Party Finance: Normal Service Resumed?

Abstract

Whereas the period under Tony Blair had seen Labour emerge as the richer of the two largest parties, the 2010 election was characterised by significant disparities in party wealth, with the Conservatives emerging as the strongest party by some margin. This had a significant bearing on how the campaigns were fought, with Labour needing to make decisions on how to campaign based principally on what the party could afford rather than how best to spend up to the permitted maximum. Yet despite the disparities, the principal campaigning techniques for the three main parties were notably similar—direct mail and telephone voter identification. The 2010 election marked not only an emerging consensus between the parties upon how best to spend campaign funds, but also raised questions as to whether the significant financial disparities had as much electoral impact as might commonly be assumed.