Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Hastings.

I'm really pleased to be able to be teaching you today.

Today's lesson is called What is a Political Party and What do They Stand for? And it comes from the unit, What are the Different Ways We Can Become Involved in Politics? We've got lots to get through.

There's quite a lot of learning to take place, and I'm sure that together we are gonna have fun and learn lots of new things.

Good luck.

So the outcome for today's lesson is that by the end of the lesson, you will be able to explain the purpose of political party and analyse the role they play in UK politics.

The keywords for today's lesson are political party, an organised group of people who share similar beliefs and goals about how society should be run.

Manifesto, a document published by a person or group of people, such as a political party or government, stating what their aims and policies are.

And political spectrum, the concept that political beliefs and ideologies are on a continuum from left wing to right wing.

In today's lesson, we are going to be looking at three learning cycles.

First learning cycle is what is a political party? Second one, what do the main UK political party stand for? And in the third learning cycle, what is the role of smaller political parties? So let's get on with the first learning cycle, what is a political party? A political party is an organised body that seeks to win government power by putting up candidates for election and mobilising popular support.

It is a group of like-minded individuals who seek to realise their shared goals by securing election to public office.

That could be to get into government, into parliament by winning seats or maybe even local government or in one of the devolved assemblies and parliaments.

For the main parties, and we'll talk a little bit more later about which are the considered the main parties, their ultimate goal is to win the greatest number of seats in a general election and therefore get into government and have the prime minister from their party.

Parties will write policies on a range of issues.

The key functions of a political party are to run in elections.

They nominate candidates in elections, issue a manifesto to outline their policies and goals and encourage voter participation to increase voter turnout.

So the manifesto is a set of policies that they would want to enact if they won the election and got the mandate to put that manifesto into action.

Secondly, they want to form a government.

They aim to gain a majority of seats to form a government and then carry out their manifesto.

They recruit and select leaders, training party members for leadership, running for election, campaigning and forming a government.

Political party represents the electorate.

Candidates are selected to represent the views and interests of their constituents.

And they formulate policies, they produce a manifesto to show the policies they would carry out if they won the election.

So what happens when political parties are operating effectively? So if the political parties are working well, what happens? Well, elections become competitive.

There's a plurality.

They offer voters more choice.

Party membership grows showing strong public support.

Minority interests are represented leading to diverse viewpoints.

Political leaders demonstrate strong leadership and vision.

And there is lively political debate between parties, enriching democracy.

Voters have clear options as parties offer distinct policies.

So they're very different from each other.

If a political party is not operating effectively, then the opposite of these outcomes may occur.

So for example, elections would be uncompetitive, a party's membership might shrink, and political leaders, they might not be very effective or very good.

So let's check our understanding of what we learned so far.

Which of the following statements are true about the key functions of a political party? Is it A, to issue a manifesto, informing people how to vote and encouraging people to turn out and vote, B, to gain a majority of seats so they can form a government and carry out their manifesto, C, to run elections of a few distinct choices between parties, or D to recruit and select leaders to prepare people for leadership roles? So which of those statements are true about the key functions of a political party? So the correct answers are A, B, and D with C being incorrect.

So those are the functions of the political parties, A, B and D.

Well done if got those right.

One way of categorising a political party is using a political spectrum.

The political spectrum runs from left to right and it is a way of representing the different political beliefs on a scale.

It helps show where parties and ideology stand on issues like government control, economic policies and social values.

It is a continuum that defines political beliefs from left wing to right wing.

So the political spectrum runs from left wing to right wing.

So let's have a look at some of the ideas associated with each of those sides of the political spectrum.

So the left wing, the general principles are greater state intervention.

So that would mean the government and laws become more involved in people's lives.

Social equality, so that would be equality between different groups of people, gender, race, et cetera.

And they believe in the protection of collective rights.

So these are the rights of groups within society rather than the rights of the individual.

Greater industry regulation.

And their key policies might include supporting trade unions.

So trade unions are set up to support workers' rights.

Progressive taxation, that would mean taxing the rich over the less wealthy.

And welfare support for disadvantaged people.

On the right wing, the general principles are strong policies on law and order.

So security and defence are really important.

Free market economics, so that means less state intervention in the economy.

Protecting individual rights.

