British Party Politics In Crisis

Crisis - what crisis? For Britain's main political parties, it's one with numerous symptoms and various dimensions. These include reduced party membership, reduced respect for party politicians, and a reduced chance of voters backing any of the main parties come election time. 

Taking full account of the 2024 general election, this six-week course shall examine how this crisis emerged and how it steadily worsened, with reference to Labour under Corbyn and Starmer, the SNP under Sturgeon and Yousaf and, of course, the Tories under Johnson, Truss and Sunak. As such, we shall recall the chronic misjudgements and dubious integrity of party leaders across the political spectrum, while inspecting wider changes to our society, economy and culture. All of which shall be done - we hope - all in a spirit of wry detachment rather than pious anger.

But this course is no mere hatchet-job. Instead, it will serve as a reminder that parties are vital to the smooth operation of a democracy, while proving that party membership is one of the toughest - and potentially noblest - forms of political participation. Consequently, our sessions will assess how the current crisis might be resolved, with attention to the parties' origins, core beliefs, internal organisation and recent electoral performance. In the process, it is possible that students will end the course feeling slightly less bitter about British political parties - and a tad more sympathetic towards those who promote their ideas.   

RICHARD KELLY is a former Head of Politics at Manchester Grammar School. He is the author of British Political Parties Today (Manchester University Press), editor of Changing Party Policy in Britain (Blackwell), and a freelance contributor to the Spectator .    

Dates are:

Sept 9,16,23,30 Oct 14,21