British Politics

Saturday’s British Politics and Government Tutorial aimed to give students both an understanding of the constitutional structures of the UK and of some of the most interesting, controversial and pressing issues affecting long-term British Politics, particularly focusing on voting behaviour in Britain. 

In the morning, students learnt about the main features of the British system – the constitutional monarchy, the Houses of Commons and Lords, the judiciary, the first-past-the-post voting system and, very importantly, studied both the strengths and weaknesses of these (often uniquely) British institutions. We also addressed what changes were happening (or not) in Britain – was Tony Blair more of a President than a Prime Minister, or did he just think he was? Who are these 92 hereditary peers and what on earth are they still doing in the House of Lords? After looking at the main pros and cons of the systems, students had the opportunity to be creative and choose and design a piece of constitutional reform which they thought was essential to the British system.

In the afternoon, the focus moved on to issues within British politics and government, looking firstly at where the parties stand on the contentious issues of the day. We then studied voting behaviour, looking at the decline in participation in British elections, and tried to make sense of the data to find out why fewer and fewer people come to the polls. Finally, we looked in depth at the role of class in determining someone’s vote – is it still as important as it used to be, how does the fragmenting class structure affect people’s voting behaviour and how do changing party policies interact with class voting.

The students were a very enjoyable group to teach – quick learners who brought their own knowledge and examples from British politics to the class.

If these issues sound like things you’d like to learn more about with Debate Chamber, you may be interested in our British Politics Weekend.

Lewis Turner, Politics Tutor