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Topic 1) Democracy and Participation

Direct Democracy

Voting turnout in the 2016 EU referendum=72.2%
Voting turnout in 2014 Scottish independence referendum- 84.6%
Protests after EU referendum- Over one million participants (could potentially be an argument against direct democracy)
2015 Recall of MPs Act- successfully used to remove: Fiona Onasanya and Christopher Davies- Ian Paisley Jr's petition was unsuccessful (signed by 9.4% of constituents)
7.6% voting increase for the 2016 EU Referendum

Representative Democracy

London 2021 mayoral election turnout - 19.1%
2001 General Election turnout- 59.4%
2017 General Election turnout- 68.8%
In 2019- The Liberal Democrats received 19% of seats yet only 2% of votes (against representative democracy)

Wider Franchise and debates over suffrage

Over 89% of 16-17 year olds registered for the Scottish independence referendum
The Elections Act 2022- New requirement for Voter ID which could suppress voter turnout, particularly in areas where people have less authenticated ID- poorer areas can't afford to travel so won't have passports/licences and are less likely to vote Conservative
Measures proposed to weaken the independence of the electoral commission which supervises elections and investigates breaches of electoral law

Pressure groups and other influences

Pressure groups

Civil Disobedience

In 2023, Just Stop Oil abandons disruptive climate protests in the UK after being shamed by Tory Government
Fathers4Justice had to abandon methods of civil disobedience such as throwing purple flour on Tony Blair during a Commons meeting-> failed to achieve significant change
Don't Pay UK (grassroots)- In response to the Cost of Living Crisis (echoes Anti-Poll Tax Alliance) and 192,000 people signed up for the campaign
Police, Crime and Sentencing Act 2022- Strengthens police power to tackle disruptive protests.
77% of junior doctors voted to strike in 2023

Inside Pressure groups

CBI (Confederation of British Industry)- key insider group- In 2022 Sunak made a speech at the CBI conference- CBI analysed the details of the 2022 Austin Statement- The CBI responded to the speech by requesting to hear details of measures used to achieve Sunaks goals.
BMA- Lobbied policymakers through direct meetings, parliamentary briefings and media work to ensure the Health and Care Act 2022 addressed their concerns

Outside Pressure groups

38 Degrees- uses social media to effect change and has 2.5 million members
38 Degrees has been successful in stopping the privatisation of England's forests + their website allows members to quickly choose and advocate for their own campaign
Green Peace- Influenced the decision by Michael Gove to ban bee-harming pesticides however: this ban was repealed in 2023
Marcus Rashford worked with "Fare Share" on the #MakeTheUTurn and convinced the government to provide families in England with vouchers for free school meals during summer for pupils in need

Think Tanks

Liz Truss- In 2022 had important links with the neo-liberal think tank "Institute of Economic Affairs"- according to the head of IEA- Liz had spoken at more of its events than any other politician over the past 12 years
Truss' Senior special advisor, Ruth Porter was the communications director at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
Truss' Political secretary, Sophie Jarvis was head of government affairs at the Adam Smith Institute
IEA had a significant influence on Brexit- for example in the UK also leaving the EU single market
Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed the "fiscal hole" after the 2022 mini budget- important as the government wouldn't publish broadcasts by the independent office of budget responsibility

Lobbying

2021 Greensill Scandal- Cameron lobbied Rishi Sunak Via text message on behalf of the company "Greensill" who paid him $10 million over the course of two and a half years of part-time work- accused of exploiting contacts for his own benefit
Owen Patterson left the Commons after November 2021 after being accused of breaking lobbying rules
Bernie Ecclestone Affair

Rights in context

Supreme Court declared the government 2004 Civil Partnership Act incompatible with HRA in 2018- government amended the act in 2019
ECHR rules in 2005 in the case of John Hirst that a blanket ban on allowing prisoners to vote was incompatible with ECHR - allowed 500 prisoners to take legal action through the ECHR
However- two convicted murderers who argued that the ECHR gave them the right to vote had their appeals dismissed by the S.C in Westminster in 2013
Freedom of Information Act 2000- allowed the public to access the information of public bodies in the name of transparency and following expense scandals
In 2013 the Court of Appeal upheld a legal challenge by five disabled people over the decision to abolish the independent living allowance
In the case of Abu Qatada- his deportation to Jordon was blocked due to the belief that the evidence obtained under torture would be used against him- after 10 years he was eventually deported with the promise of Jordon government to not use the evidence that was obtained under torture
Investigatory Powers Act 2016- Allows for greater state surveillance in Britain- with the police given new powers to collect data from devices and requires web and phone companies to store everyone's web browsing histories for months and give unprecedented access to the data to police
2022 Police Crime and Sentencing bill- criminalises one-person protests, gives police power to impose on noisy protests, creates "buffer" around parliament
2023 public order bill- further limits the right to protest