And their key policies might include supporting capitalism and businesses, privatisation of industries, so private ownership, and low taxes, generally.

What I'd like you to do to check your understanding is to circle the correct answers that are general principles of key policies of the left wing of the political spectrum.

Greater state intervention, free market economics, progressive taxation, strong policies on law and order, privatisation, and social equality.

So which are the correct answers for the left wing of the political spectrum? So the key policies and principles of the left wing are greater state intervention, progressive taxation and social equality.

So well done if you've got those right.

For your practise task for this learning cycle, what I would like you to do is to create a mind map of the features of a political party.

So you've got a political party in the middle of your mind map, and then I've put, for example, six stems coming out of my mind map.

And the aim is to write at least six features of a political party.

If you could pause the video and complete that task now, please.

So well done for completing that task.

I asked you to create a mind map of the key features of a political party.

Your completed map may have included the following: organised body, like-minded individuals, right manifestos, could be left or right wing on the political spectrum, run in elections, formulate policy, select and recruit candidates, represent the electorate, form a government.

And as you can see here, I have got more than six, but I did ask you to write at least six, so well done if you managed to do that.

Okay, onto our second learning cycle in today's lesson.

So the second learning cycle is what do the main UK political parties stand for? So it can be really difficult with all the information out there to actually know what each of the main political parties believe in and what their beliefs and policies are.

So let's take a little look.

So which political parties do you think are considered mainstream in the UK? Just pause the video and have a little chat with your learning partner.

Which of the parties might be considered mainstream? So you might have discussed that the mainstream political parties are Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrat.

They are often referred to as broad churches or catch-all parties, as they appeal to a wide range of voters.

These parties include members with varying views depending on where they sit on the political spectrum.

So for example, you might have within a political party, some people who are considered more right wing or more left wing than other people who also support that political party or are a member of that political party.

They might be more moving towards the centre of the political spectrum.

They often have large memberships, extensive resources, so staff and money, and a strong presence in government.

So let's check our understanding.

True or false, Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are all considered to be mainstream political parties.

Is that true or false? It is true.

They are broad churches made up of members of various different political shades and often have large memberships, extensive resources, and a strong presence in government.

So well done if you got that right.

So let's have a look at the Labour Party.

What does the Labour Party stand for? Their general beliefs include: increased social equality, greater government intervention in the economy, protection of collective rights, especially for workers and minority groups, support for a welfare system to tackle poverty, disadvantage, and provide universal services, possible nationalisation of key industries like energy and transport.

And their key policies from their 2024 election manifesto included: kickstart economic growth through economic stability, business partnerships and National Wealth Fund and a New Deal for working people.

Recruit 6,500 new teachers funded by removing private school tax breaks.

Reduce NHS waiting times with 40,000 extra appointments weekly.

And nationalise energy companies by creating Great British Energy.

Make Britain a clean energy leader, aiming for net zero emissions by 2030.

So those are just some of the key policies from their manifesto.

By no means is that all of them.

So what does the Conservative Party stand for? Their general beliefs include individual rights, lower taxes, their right to own property, support for free markets and capitalism, limited state intervention, especially in the economy, emphasis on security law and order, crime and punishment.

Safeguard traditional institutions such as the church and the monarchy.

And the key policies from their 2024 election manifesto included: recruit 8,000 new police officers and introduce facial recognition technology for better public safety.

Lower taxes to stimulate economic growth.

Abolish Stamp Duty for first time home buyers.

That's a tax on buying your house.

And expand Help to Buy.

So to enable people to own and buy their own houses or flats or apartments.

Increase funding for education and introduce National Service.

So National Service is something where when you are a certain age, for example 18, you'd be required to volunteer and do something to help the nation.

And invest in the NHS by recruiting 92,000 nurses and 28,000 new doctors.

And lastly, the Liberal Democrats is our last mainstream party.

So what does the Liberal Democrat party stand for? Their general beliefs include individual rights and freedoms, equality being a necessity for liberty.

So equality being really important to be truly free.

Checks and balances on the government to make sure that they are abiding by their rules and constitutionally are doing what they should be doing.

The decentralisation power to nations and regions in the UK.

So they call for further devolution.

An emphasis on human rights, they reject discrimination and prejudice.

