Party funding
How are they funded?
The UK parties rely on private funding despite having access to some public funds to subsidise policy development and parliamentary scrutiny
Policy development - grants £2 million to main parties
Short money - granted to opposition parties on the basis of the number of seats they have in the HoC
Cranborne money - subsidises the work of scrutiny carried out by minority parties in the HoL
Short money allocation 2019: LABOUR, £6million and the second largest allocation SNP, £600,00
Donations made to political parties in 2017
Conservatives: £25 million
Labour: £10 million
Liberal Dems: £5 million
UKIP: £170,000
Green party: £150,000
How has this process been made fairer?
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 - made the process more transparent and fair
1) Independent electoral commission made to monitor money spend
2) The amount a party can spend in a constituency is limited to £30,000
3) Political parties must declare donations made over £5,000 to the EC and must not accept donations from non-UK citizens
Should the state fund political parties?
In a free democracy, people should be able to financially support whatever they wish to
State funding may also suggest political parties were servants of the state and so limiting political independence
If the state funded, it would be controversial how much each party could claim
The funding of extremist political parties, like the British National Party, which excludes certain groups from equal status in British society would be contentious