Topic 2) Political parties

2015- Conservatives won 37% of the electorate but 51% of the seats
2015- The Green Party won one million votes yet only 1 seat
2015- UKIP won 12.6% of the vote (influenced by the demand for Brexit)
2017- UKIP only won 1.8% of the vote
2019- Johnson elected Party leader and consequently PM by 1% of the population (100,000 members)
Housing Minister- Robert Genrick rushed through approval for a development project to satisfy Tory Donor Richard Desmond- saved him millions
David Cameron- left in 2016 yet before rewarded loyal supporters with peerages in HOL
Expense scandal
Starmer in 2020 questioned the government on the algorithm used for A-level grades during the pandemic
Labour only lost one vote in 10 years
1998- Bernie Ecclestone donates £1 million to the Labour Party- attempted to exempt Formula 1 from the ban of tobacco sponsorship
2017- Labour and Conservative received the highest vote share since 1979
2017- Labour+Conservative 82.3% of the vote share
Political parties reported donations of £51 million in 2022
In 2022- Conservatives received £4,860,000
In 2022- Labour received £7,220,000
In 2022- LibDems received £1,432,000
In 2022- The Green Party received £172,000
The British public thinks a lack of trust in politicians and the government is one of the top five issues facing the government
In 2022- Keir Starmer promised to restore trust in government - Johnson did the same in 2019
After 2015- The LibDems vote share had fallen sharply to just 8%

Topic 3) Electoral Systems

2011 AV referendum: Turnout 42.2% Votes against AV 67.9%
2015- Greens = 1 seat/1 million votes
Voter turnout in 2001 GE=59.4%
In 2005- Labour voted in with 35.3% of the popular vote
Brexit referendum- Votes to leave=51.9% Votes to remain=48.1%
2014 Scottish Independence referendum- Turnout=84.6% Votes to remain in the UK=55%
2021 Scottish Parliament Election- Voting turnout=63.5%
2017 General Election- Voter Turnout=68.8%
Labour and Conservative- high vote share- 82.3%
2015 General Election- Conservatives won 37% of the vote yet 51% of the seats
In 2019- The conservatives won 365/650 seats despite only receiving 43.6%
2022 Elections Act- compulsory ID needed to vote + removed use of SV in mayoral and police and crime commissioners elections

Topic 4) Voting behaviour and the media

Long term factors:

Age:

In 2017 General election: 64% of 18-24 year olds voted for the Labour Party
61% of 65+ voted for the Conservative Party
In the EU referendum: 64% of voters aged 18-24 years old voted to remain in the EU
61% of voters aged 65+ voted to leave the EU
In 2019: 56% of 18-24-year-olds voted labour- supported from all ages under 39
2019- 57% of 60-69 y olds voted conservative in 2019

Social Class:

In 1997 Blair increased his vote share in all class categories
In 1997- 37% of AB voters voted Labour
In 1979- 41% of C2 (skilled manual) voted for the conservatives
In 2017- 48% of voters in the AB voted conservative
In 2017- 32% of AB voters voted Labour
In 2015- 36% of AB voters voted Labour
In 2019- 36% of AB voters voted Labour
In 2019- C2 voters were most likely to vote conservative (49%) DE (47%) AB (42%)
Thatcher in 1979 worked hard to get votes of housewives
1979- C2 workers abandoned labour
In 2019- 43% of those with higher education voted for labour

Region:

In the 2019 General Election: 57.4% of people in south east of England voted for the Conservative Party
Wales- typical labour stronghold- but in 2019 Labour lost 6 seats in wales
North East- 48.2% voted Labour

Short-term factors:

Media:

The Sun has backed every winner since 1979
In 1997- The Sun backed the Labour Party
1992- "It's The Sun Wot Won It"- allowed for an unexpected Conservative victory
2017 General Election- Increased use of social media as a campaign tool
Blair made use of "spinning" in 1997
1997 saw the first use of TV debates
2017- Labour still scored highly despite constant negative press about Corbyn
2017- May still won despite being seen as "May bot" with a lack of TV presence
Opinion polls showed Callaghan was a popular candidate in 1979
Conservatives divided over the EU in 1997 whilst labour was united around Blair's third way

Salient issues:

Conservatives made use of the deteriorating economic situation- strikes, inflation etc "Crisis what crisis"
Labour made use of conservatives' failing economic policies after black Wednesday in 1997
Brexit was a divisive issue- Conservatives lost votes by AB voters who wanted to punish them for leaving the EU
2017- Conservatives had to U-turn on "dementia tax"
2019- Labour's copious manifesto pledges led to questions on affordability
2019- 43% of former labour supporters based voters in leadership

The campaign:

1997- Tony Blair- charismatic, young and enthusiastic
2017- Corbyn took advantage of media and in-person events to win the votes of younger people
2017 Labour Manifesto- appealing to younger voters+dropped socialist policies such as nationalisation
2017 Conservative Manifesto- devised by policy advisors and lacked an enthusiastic response
2017- Conservative Campaign- uninspiring
1979- Thatcher softened her voice+appealed to stay-at-home mums
"Labour isn't working" slogans- appealed to the working class struggling with the economic situation.

Sample Answer for Politics evidence bank: Paper 1