Active Citizens : Political Parties

1. Active Citizens: Political Parties How many UK political parties can you name? Do you know which political party each of these symbols is for? Plaid Cymru Conservatives Scottish National Party (SNP) Labour LiberalDemocrats Green Party

2. Active Citizens: Political Parties • Your teacher will allocate your group one of the political parties. Attempt the to answer the following questions: • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies?

3. Active Citizens: Conservative Party • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? David Cameron Largest party in parliament with 331 MPs • Reducing the deficitso we deal with our debts, safeguard our economy for the long term and keep mortgage rates low. • Cutting income tax and freezing fuel duty to help hardworking people be more financially secure. • Creating more jobsby backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes. • Capping welfare and reducing immigrationso our economy delivers for people who want to work hard and play by the rules. • Delivering the best schools and skills for young people so the next generation can succeed in the global race https://www.conservatives.com/

4. Active Citizens: Labour Party • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Harriet Harman (acting leader) Currently the second largest party with 232 MPs Fairer taxes - cut taxes for 24 million people on middle and lower incomes by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax. We will restore the 50p rate of tax for those earning over £150,000. End rip-off prices on energy bills - freeze gas and electricity bills until 2017 Help people get on the housing ladder - build the homes Britain needs by getting 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. Support working parents with the cost of childcare - give working parents 25 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds per week. http://www.labour.org.uk/

5. Active Citizens: Liberal Democrats • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Nick Clegg (pending election of a new leader) 8 MPs Working to build a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life. Finish the job of balancing the books, on time and fairly. Raise the personal allowance to at least £12,500, cutting people’s taxes by an extra £400. Invest to make the UK a world leader in low carbon cars, energy efficiency and hi-tech manufacturing, and continue the Regional Growth Fund to back growing businesses. If we want a world class education system, then early years and colleges need to be properly funded too. The Liberal Democrats would protect education spending from cradle to college." http://www.libdems.org.uk/issues

6. Active Citizens: UK Independence Party • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Nigel Farage 1 MP (Douglas Carswell) • Leave the EU and save at least £8bn pa in net contributions. • We will extend to EU citizens the existing points-based system for time-limited work permits. Those coming to work in the UK must have a job to go to, must speak English, must have accommodation agreed prior to their arrival, and must have NHS-approved health insurance.   • Scrap the HS2 project which is uneconomical and unjustified. • Abolish Inheritance Tax • No new subsidies for wind farms and solar arrays. http://www.ukip.org/policies_for_people

7. Active Citizens: Green Party • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Natalie Bennett 1 MP (Caroline Lucas) • Oppose austerity. There is an alternative – investment in a low carbon economy, creating real jobs of the future. • Turn the national minimum wage into a genuine living wage so that everyone can put food on the table and pay the bills. • Build truly affordable housing, and stop demolishing existing homes. • Scrap the welfare cap to ensure that we can truly help the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. • Enforce a cap on bankers’ bonuses and reduce the pay gap between those at the top and those at the bottom. http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/

8. Active Citizens: Plaid Cymru • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Leanne Wood 3 MPs More powers for the Welsh Assembly. In the long term, Wales can flourish as an independent nation and full member of the European Union. Fight for the rights of Welsh speakers, and for the preservation of the Welsh national identity. Plaid Cymru recognises the invaluable contribution that migrants have made to Wales. They celebrate tolerance, mutual understanding and difference. https://www.plaid.cymru/

9. Active Citizens: Scottish National Party • Who is the leader of your party? • Do you have many MPs? • What are your party’s main policies? Nicola Sturgeon Currently the third largest party in Westminster with 56 MPs Independence for Scotland, staying in the European Union. In government the SNP has restored free higher education by ruling out tuition fees and abolishing the £2,300 graduate endowment Abolished prescription charges, saving people with long-term illnesses an average of more than £180 and scrapped charges at all NHS-run hospital car parks. http://www.snp.org

10. Active Citizens: Quick Quiz The Conservative Party 1. Which party currently has the most MPs? The Green Party 2. Natalie Bennett is the leader of which political party? 3. Which party wants the UK to leave the European Union? The UK Independence Party 4. Which party has pledged to increase the tax paid by those earning over £150,000 a year? The Labour Party 5. Which party wants to protect spending on education ‘from cradle to college’? The Liberal Democrat Party 6. What is the name of the party that wants Wales to be an independent country? Plaid Cymru

11. Active Citizens: Election Broadcast Imagine that you are employed by the party allocated to your group by your teacher. You have been asked to produce a party election broadcast to get your party’s key message across to the public. In your group, decide what is your key message? How could you get this message across to the public in a two minute film? Prepare your broadcast and then present it to the class. Speak to camera and explain why your policies will improve Britain? Interview a member of the public or expert? Short play?

12. Active Citizens: Political Spectrum People sometimes talk about different parties as being ‘left-wing’ or ‘right-wing’. Does anyone know what these terms mean? The terms "left" and "right" appeared during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king to the president's right and supporters of the revolution to his left.

13. Active Citizens: Political Spectrum Today, parties on the left tend to support higher taxes and more government spending. Political parties are described as right wing if they want less government spending and lower taxes. Where would you place the political parties on the political spectrum? Right-wing Centre Left-wing

14. Active Citizens: Create Your Own Political Party In your groups you are now going to create your own political party. What will be your policies? Who will be your leader? What will be your party’s name? Will you be left-wing or right-wing? Could you design your party logo? Could you produce materials to promote your party? Posters, leaflets, manifestos and election broadcasts