ARGUEMENTS FOR AND AGAINST STATE FUNDING
December 2013
UK POLITICAL PARTIES AS STYLE QUESTIONS
WHY HAS THE ARGUEMENT FOR POLITICAL PARTIES TO BE FUNDED BY THE STATE BECOME STRONGER IN RECENT YEARS Political party funding has been a source of controversy over recent years. Political parties could be funded through membership subscriptions,donations from individuals and companies,and through state funding. Over recent years there has been a lot of contention over the funds political parties receive from private donors such has Lord Ashcroft,the Conservative parties biggest donor and the Lib dem's acceptance of a £2.4 million from the company of a known fraudster,cases such has this has prompted debates for political parties to be funded by the state,Moreover the the funds from members subscriptions has become monetary irrelevant to rely upon. The means of funding used by political parties in the UK has various issues which either is not competent enough to support the parties financially or cannot do so without steering a lot of controversies which has resulted to stronger arguments supporting funding of political parties by the state. Membership of UK political parties has been in steep decline over recent decades. According to Andrew Ransley of the Guardian 'The political party is dying. Quite literally so. As older members pass away to join the great returning officer in the sky, they are not being replaced by new, young recruits'.This statement is very accurate there has been a large decrease in reported membership of UK political parties over the post-war period. In 2010, only 1.0% of the electorate was a member of one of the three main political parties. Labour had approximately 187,000 members, the Conservatives 134,000 and the Liberal Democrats 42,000. However in the early 1950s, the Conservatives claimed nearly 3 million members while Labour claimed more
UK POLITICAL PARTIES AS STYLE QUESTIONS
WHY HAS THE ARGUEMENT FOR POLITICAL PARTIES TO BE FUNDED BY THE STATE BECOME STRONGER IN RECENT YEARS Political party funding has been a source of controversy over recent years. Political parties could be funded through membership subscriptions,donations from individuals and companies,and through state funding. Over recent years there has been a lot of contention over the funds political parties receive from private donors such has Lord Ashcroft,the Conservative parties biggest donor and the Lib dem's acceptance of a £2.4 million from the company of a known fraudster,cases such has this has prompted debates for political parties to be funded by the state,Moreover the the funds from members subscriptions has become monetary irrelevant to rely upon. The means of funding used by political parties in the UK has various issues which either is not competent enough to support the parties financially or cannot do so without steering a lot of controversies which has resulted to stronger arguments supporting funding of political parties by the state. Membership of UK political parties has been in steep decline over recent decades. According to Andrew Ransley of the Guardian 'The political party is dying. Quite literally so. As older members pass away to join the great returning officer in the sky, they are not being replaced by new, young recruits'.This statement is very accurate there has been a large decrease in reported membership of UK political parties over the post-war period. In 2010, only 1.0% of the electorate was a member of one of the three main political parties. Labour had approximately 187,000 members, the Conservatives 134,000 and the Liberal Democrats 42,000. However in the early 1950s, the Conservatives claimed nearly 3 million members while Labour claimed more