| United Kingdom | |
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This article lists political parties in the United Kingdom.
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Prior to the mid-19th century politics in the United Kingdom was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense but somewhat loose alliances of interests and individuals. The Whigs included many of the leading aristocratic dynasties committed to the Protestant succession, and later drew support from elements of the emerging industrial interests and wealthy merchants, while the Tories were associated with the landed gentry, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.
By the mid 19th century the Tories had evolved into the Conservative Party, and the Whigs had evolved into the Liberal Party. In the late 19th century the Liberal Party began to pursue more left wing policies, and many of the heirs of the Whig tradition became Liberal Unionists and moved closer to the Conservatives on many of the key issues of the time.
The Liberal and Conservatives dominated the political scene until the 1920s, when the Liberal Party declined in popularity and suffered a long stream of resignations. It was replaced as the main left-wing party by the newly emerging Labour Party, who represented an alliance between the trades unions and various socialist societies.
Since then the Conservative and Labour Parties have dominated British politics, and have alternated in government ever since. However, the UK is not quite a two-party system since a third party (recently, the Liberal Democrats) can prevent 50% of the votes/seats from going to a single party. The Liberals merged with the Social Democrats because they had very similar views and became the Liberal Democrats which is now a sizeable party whose electoral results have improved in recent years.
The UK's First Past the Post electoral system leaves small parties disadvantaged on a UK-wide scale. It can, however, allow parties with concentrations of supporters in the constituent countries to flourish. Other than the Green Party of England and Wales, the only other parties winning seats in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election were based in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Since 1997, proportional representation-based voting systems have been adopted for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the London Assembly and the UK's seats in the European Parliament. In these bodies, other parties have had success.
Traditionally political parties have been private organisations with no official recognition by the state. The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 changed that by creating a register of parties.
The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties[1] lists the details of parties registered to fight elections, and their registered name, in the United Kingdom. Under current electoral law, including the Registration of Political Parties Act, the Electoral Administration Act 2006, and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, only registered party names can be used on ballot papers by those wishing to fight elections. Candidates who do not belong to a registered party can use "independent" or no label at all.
As of 10 June 2011[update] it shows the number of registered political parties as 419. In Northern Ireland there are 42 registered parties.
Three parties dominate politics in the House of Commons. They all operate throughout Great Britain (only the Conservative and Unionist Party stands candidates in Northern Ireland). Most of the British Members of the European Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales represent one of these parties:
| Party | UK House of Commons members | Scottish Parliament members | National Assembly for Wales members | Northern Ireland Assembly members | European Parliament members | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative and Unionist Party | 306 | 15 | 14 | N/A | 25 | Centre-right party which can be loosely divided into three categories, though with considerable overlap: The Thatcherites or Conservative Way Forward, who strongly support a free market and tend to be Eurosceptic, the economically moderate, often more europhile but socially conservative One Nation Conservatives, and the socially conservative, deeply eurosceptic Cornerstone Group. |
| Liberal Democrats | 57 | 5 | 5 | N/A | 11 | Radical centrist, and socially progressive; strongly support greater European integration. Promote social liberalism; opposing what they call the 'nanny state', while supporting the welfare state for the basic necessities of life. The party's two dominant factions are the centre-left social democratic grouping, and the economic liberal, 'Orange Book' one. |
| Labour Party | 258 (inc Lab Co-op) |
46 (inc 9 as Lab Co-op) |
26 (inc 4 as Lab Co-op) |
N/A | 13 | Centre-left; historically allied to Trade unions; mixed market (Third Way) policies have replaced its earlier more socialist platform in recent years, has still socialist MPs and Left-wing factions within the party such as the Socialist Campaign Group; supports greater Pro-Europeanism. |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 8 | N/A | N/A | 38 | 1 | More hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland, has a socially right-wing political agenda, with historical ties to Protestant working classes, thus a centre-left economic history until recently. |
| Scottish National Party | 6[2] | 69 | N/A | N/A | 2 | Centre-left party in favour of Scottish independence. |
| † Sinn Féin | 5 | N/A | N/A | 29 | 1[3] | Left-wing Irish republican party that supports the unification of the island of Ireland as a 32-county Irish republic. |
| Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales | 3[2] | N/A | 11 | N/A | 1 | Centre-left party in favour of Welsh independence. |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | 3 | N/A | N/A | 14 | 0 | Centre-left, irish nationalist party. |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 1 | N/A | N/A | 8 | 0 | Liberal party in Northern Ireland that aims to break down sectarian divisions between Catholics and Protestants. Has a neutral stance on the Constitutional issue of Northern Ireland's status and is linked with the Liberal Democrats. |
| Green Party of England and Wales | 1 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 2 | Generally Social Democratic, environmentalist party. Favours British republicanism |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 0 | N/A | N/A | 16 | 1 | Unionist party in Northern Ireland which is traditionally an amalgam of the political spectrum, considered more moderate than the Democratic Unionist Party. |
| Scottish Green Party | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 0 | Generally Social Democratic, environmentalist party in favour of Scottish independence. |
| Green Party in Northern Ireland | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | Social Democratic, environmentalist party in Northern Ireland. |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | Conservative unionist party in Northern Ireland, opposed to the St Andrews Agreement. |
| UK Independence Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Eurosceptic, Libertarian[4] conservative and populist party which favours withdrawal from the European Union, small government and economic liberalism. |
| British National Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Nationalist, far right, party who support withdrawal from the European Union, halting immigration and Third position economics. |
†Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats as they choose not to swear allegiance to the crown.
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