and, overwhelmingly, an elected one."

The Tories also believe that the Lords should have increased power of scrutiny and amendment of legislation.

The Euro.

Labour is in favour of entry into the single currency even though public opinion is by a huge majority against it. To try and sway public opinion Labour has proposed that five tests must be met before a referendum can be held and entry into the single European currency can then be achieved. The five tests are;

Better for jobs

Better for investment

Better for the City

Flexible labour markets

Economic cycles compatible

Conservative Policies on the Euro are at best divided. The leadership through Ian Duncan-Smith are against entry; however there is much support for entry among conservative M.P.s. Even following a referendum the Tories would still fight to at least delay entry. This view may prove to be popular with the voting public who in general do not wish entry.

Civil Service Reform

The Government's approach to the release of official information was set out in their General Election Manifesto (New Labour Because Britain Deserves Better - April 1997):

“Labour is committed to the democratic renewal of our country through decentralisation and the elimination of excessive Government secrecy.

Unnecessary secrecy in Government leads to arrogance in Government and defective policy decisions. We are pledged to a Freedom of Information Act, leading to more open Government.”

Now 5 years later the government are just as committed to the reform of the civil service. The reform and modernisation of the public services is the ...

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The Government's approach to the release of official information was set out in their General Election Manifesto (New Labour Because Britain Deserves Better - April 1997):

“Labour is committed to the democratic renewal of our country through decentralisation and the elimination of excessive Government secrecy.

Unnecessary secrecy in Government leads to arrogance in Government and defective policy decisions. We are pledged to a Freedom of Information Act, leading to more open Government.”

Now 5 years later the government are just as committed to the reform of the civil service. The reform and modernisation of the public services is the Government’s top priority. To strengthen the capacity of Whitehall to deliver the Government's key objectives, the Prime Minister has established a Delivery Unit based in the Cabinet Office. The new Unit reports to the Prime Minister under the day-to-day supervision of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Lord Macdonald. It is headed by the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser on Delivery, Professor Michael Barber, who is based in No.10 Downing Street. The role of the Unit is to ensure that the Government achieves its delivery priorities during this Parliament across the key areas of public service: health, education, crime and asylum, and transport. The Unit’s work is carried out by a team of staff with practical experience of delivery, drawn from the public and private sectors.

Also assisting in the civil service reform is the Office of Public Service Reform (OPSR), the role of OPSR is to support the Prime Minister and government departments in carrying forward the reform of public services.

The work of OPSR is underpinned by the Prime Minister's 4 Principles of public services reform. The purpose of these principles is to deliver public services designed around the needs of their customers. They are:

Standards and accountability - a national framework of standards and accountability.
Devolution - to the front-line, allowing greater freedom and innovation so that local services develop as users want.
Flexibility - so that local organisations and their staff are better able to provide modern public services.
Choice - more choice for the pupil, patient, or customer and ability, if provision is poor, to have an alternative provider.

It is certainly worth noting that these groups report directly to the Prime Minister and is seen by some as yet another method for Blair to run the whole country single handed by having the civil service overlooked by political appointees rather than unbiased professionals.

Conservatives and Civil Service Reform

This view is certainly shared by most conservative supporters and indeed the union representing a majority of Whitehall employees has support from the conservative party in calling for a Civil Service Act that will "establish clear principles, for this and future governments, which define the role of the civil service and clarify the boundaries between it and elected governments". The First Divisions’ Motion to TUC Delegates (Sept 2001)

Future Governance of Scotland

The SNP are committed to the Independence of Scotland. They propose Scotland being a totally independent nation with equal rights and offering equal co-operation as every other Nation in the European Union.

This independence would see Scotland no longer being controlled by Westminster but rather being an individual entity in the growing European Union and as such the relationship with the English parliament would be the same as any other European country.

Labour and Scottish Governance.

Labour were and are supporters of Devolution. Devolution is the transfer of powers from a central body to subordinate regional bodies. The UK Parliament at Westminster has devolved different powers to the Scottish Parliament. The 1998 Scotland Act provided "for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament". Under the terms of the Act, the Scottish Parliament is able to pass laws affecting Scotland covering a range of issues. The Act also gives the Scottish Parliament the power to raise or lower the basic rate of income tax by up to 3 pence in the pound. Some of the issues devolved to the Scottish Parliament include Education, Health (including the NHS in Scotland), Agriculture and Justice. All the issues on which the Scottish Parliament can pass legislation are known as "devolved matters".

The Scotland Act also specifies certain issues on which the Scottish Parliament cannot pass legislation. These are known as "reserved matters". Reserved matters include Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security.

Scotland is still governed in these matters by Westminster.

Political Parties

The political party system is an essential element in the working of the British constitution. The present system depends upon the existence of organized political parties, each of which presents its policies to the electorate for approval. The parties are not registered or formally recognized in law, but in practice most candidates in elections, and almost all winning candidates, belong to one of the main parties.

Since 1945, either the Conservative Party, whose origins go back to the eighteenth century, or the Labour Party, which emerged in the last decade of the nineteenth century, has held power. A new party - the Liberal Democrats - was formed in 1988 when the Liberal Party, which traced its origins to the eighteenth century, merged with the Social Democratic Party (formed in 1981). These three parties accounted for over 90% of the winning candidates in general elections held in 1992.

Other parties include two nationalist parties, Plaid Cymru (founded in Wales in 1925) and the Scottish National Party (founded in 1934). Since 1945 eight general elections have been won by the Conservative Party and six by the Labour Party; the great majority of members of the House of Commons have belonged to one of these two parties.

