Political parties
This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on political parties. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
Standard Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 25.06.2013 | Party funding: background and developments since November 2011 |
| This note briefly draws together Library material on party funding issues; provides a chronology of Sir Hayden Phillips' review of party funding; notes the information that the CSPL has published as its inquiry proceeded; notes press coverage the CSPL inquiry generated; and notes developments since the publication of the CSPL report. | |
| 09.05.2013 | Short Money |
| This note provides details of the current levels of 'Short money' allocated to opposition parties for parliamentary duties, and a brief history of the scheme. Figures for the corresponding scheme in the House of Lords (Cranborne money) are provided.The note also provides details of allocations made under the representative money scheme. | |
| 18.12.2012 | All-women shortlists |
| This note looks at the background to the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 which allowed political parties to draw up all-women shortlists of candidates for elections; and its extension. It gives details of Labour candidates selected through all-women shortlists and methods of positive action used by the main political parties to increase the number of women MPs. | |
| 03.12.2012 | Membership of UK political parties |
| There has been a large decrease in reported membership of UK political parties over the post-war period. In 2011, only 1.0% of the electorate was a member of one of the three main political parties. Labour had approximately 193,000 members, the Conservatives 130,000 to 150,000 and the Liberal Democrats 49,000. However in the early 1950s, the Conservatives claimed nearly 3 million members while Labour claimed more than 1 million members. | |
| 10.10.2012 | Non-domiciled donors-Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 |
| This standard note briefly discusses non-domiciled donors in relation to the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 |
Research Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 16.12.2008 | Political Parties and Elections Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This is a report on the Committee Stage of the Political Parties and Elections Bill 2007-08 produced in response to a recommendation of the Modernisation Committee in its report on The Legislative Process (HC 1097, 2005-06). The Bill has been reintroduced as Bill 4 of 2008-09 and is awaiting a date for report stage in the Commons. | |
| 30.09.2008 | The Political Parties and Elections Bill |
| This Research Paper looks at the Political Parties and Elections Bill, it includes impacts on the Electoral Commission and political donations and expediture. | |
| 11.04.2007 | The Funding of Political Parties |
| 06.03.2006 | The Northern Ireland(Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. |
| 11.05.2005 | By-election results 2001-05 |
| By-election results 2001-05. House of Commons Library Research Paper 05/34 |
Select Committee Reports
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 22.11.2011 | Political party finance: ending the big donor culture. |
| Committee on Standards in Public Life report [Commons] | |
| 10.03.2011 | Lessons from the process of government formation after the 2010 general election. |
| Government response. Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 20.01.2011 | Lessons from the process of government formation after the 2010 general election. |
| Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 27.01.2009 | Legislative scrutiny: Political Parties and Elections Bill. |
| Human Rights Joint Select Committee report [Commons and Lords] |
Early Day Motions
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 31.10.2011 | CHARTIST MOVEMENT IN SOUTH WALES |
| That this House congratulates the Blaenau Gwent Chartist and Historical Society on its work in celebrating the successes of the Chartist movement and commemorating the lives of those ... | |
| 04.07.2011 | 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHRISTIAN SOCIALIST MOVEMENT |
| That this House congratulates the Christian Socialist Movement on celebrating its 50th anniversary and celebrates the Movement's positive contribution to political thought, social justice ... | |
| 10.03.2011 | LABOUR PARTY AND TUITION FEES |
| That this House notes the comments of Lord Mandelson in the foreword to his updated memoir The Third Man that `I assumed, as the Treasury did, that the outcome [of the Browne Review] ... | |
| 08.02.2011 | HARRY TOUT |
| That this House notes and congratulates Harry Tout of Guisborough, Cleveland, on reaching his 90th birthday; further notes that he has been a lifelong member of the Labour Party, fought ... | |
| 19.01.2011 | CENTENARY OF THE DEATH OF ROBERT TRESSELL |
| That this House notes the centenary of the death of Robert Noonan (Tressell) on 3 February 2011 interred in a pauper's grave in Walton, Liverpool; recognises the significance of his ... |
Lords Library Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 24.07.2008 | Peerage creations 1958-2008. LLN 2008/019 |
| This Note presents detailed information on all peerage creations since the first list of life peers was published on 24th July 1958. It updates earlier Notes to the situation at 24th July 2008. |
