Paper 1 UK Politics · Political parties (spec P1.2)

Political parties · Notes

Sub-topic lookup view of the walk-through.

About these notes. This is the sub-topic lookup version. For the narrative scrollytelling lesson with the function, party-system and minor-party figures, use the Walk-through. For active recall, use the MCQ Quiz. The established parties in depth live in the Major Party Divisions pack, and the full minor parties 30-marker lives in the predicted Q2(a) pack. The cards below cover the functions, funding, the established parties in brief, the party system debate, the minor parties and the exam method.

Likely exam angles. The 30-marker lands on one of three debates: whether the UK is now a multi-party system (the post-2024 framing question); whether party funding should be reformed (the 2023 Q2b territory); or whether minor parties are more significant than ever (the predicted 2026 question). Each one is covered in the cards below.

1. The functions of parties - and the test on each

Spec point P1.2.1.a. Five functions, each with a live debate about how well parties still perform it:

Function	What it means	The test
Representation	Bundling interests into programmes voters choose between; the winner claims a mandate for its manifesto.	The two main parties' combined 2024 vote share fell to around 57% - the lowest in modern history.
Participation	Membership, campaigning, leadership votes.	Members chose Truss over Sunak in 2022 (81,326 to 60,399) - real power, but the candidate MPs had rejected.
Recruitment	Selecting candidates, building careers, supplying every PM.	Every PM since 1945 from the two main parties - but five Conservative PMs in eight years, three removed by their own party.
Policy	Writing the manifesto that defines the mandate.	UKIP 2015: 12.6%, one seat - and the EU referendum forced onto the agenda from outside.
Governing	Winner governs; second party becomes the official Opposition with Short money and opposition days.	Coalition 2010-15 and the DUP deal 2017 - FPTP no longer guarantees single-party rule (2022 mocks MS).

2. Party funding - sources, rules and the reform debate

The sources

Membership fees and small donations.
Large private donations - wealthy individuals, businesses, trade unions.
Short money (opposition support in the Commons) and Cranborne money (the Lords equivalent), plus state grants for policy development work.

The rules

PPERA 2000 (updated 2009) caps campaign spending, requires donations to be declared and created the Electoral Commission. Proposals to cap individual donations or introduce state funding have been reviewed but never legislated.

The debate (2023 Pearson mark scheme)

Reform - transparency: funding is never clear before an election; full sources are revealed only afterwards. Voters should know who financed the party they vote for.
Reform - donor influence: a clear correlation between giving funds and receiving personal benefits - the mark scheme calls it little more than basic bribery to get titles or policy options.
Reform - two-party advantage: national campaigns cost millions that small and emerging parties cannot amass; the big two have a vested interest in the status quo, which limits political choice and fair competition.
Against - PPERA works: the Act's caps and transparency provide enough safeguards; further reform is unnecessary.
Against - state funding costs: it would cost the taxpayer, require cuts elsewhere and a vast framework to decide who gets what - every bit as problematic as the current system.
Against - connection: parties funded by members and donors stay connected to wider society; state funding may lead to complacency.

The line to argue. Reform the system - caps and pre-election transparency first - while conceding that full state funding raises problems of its own. The worked essay is at the end of the walk-through.

3. The established parties - the essentials

Conservative Party: founded 1834 (Peel, then Disraeli's One Nation tradition). The modern party carries two main traditions - One Nation paternalism and the Thatcherite New Right - and produced five Prime Ministers between 2016 and 2024 amid the deepest divisions in its modern history, followed by a wave of MP defections to Reform UK.
Labour Party: founded 1900 out of the labour movement (the Labour Representation Committee, taking the Labour name in 1906). The standing division is Old Labour (social democracy) against New Labour (Third Way) - which the 2025 paper tested directly.
Liberal Democrats: formed by the 1988 merger of the Liberal Party and the SDP. Carried classical and modern liberal traditions into coalition in 2010-15, collapsed in 2015, and rebuilt to 72 seats in 2024 on concentrated southern support.

Go deeper. Factions, leadership crises, the ERG, the 2019 whip removals, Partygate, the Truss episode and the Reform defection wave are all in the major party divisions pack - cross-linked, not repeated here.

4. The party system debate

P1.2.4.a. The 2022 mocks mark scheme question - evaluate the view that the UK does not have a multi-party system - supplies both columns:

The two-party case

The electoral system works in the interests of two parties; vast numbers of safe seats lock the pattern in.
Prime Ministers and governments have come from only two parties since 1945.
From 1979-97 and 1997-2010 one party dominated the Commons outright.
The two main parties' finance, staff and organisational capacity cannot be replicated by challengers.
After 2024, Labour and the Conservatives still held 532 of 650 seats - over 80%.