The party which wins most seats, although not necessarily the most votes, at a general election, or which has the support of a majority of members in the House of Commons, usually forms the Government. By tradition, the leader of the majority party is asked by the Sovereign to form a government. About 100 of its members in the House of Commons and the House of Lords receive ministerial appointments, including appointment to the Cabinet on the advice of the Prime Minister. The largest minority party becomes the official Opposition, with its own leader and 'shadow cabinet'.

The Party System in Parliament
Leaders of the Government and Opposition sit on the front benches on either side of the Commons chamber with their supporters, the backbenchers, sitting behind them. Similar arrangements for the parties also apply to the House of Lords; however, Lords who do not wish to be associated with any political party may sit on the 'cross benches'.

The effectiveness of the party system in Parliament rests largely on the relationship between the Government and the opposition parties. Depending on the relative strengths of the parties in the House of Commons, the Opposition may seek to overthrow the Government by defeating it in a vote on a 'matter of confidence'. In general, however, its aims are:

1. To contribute to the formulation of policy and legislation by constructive criticism;
2. To oppose the government proposals it considers objectionable; to seek amendments to government Bills; and
3. To put forward its own policies in order to improve its chances of winning the next general election.

The Opposition performs this role both by debating issues and putting questions on the floor of both Houses and through the committee system.

The Leaders of the two Houses are responsible for enabling the Houses to debate matters about which they are concerned.

Outside Parliament, party control is exercised by the national and local organizations. Parties are organized at parliamentary constituency level and also contest local government elections. Inside Parliament, party control is exercised by the Chief Whips and their assistants, who are chosen within the party. Their duties include keeping members informed of forthcoming parliamentary business, maintaining the party's voting strength by ensuring members attend important debates, and passing on to the party leadership the opinions of the backbench members.

The Whips indicate the importance their party attaches to a vote on a particular issue by underlining items of business once, twice or three times on the notice sent to MPs. In the Commons, failure to comply with a 'three-line whip', the most important, is usually seen as a rebellion against the party. Party discipline tends to be less strong in the Lords than in the Commons, since Lords have less hope of high office and no need of party support in elections.

Voting Behaviour

There are 2 broad types of explanations for trends in voting behaviour

The Sociological Model

Now to be treated carefully as it is very dated. Much research that followed this model was conducted in the 1950’s and 60’s, although it is useful in explaining the changes that have taken place since. It was based upon the assumption that social changes shape the way voters identify with particular parties. An individual’s political attitudes and values are underpinned by their perception of their place in society. The party with whom they identify shapes their policy preference i.e. a voter would decide that because they identify with the Labour Party, then they feel that development of the Welfare State is a desirable policy to pursue.

As a result party identification is stable and consistent, reflecting the enduring social divisions that are passed on from one generation to the next through the process of ‘political socialisation’. Given this model, social class (which at the time was stable and predictable) and parental loyalties would be the best predictor of an individuals voting behaviour.

Change in voting behaviour will occur if –

Party identification is not successfully transmitted from parents to children.

Children are socially mobile

There is a major social or economic upheaval which affects the social divisions in society, such as embourgeisement as seen in recent years.

The Policy Preference Model

Sometimes known as the ‘Rational Man’ model since voters are assumed to be rational and informed individuals who have preferred policy positions. Voters consequently vote for the party that offers them the best deal from their point of view. Change rather than stability becomes the norm with voters regularly switching allegiances between elections. This is particularly likely if a new party emerges, or an old party changes its policies to become nearer their interests than the previously supported party.

These two positions are not mutually exclusive and a realistic and acceptable explanation will inevitably be ‘a bit of both’. The Policy Preference model does not exclude the sociological model, neglecting the influence of social divisions but rather downgrading their importance as the determinants of voting behaviour.

Deviant voting refers to the inclination of some sections of a particular social group, usually a social class, to vote against the party for whom you expect them to vote. It usually refers to the significant minority of Working Class people who consistently vote Conservative, but could also describe (the smaller minority of) Middle class people who vote Labour. It was, in the past, a useful and relevant device to help understand the stability of class based voting patterns.

The traditional debate surrounding voting behaviour concerns this link between social class and voting patterns. Traditionally, we saw approximately one third of the working class vote Conservative, against what would have been the traditional view that working class 'ought' to vote Labour due to their history of allegiance to the Trades Unions and primary concern for equality and welfare issues. This working class Conservative vote effectively was necessary for the Conservative party to get elected at all because there were (and still are) more working class voters.

Voting Behaviour and the 1997 and 2001 Elections

The Labour party, led by Tony Blair, secured a massive victory, with a majority of 179 seats in 1997 and followed this up in 2001 with an equally emphatic victory (by 168). This was the first time a Labour Government had been re-elected with a comfortable working majority. This may have been due to working class Conservatism

The 'distinctiveness' of the parties and their policies is and has been for the past ten years or so, certainly less than it was in the days of 'Old' Labour and the Thatcherite Conservative Party.

The social divisions have also become blurred - more so that in the days when social classes were clearly distinguishable, particularly in the 1950's and 60's.

The Labour Party, having suffered successive defeats in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992 had appeared to be unelectable especially if it had continued to adopt the 'Old Labour' principles of high taxation of the Middle Classes, strong links with the Trades Unions, against Council House sales etc. It had to move to the middle ground to attract the support of the middle classes. This it did to the extent that Labour were able to win in places such as Wimbledon and Putney, affluent middle class suburban areas.

With there being more of a convergence towards the middle in both social terms and on the part of the political parties, people now are likely to be less committed to their voting behaviour. People will be more willing to switch allegiances if there is 'less distance to travel'. It would have been difficult for a Thatcherite to switch to voting for old Labour, but not so for a moderate Conservative to support Tony Blair.