To what extent have the parties involved in the conservative-liberal democrat coalition remained faithful since 2010 to their traditional principles and ideas. ( 25) (2012)
In 2010, Britain has its first hung parliament since Feb 1974. The Conservatives won the most seats (306) but this was well short of the 326 needed for an overall majority and the Liberal Democrats ended up with 57 seats, enough to provide the majority that parliament requires. Cameron immediately announced Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and invited several Lib-dems in his government. They published a coalition agreement which set out the new government’s agenda for the next five years. Moreover, because it was an amalgamation of the Liberal democrat and Conservative manifestos, it required a number of comprimises on both sides. This means that original policies presented in the parties original manifestos, had to be changed or abandoned suggesting they hve ventured away from their traditional principles. However, some would argue due to the similarities of the parties ideology’s, the most important policies have been implemented with a consensus and peacefully.
Firstly, The Conservative party have committed to reducing taxation levels, Corporation Tax has been cut and Personal Taxation thresholds increased. The Conservative party have helped working people by increasing the amount they can earn before paying any income tax - 24 million taxpayers have seen their income tax cut and 2 million of the lowest paid have been taken out of tax altogether. People working full time on the minimum wage will have had their income tax bill cut in half. The Party also are providing support for local authorities to freeze council tax for a third year to help hardworking families and pensioners. Council tax has been cut in real terms this year, thanks to the second year of the council tax freeze - the saving of both years’ freeze is worth up to £148 on a Band D home. However, before the 2010 election , Cameron promised to protect spending on Education. Once in power, he announced that the Conservative Party would not support the building of any more selective grammer schools. This was controversial in the party as supporting selective education and the existence of grammer schools had long been seen as central policy of the party.
Moreover, the Liberal democrat party have kept to their traditional principles as they’ve delivered what they promised in terms of tax promises. They claiemed that they were going to support those on lower incomes by increasing personal income tax allowances for lower and middle income earners. A long-term aim was to take people earning less than 10,000 pounds a year out of the tax system. They introduced proposals to regulate the payment of bonuses to bankers and they have made proposals for the regulation of big banks. Moreover, the coalition has introduced quotas for non-EU migration. The parties agreed that this had to be the main priority. The coalition proposal was to work together to make the tax system fairer for the poorest. However the Liberal Democrats pledged in 2010 to tax the rich more by introducing a ‘mansion tax’. In office they supported a tax cut for the rich ( reduction of the top rate of income tax from 50% to 45% ) under pressure from the Conservatives who believed that such a cut would attract business to the UK and help save the British economy. This proves evident that the Liberal democrats aren’t as committed to helping the poor by charging more on the rich so the ultimately the poor become poorer which completely goes against their principles.
Moreover, the Conservatives display strong evidence towards committing to their traditional principles and this is through the view on Europe. The Euro-sceptic wing of the party has maintained its suspicion towards the EU and David Cameron has pledged to old a referendum on membership of the EU in 2017, if the conservatives are re-elected. They have a adopted a series of policy positions which are hostile or sceptical to the EU, whilst in power,despite opposition from the Liberal Democrats. Some members of the Conservtive party have remained more pro-European in their approach. However, David Cameron promised, during the 2010 election campaign, to reduce immigration significantly if elected. Since his election, many conservatives have argued that not enough has been done in this area. The Lib Dems in the coalition have opposed plans to toughen up on immigration controls for migrants from Europe. This proves that under a pressure of a coalition, government policies and traditions can get fragmented from having to sacrifice a storng belief in order to satisfy the other party.
Similarly, the Lib Dem’s have stuck to their traditional principles and ideas through their pro-Europe approach, vehemently disagreeing with the anti-EU arguments of UKIP and the Coservative Eurosceptics. They have traditionally, opposed a referendum on the EU unless there is a new treaty that proposes to increase EU powers. This idea proves strong in the coalition as arguably, David Cameron’s primary wish is to hold a referendum on the EU which ultimately means that Nick Clegg and the liberal democrat party haven’t compromised on this one issue and have stayed committed to their principles. However, they have watered down their support for constitutional reform, particularly for proportional representation, where under pressure from the Conservatives they accepted a referendum on the AV system not STV, which was what they really wanted. This displays that despite originally having those traditional principle and ideas, under the strain of a coalition – some ideas need to be compromised which undermines the reputation of the strength of a party.
Overall, the experience of being a coalition has been difficult for the Liberal democrats. Its support in the opinion polls has collapsed and many former Lib dem voters appear to be moving either towards the Greens or potentially the Labour party. Many traditional supporters felt that the Party has supported too many Conservative policies, notably the increase in tuition fees has not been Liberal enough. and have allowed themselves to be overcome by them. Similarly, a significant number of Conservatives have felt that the party has moved too far from its traditional principles. Some have left the party and deflected to UKIP and others have argued that the Conservative party should not join a future coalition government as it had led the party to abandon its traditional principles.’;