The multi-party case

Two of the four governments before 2024 needed other parties: the 2010-15 coalition and the 2017 DUP confidence and supply deal.
The devolved regions run multi-party systems - produced, per the mark scheme, by their different voting systems.
The big issues - Brexit, Scottish independence, the environment - are forged by other parties.
The SNP's breakthrough showed constitutional questions cannot be controlled by the big two.

The 2024 evidence set. Labour 33.7% / 411 seats / majority 174; Conservatives 23.7% / 121; Lib Dems 12.2% / 72; Reform UK 14.3% / 5; Greens 6.7% / 4; SNP 2.5% / 9. The most multi-party vote in modern history, converted into a single-party landslide. The strong line: the UK is functionally multi-party masked by a two-party seat distribution - FPTP keeps the label alive.

5. The minor parties - cases and limits

Party	The record	What it proves
SNP	Every Holyrood election won 2007-24; 56 of 59 Westminster seats in 2015; collapsed to 9 in 2024.	A minor party can become a governing party - and collapse. Put independence and the constitutional question on the national agenda.
Reform UK	Founded 2018 as the Brexit Party; 14.3% and 5 seats in 2024; Conservative defections - Anderson (2024), Kruger (2025), Jenrick (2026).	Influence through a rival: reshaping the Conservative right without office. And the sharpest FPTP distortion case.
Greens	6.7% and 4 seats in 2024 (Denyer, Ramsay, Berry, Chowns) - their largest haul; ministerial office held in the Scottish Government.	Breakthrough under FPTP is possible with concentrated targeting; agenda influence on Labour and Lib Dem environment policy.
Lib Dems	23% and 57 seats in 2010, then coalition; 72 seats on 12.2% in 2024.	The 2010-15 coalition - a third party setting policy in office - is unique in postwar Britain. 2024 shows concentrated support converting.
UKIP	Founded 1993; 12.6% and one seat in 2015.	Pure agenda-setting: the 2024 mark scheme records the EU referendum was held to thwart UKIP.

The limits

No minor party has formed a government since 1922; government formation remains a Labour-or-Conservative question.
The 2010-15 coalition is the only postwar episode of minor-party office at Westminster.
FPTP under-rewards minor parties regardless of vote share - 14.3% for 5 seats in 2024.

The judging line. Significance has grown most where the rules permit it - devolved chambers under PR, referendums, the agenda of the major parties - and least where FPTP suppresses it, the Commons seat count. The full 30-marker is worked in the predicted minor parties pack.

6. Party success and failure - the factors

P1.2.4.b asks why parties succeed or fail, including debates on the influence of the media. The working factor list:

Leadership: the sharpest single factor - the Conservative leadership churn of 2016-24 against Labour's discipline into 2024.
Unity: divided parties lose - the 2023 paper tested Conservative divisions over Europe directly, and the 2025 paper tested Labour's Old-versus-New divide.
The electoral system: FPTP rewards concentrated support (Lib Dems 2024) and punishes spread support (Reform 2024).
Funding and organisation: national campaigns cost millions - the structural advantage of the big two.
The media: press backing, broadcast performance and social media reach - covered in depth in the media pack and the voting behaviour pack.

7. Exam method - how the 30-marker is scored

Marks: 30, split AO1 10 / AO2 10 / AO3 10. The topic appears at Q1 (source) or Q2 (essay).
Two views, weighed. Balance means both views are weighed - not that the answer fence-sits. A one-sided answer is capped at Level 2.
Themes, not parties. Structure by debate - function, system, funding, significance - using the parties as evidence inside each theme. A party-by-party inventory is the structure examiners mark down.
Pair the points. Each paragraph pairs an argument with its opposing argument and ends with an interim judgement on your side.
Read every word. Words like "now" and "more significant than thirty years ago" set the comparison the answer must run.
Use post-2024 evidence. Contemporary examples are preferred, and for 2026 sittings the 2024 election material is essential.
Conclusions justify. Answer the question with reasons; do not list the paragraph themes again.

Questions to plan. 2022 mocks Q1a: does the UK have a multi-party system? 2023 Q2b territory: should party funding be reformed? Predicted 2026 Q2a: minor parties more significant than thirty years ago? A worked 30-mark answer on funding reform is at the end of the walk-through.

📜 Walk-throughThe narrative scrollytelling lesson with figures, mini-quizzes and the worked essay. 🧠 MCQ quiz15 questions across functions, funding, the party system and the minor parties. 🏛️ Major party divisions packConservative and Labour factions and the 2010-24 story. 📈 Minor parties predicted packThe full minor-party significance 30-marker.