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UK Politics Examples

Party Membership

2025 Update Party Membership as Examples for/against There Being a Participation Crisis:

Major Parties: 

• The membership of the Liberal Democrats has almost halved in the last 5 years, falling from 118,000 in 2020 to just 60,000 in October 2025. 

  • This is despite the Lib Dems having their most successful general election ever in 2024 in terms of seats won.

• However, research by Queen Mary University Belfast found that Liberal Democrats were the most active of all political party memberships. 19% had canvassed voters face-to-face or by phone, more than any other party. 

  • This challenges the idea of a participation crisis in the UK. Simply counting the number of members a party has does not reveal how politically engaged they are. 

    • Whilst the overall quantity of party members may have decreased, the quality of party membership has improved, being active participants in politics beyond elections.  

• The Labour Party, which is the largest political party in the UK, has also seen a drop in membership - decreasing by 37% since 2020.

  • The latest published figures in October 2024 put it at just 309,000, down from a peak of 532,000 in 2019. Labour has lost almost 200,000 members in just 5 years, since Sir Keir Starmer became leader in April 2020.  

    • Despite the party’s landslide election victory, the party lost 10% of its total membership over its first year in government. 

• This trend suggests a participation crisis in the UK, as political parties are important vehicles for citizen engagement and representing the public. Members make key decisions surrounding leadership and policy direction. 

  • Party affiliation and participation within the party has become less engaging to citizens, suggesting formal politics may be less meaningful. 

Minor Parties: 

• In contrast, minor parties have experienced a surge in support, supporting the view that there isn’t a participation crisis, there is simply declining support for the major parties. 

• Reform UK, which saw successes in the 2024 General Election and 2025 Local Elections, has seen its membership surge. 

  • In October 2025 they totaled 259,000 members. 

• Similarly, the Green Party has also enjoyed steady growth - overtaking the Lib Dems in October 2025, despite having far fewer MPs in Parliament. 

  • The Greens had over 83,500 members in October 2025, with a 20% increase (20,000 new members) since the election of the new leader Zack Polanski. 

• This suggests the public will still use parties as a vehicle for political action if they are proposing some kind of radical change from the major parties. 

  • Rather than reflecting apathy, these shifts reflect a realignment of participation away from established parties.

Rights In Context

Proposed Changes to the Human Rights Act by the Conservative Party as an Example of Rights Being Threatened in the UK:

• At various points over the past decade, the Conservative Party has backed pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) with a British Bill of Rights. This has been criticised by hundreds of human rights groups for diluting legal protections and removing key rights currently guaranteed under UK law.

  • The proposed Bill of Rights would make it easier to deport foreign criminals by elevating public safety over the right to family life. It would also increase freedom of the press by elevating the right to freedom of expression over the right to privacy.

  • Repealing the HRA would remove the European Court of Human Rights as a point of appeal, weakening judicial oversight and making judicial review less accessible for individuals challenging government actions. 

    • It would also weaken the protection of rights in the UK, as the British Bill of Rights would be a simple Act of Parliament, whilst the European Convention of Human Rights is a binding international treaty.

• In October 2025, the Conservative Party announced at their annual Party Conference that, if elected, they would withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

  • This decision followed an internal review which claimed ECHR membership obstructs the deportation of foreign criminals and asylum seekers, and leaving was necessary to “protect our borders”.

    • Kemi Badenoch argued the ECHR’s jurisdiction impeded the UK’s ability to deport individuals with criminal records and manage its borders, whilst departing from the ECHR would restore parliamentary sovereignty and enable the UK to implement immigration policies without external interference.

• The pledge to leave marks a major shift in Conservative policy and reflects growing pressure from the rise of Reform UK, which has already pledged to leave the ECHR.

• The ECHR and HRA are the foundation of individual and collective rights in the UK, including the right to privacy, a family life, and the right to protest. 

  • This demonstrates the fragility of rights protection in the UK due to its uncodified constitution, as the HRA is not entrenched and can be overturned by a simple act of Parliament.

UK Government Examples

Supreme Court - Judicial Independence

Robert Jenrick’s Comments on ‘activist Judges’ as an Example of Limited Judicial Independence:

• At the October 2025 Conservative Party Conference, Shadow Justice Minister Robert Jenrick accused judges of blurring the line “between adjudication and activism”. 

  • He criticised rulings he disagreed with and claimed he would stop “activist judges” by giving ministers the power to appoint and remove judges.

• Jenrick pledged to abolish the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) - the independent body created in 2006 under New Labour to make judicial appointments more transparent and free from political influence, ensuring a separation of powers.

  • He argued that removing the JAC would put ultimate power back in the hands of ministers, who currently have only a limited veto over nominees. 

    • His comments were criticised as undermining judicial independence and the rule of law. Former Supreme Court Judge Lord Sumption said the plans risked an American-style politicisation of the judiciary, where judges were chosen for their political alignment rather than impartiality. 

• This intervention and rhetoric threatens the independence of the judiciary by allowing the executive to shape the composition of courts. This would compromise the constitutional separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary. 

  • Judicial independence is the idea that judges must be free from political interference, particularly from the government, to make decisions based solely on law and evidence. 

    • This is especially important in cases involving the state, where public confidence depends on courts acting impartially rather than in favour of government interests.

US Politics & Government Examples

Interest Groups and Presidential Power

Russel Vought and the Office of Management and Budget as an Example of Expanded Presidential Power and Interest Group Influence (Project 2025):

• When he was elected for his second term, US President Donald Trump announced Russell Vought as the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

• Vought, a key author of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for governing which featured heavily in the 2024 Presidential Election campaign, has been central to the administration's efforts to consolidate executive control.

  • The 900-page policy document contained proposals for dramatic reductions in the size of the federal government, expanded presidential authority, rigorous immigration enforcement, and other elements of an ultra-conservative social agenda. 

    • The White House has used the Project's framework, and particularly the OMB, during the federal government shutdown which began in late September 2025, to slash government spending and its workforce, with fewer budgetary restrictions in the absence of congressionally approved funding.

• On September 10th 2025, Vought issued reduction-in-force orders to agencies deemed “inconsistent with the President’s priorities”, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services, and the Education Department. 

  • These moves effectively dismantle programs the administration has wanted to eliminate but had been unable to because of Congress’s power of the purse. 

    • Further, he cancelled major infrastructure projects in New York City and Chicago, and $8 billion in clean energy projects across 16 Democratic states. 

• This represents a dramatic shift in the separation of powers - the OMB (an executive branch agency) would essentially override congressional spending decisions and centralise fiscal control within the presidency. This gives the President unchecked power to reshape the federal government and bypass democratic oversight.