The belief that the UK should work collaboratively with other countries, especially the EU.

And one thing that they've really focused on is the Brexit outcome.

The promotion of sustainability and environmental protections as well.

So key policies from their 2024 election manifesto included increasing spending on public funding through fair taxes, such as reversing the Conservatives tax for big banks.

Expressing a commitment to rejoin the European single market.

Increasing the early years pupil premium amount to a thousand pounds, and introducing a tutoring guarantee for children from low income families.

So that would help the most disadvantaged in their early years.

And extending voting rights to 16-year-olds and implementing proportional representation for electing MPs.

So they would have a more proportional system if they were able to pass that in law if they got into government.

So let's check our understanding because we've learned quite a lot in that last section.

I'd like you to match the political party to the policy from their 2024 election manifesto.

So you've got Labour Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat party.

And then A, lower taxes to stimulate economic growth.

B, nationalised energy companies by creating Great British energy, and C, extend voting rights to 16-year-olds.

So which of those matches the political party? So Labour Party would nationalise energy companies by creating Great British energy.

The Conservative Party would lower taxes to stimulate economic growth.

And the Liberal Democrat Party would extend voting rights to 16-year-olds.

So well done if you got that right.

So for this task, for the second learning cycle, what I'd like you to do is think back to what you learned about the political spectrum and the general principles and maybe some of the policies on that political spectrum and where would you place each of the mainstream political parties on that spectrum? And I'd like you to justify your position using at least one general belief and one 2024 manifesto promise for each party.

Pause the video whilst you complete that task.

Well done for completing that task.

So I asked you to place each of the mainstream political parties on the political spectrum.

Your completed political spectrum could look something like this.

On the left wing, the Labour Party more towards the left, a support for a welfare state to tackle poverty.

And from their manifesto in 2024, you might have put recruit 6,500 new teachers funded by removing private school tax breaks.

So that would be a quite a left wing policy.

Liberal Democrats sit to the left of the centre.

And in terms of their general principles, you might picked an emphasis on human rights and in their manifesto promise you might have picked commitment to rejoin the European single market.

And the Conservatives sit further to the right at the right wing of the political spectrum.

And you might have selected the right to own property as a general principle and from their 2024 manifesto, recruit 8,000 new police officers.

It's well done for completing that task.

I hope that it made you think quite hard about where they would sit on that political spectrum.

And obviously as we've already said, there will be Conservatives, for example, who sit somewhere along that side of the right wing, some further right, some more towards the centre and they're called sort of different things like for example, Conservatives more towards the centre might be known as One Nation Conservatives.

Whereas Conservatives more towards the right end might be called Libertarians.

So that's something worth bearing in mind and to be thinking about as well.

And similarly with the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, people sit within those different shades.

So onto our third learning cycle, what is the role of smaller political parties? So we've looked at the mainstream ones.

What about some of the smaller political parties, the ones that aren't considered so mainstream? In the 2019 general election, 70 political parties fielded candidates.

So we've looked at three, but that means that there were 67 other political parties that stood for election in the general election.

A number of independents, so people not belonging to a political party, candidates also stood for election.

Over 20 of these 70 political parties gained fewer than 500 votes.

Some of the smaller parties are better known smaller parties.

So can you name any of the smaller political parties? Have a discussion with your learning partner.

So the smaller political parties might be some of the national parties in the devolve nations.

So these parties focus on specific regions and may have different roles in Westminster and in their devolve government.

So they include the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, which is based in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein, also a Northern Ireland party, the Scottish National Party, the SNP, based in Scotland and Plaid Cymru based in Wales.

And then UK wide smaller parties include the Green Party of England and Wales.

The Green Party focuses on environmental issues, social justice and sustainability, advocating for policies to tackle climate change.

And Reform UK, which is a fairly new political party which focuses on democratic reform and advocating for stricter immigration controls.

So I'd like you just to fill in the missing words to check your understanding.

Plaid Cymru is a political party in where? The Scottish National Party is political party in Scotland.

The Democratic what party and Sinn Fein are political parties in Northern Ireland.

So Plaid Cymru is a political party in Wales.

Scottish National Party is a political party in Scotland.

The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein are political parties in Northern Ireland.

