A-level
POLITICS
Paper 1 Government and politics of the UK
Tuesday 20 May 2025 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours
, 2
Section A – Short Questions
Answer questions 1, 2 and 3.
0 1 Explain and analyse three ways in which UK membership of the EU has had an impact
upon UK politics and policy making.
[9 marks]
0 2 Explain and analyse three powers of the UK prime minister.
[9 marks]
0 3 Explain and analyse three ways in which judicial impartiality is upheld in the UK.
[9 marks]
IB/G/Jun25/7152/1
, 3
Section B – Extract Question
Read the extracts below and answer question 4 that follows.
The effects of First Past the Post upon the party system in the UK
Extract 1
How the Electoral System Worked in 2019
Recently, Britain’s single-member plurality electoral system has not been living up to its traditional
billing. In both 2010 and 2017, the election produced a hung parliament. Although the 2015
contest did produce an overall majority, it was relatively small.
A small party whose vote is much the same from one constituency to another will, inevitably, tend
to be a loser more or less everywhere. On the other hand, a small party whose vote is
geographically concentrated may be relatively strong – and thus capable of winning – in some
seats. The 2019 election proved to be the third in a row in which the outcome in Scotland departed
radically from that in the rest of Britain, with its representation dominated by a party other than the
Conservatives or Labour. In that respect, Scotland is now much like Northern Ireland, where
parliamentary representation has been dominated by small parties ever since the early 1970s.
Extract from Parliamentary Affairs, September 2020, by John Curtice, Professor of Politics
at Strathclyde University. Parliamentary Affairs is an academic journal.
Extract 2
The 2019 Election – Voters Left Voiceless
In 2019, the electoral system did what it is supposed to do in manufacturing a majority for one party
at the expense of voters’ choices, the largest for the Conservatives since 1987. This is an
extraordinary shift given the previous election had seen the Prime Minister lose her majority on a
similar vote share.
A quarter of votes went to parties other than the largest two, but they returned less than 13 percent
of seats. Our analysis shows that across the UK, over 22 million votes (70.8%) were ignored
because they went to non-elected candidates or were surplus to what the elected candidate
needed. First Past the Post is brutal in denying millions of voters any representation at all.
Extract taken from the Electoral Reform Society, March 2020. The Electoral Reform Society is
an independent organisation campaigning for democratic rights.
0 4 Analyse, evaluate and compare the arguments in the above extracts regarding the
effects of First Past the Post upon the party system in the UK.
[25 marks]
Turn over for Section C
Turn over ►
IB/G/Jun25/7152/1
POLITICS
Paper 1 Government and politics of the UK
Tuesday 20 May 2025 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours
, 2
Section A – Short Questions
Answer questions 1, 2 and 3.
0 1 Explain and analyse three ways in which UK membership of the EU has had an impact
upon UK politics and policy making.
[9 marks]
0 2 Explain and analyse three powers of the UK prime minister.
[9 marks]
0 3 Explain and analyse three ways in which judicial impartiality is upheld in the UK.
[9 marks]
IB/G/Jun25/7152/1
, 3
Section B – Extract Question
Read the extracts below and answer question 4 that follows.
The effects of First Past the Post upon the party system in the UK
Extract 1
How the Electoral System Worked in 2019
Recently, Britain’s single-member plurality electoral system has not been living up to its traditional
billing. In both 2010 and 2017, the election produced a hung parliament. Although the 2015
contest did produce an overall majority, it was relatively small.
A small party whose vote is much the same from one constituency to another will, inevitably, tend
to be a loser more or less everywhere. On the other hand, a small party whose vote is
geographically concentrated may be relatively strong – and thus capable of winning – in some
seats. The 2019 election proved to be the third in a row in which the outcome in Scotland departed
radically from that in the rest of Britain, with its representation dominated by a party other than the
Conservatives or Labour. In that respect, Scotland is now much like Northern Ireland, where
parliamentary representation has been dominated by small parties ever since the early 1970s.
Extract from Parliamentary Affairs, September 2020, by John Curtice, Professor of Politics
at Strathclyde University. Parliamentary Affairs is an academic journal.
Extract 2
The 2019 Election – Voters Left Voiceless
In 2019, the electoral system did what it is supposed to do in manufacturing a majority for one party
at the expense of voters’ choices, the largest for the Conservatives since 1987. This is an
extraordinary shift given the previous election had seen the Prime Minister lose her majority on a
similar vote share.
A quarter of votes went to parties other than the largest two, but they returned less than 13 percent
of seats. Our analysis shows that across the UK, over 22 million votes (70.8%) were ignored
because they went to non-elected candidates or were surplus to what the elected candidate
needed. First Past the Post is brutal in denying millions of voters any representation at all.
Extract taken from the Electoral Reform Society, March 2020. The Electoral Reform Society is
an independent organisation campaigning for democratic rights.
0 4 Analyse, evaluate and compare the arguments in the above extracts regarding the
effects of First Past the Post upon the party system in the UK.
[25 marks]
Turn over for Section C
Turn over ►
IB/G/Jun25/7152/1
