The role of parties
A competition to serve the public interest
For many people party politics is a turn-off. Party membership has substantially declined. There is widespread disenchantment with politicians. Yet everyone knows that parties are essential to democracy and there is no mature democracy anywhere in the world in which political parties do not play a vital role.
People also know that party politics, and the abilities of those who choose to enter it, are of central importance to the quality of leadership, and the prosperity and the reputation of our country. We elect a Government through a Parliamentary democracy which is not about voting on single issues but about a wide range of important choices and priorities. Party politics is a competition to serve the public interest: that is its purpose.
Disenchantment with party politics
There is widespread disenchantment with party politics, not only in the UK but in many other democracies. Turnout at elections has fallen. So has membership of political parties. In the 1950s one in 11 people belonged to a party: now it is one in 88. When it came to power in 1997 the Labour Party had around 400,000 members. Now it has around 200,000. The situation is similar for the Conservative Party as well, which has seen a long-term decline in its number of members.
Trust in politicians at a national level and trust in political parties are both low, and have been subject to a long-term decline. Polling research indicates that people feel distant from parties, and they feel that parties are only interested in them at election times. According to research undertaken by Ipsos MORI for the Committee on Standards in Public Life, trust in your local MP is relatively high at 48%, especially where the MP is seen as being active in the constituency, while trust in MPs in general is at 29%.
A healthy democracy needs healthy political parties
While membership of political parties has fallen, membership of single-issue groups has risen. This voluntary activity is of course welcome, but it cannot be a substitute for party politics. Parties have to balance out competing claims upon government. That is why no modern democracy has been able to do without political parties. A healthy democracy needs healthy political parties.
Party politics should serve the public
Tackling party funding alone will not resolve the problem of cynicism about party politics. The central challenge is for the politicians themselves across a much wider front. However, any changed system of party funding should try to bolster public confidence and help recapture the true mission of party politics as serving the public.
Page last updated: 19 October 2006