So why does smaller parties often struggle in a general election? The First-Past-The-Post system makes it difficult for smaller parties to win seats.

In the 2024 general election, the Green Party only won, well, they won, sorry, 6.

4% of the national vote, but they only gained four seats out of the 650 available.

They're often less well financed, which makes campaigning more challenging.

And they often have niche policies.

So for example, the Green Party are very focused on climate change rather than the broad range offered by the mainstream parties.

An example for Reform UK is that they made immigration their focus in the 2024 election campaign, but their other policies and ideas were perhaps less well known, so that became their real focus.

Despite this, smaller parties can have an impact on politics in the UK.

For example, their popular policies can be adopted by mainstream parties if they fear losing votes to them.

For example, the threat of UKIP, which is a political party that largely doesn't exist anymore, forced the Conservative Party to promise a referendum on EU membership in their 2015 election manifesto.

They divert votes away from major parties.

For example, in the 2019 general election, the SNP won a majority of the Scottish seats, 43, reducing the seat count for other parties.

And yet they very much focused on the Scottish seats that were available.

They didn't put candidates up for election in seats in England or Wales, for example.

Because they are a Scottish party, they're only focused on the Scottish seats.

Smaller parties can split the vote if their policies overlap with the mainstream party.

For example, the Green Party's environmental policies might split the vote with Labour or the Liberal Democrats who also support more greener policies.

Their vote share can lead to questions over the legitimacy of the election, due to First-Past-The-Post.

In the 2024 general election, Reform UK won 14.

3% of the national votes of the popular vote, but only won five seats, which equates to 0.

8% of the seats available.

So let's check our understanding.

I'd like you to look at the sentences and one word in each sentence is incorrect.

Find it and fix it.

The First-Past-The-Post system makes it easier for smaller parties to win seats.

In the 2024 general election, the Green Party won 6.

4% of the national vote, but only gain four seats.

Smaller parties often have more resources making campaigning more challenging.

Small parties often have niche policies rather than the narrow range offered by the mainstream parties.

For example, Reform UK made immigration their focus in the 2024 election campaign.

So find the word that is incorrect and fix it.

Okay, so in the first sentence, the First-Past-The-Post system makes it harder for smaller parties to win seats.

In the 2024 general election, the Green Party one 6.

4% of the national vote, but only gain four seats.

Second sentence, smaller parties often have less resources making campaigning more challenging.

And thirdly, smaller parties often have niche policies rather than the broad range offered by the mainstream parties.

For example, Reform UK made immigration their focus in the 2024 election campaign.

So well done if you identify correctly the incorrect words and you fixed them.

Okay, onto the practise task for the third learning cycle.

So Jun says, "Small political parties are pointless.

They have no impact on politics in the UK." Do you agree or disagree with Jun? I'd like you to write a response either agreeing or disagreeing with his opinion.

So pause the video whilst you complete that task please.

Okay, so if you agreed with Jun, you may have said; small parties have little impact on politics in the UK because the First-Past-The-Post system makes it difficult for them to gain seats in parliament.

They are often less well financed and are focused on a niche policy rather than the broader policies of the mainstream parties.

For example, Reform UK largely focuses on immigration.

If you disagreed with John saying that small part political parties are pointless, they have no impact on politics in the UK.

You may have said small parties play an important role in politics in the UK because they can divert votes away from mainstream parties, reducing their share of the vote.

Their vote share can lead to questions over the legitimacy of the election due to First-Past-The-Post.

Their popular policies may be adopted by the mainstream parties if they fear losing votes to them.

For example, the threat of UKIP forced the Conservative Party to promise a referendum on EU membership on their 2015 election manifesto.

So well done for completing that task, the final task of today's lesson.

So in summary, political parties are groups with similar beliefs, aiming to get elected and put their ideas into action.

The main UK parties are Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal Democrats, each with different ideas and priorities.

Smaller parties like Reform UK, Green Party, and SNP focus on specific issues or groups.

Smaller parties can influence decisions by forming coalitions or pushing bigger parties ideas.

Parties help voters choose based on policies with manifestos explaining their plans if elected.

So well done on completing today's lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting and have learned more about political parties, what they stand for, what their beliefs are, and hopefully that'll make you more informed voters of the future.