List of political parties in the United Kingdom

This article lists political parties in the United Kingdom.

Brief history and overview

Before 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 anti-Tory opposition party by the newly emerging Labour Party, who represented an alliance between the labour movement, organised 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 and UK Independence Party) can prevent 50% of the votes/seats from going to a single party. Following electoral co-operation as part of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, The Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 becoming the Liberal Democrats, which is now the largest third party.

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.

Membership of political parties has been in decline in the UK since the 1950s, falling by over 65% from 1983 (4 per cent of the electorate) to 2005 (1.3 per cent).[1]

Register of Political Parties

The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties[2] 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 18 December 2014 the Electoral Commission showed the number of registered political (inc. 'minor') parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as 422.[3]

Major parties

Three parties dominate politics in the House of Commons. Each one operates 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:

Political parties with elected representation in the Westminster, devolved and European parliaments

Party UK House of Commons members Scottish Parliament members National Assembly for Wales members Northern Ireland Assembly members London Assembly members European Parliament members membership Notes
Conservative and Unionist Party 303 15 14 0 9 20 174,000 [4] 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.
Labour Party 257
(inc 28 as Lab Co-op)		 37
(inc 9 as Lab Co-op)		 30
(inc 4 as Lab Co-op)		 N/A 12 20 189,531 [5]
(July 2014)		 Centre-left; a big tent party historically allied with the trade union movement; its platform is based upon mixed market Third Way policies since the party's reinvention as New Labour in 1994, whilst maintaining democratic socialist MPs and left-wing factions within the party such as the Socialist Campaign Group; it generally supports greater Pro-Europeanism.
Liberal Democrats 57 5 5 N/A 2 1 43,000 [5] Socially liberal and progressive; strongly support democratisation of the political system. Promotes modern liberal values; opposing what some pen the 'nanny state', while supporting the welfare state for the basic necessities of life. The party's main two branches are the social-liberal grouping, and the dominant 'Orange Book' grouping.
Democratic Unionist Party 8 N/A N/A 38 N/A 1 Hardline Unionist and national conservative party in Northern Ireland. Also very socially conservative with close links to Evangelical Protestantism.
Scottish National Party 6[6] 69 N/A N/A N/A 2 102,143 [7] Nationalist, Social-democratic party in favour of Scottish independence from the UK whilst supporting continued pooling of sovereignty in a more integrated and federalised European Union.
Sinn Féin † 5 N/A N/A 29 N/A 1[8] Irish republican party that supports the unification of the island of Ireland as a 32-county Irish republic.
Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales 3[6] N/A 11 N/A N/A 1 8,000 Centre-left party in favour of Welsh independence.
Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 N/A N/A 14 N/A 0 Social-democratic and Irish nationalism party supporting a United Ireland.
UK Independence Party 2 0 0 1 0 23 44,041 [9]
(Mar 2015)		 Populist Eurosceptic party, which favours withdrawal from the European Union, national sovereignty, direct democracy, individual liberty, small government and economic liberalism.
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1 N/A N/A 8 N/A 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 via ELDR.
Green Party of England and Wales 1 N/A 0 N/A 2 3 60,000[10]

(May 2015)

 Green political party. Left-wing to centre-left wing party that favours Eco-socialism[11], Environmentalism[11], Sustainability[11] and Non-Violence[11]. It also takes a progressive approach to social policies such as animal rights, LGBT rights and drug policy reform. [12]
Respect Party 1 0 0 N/A N/A 0 Left-wing and populist party active in Great Britain; concentrates on an anti-war platform.
Ulster Unionist Party 0 N/A N/A 14 N/A 1 Unionist party in Northern Ireland (previously affiliated to the British Conservative Party via the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral arrangement at the 2009 General Election). Is conservative but with liberal factions.
Scottish Green Party 0 2 N/A N/A N/A 0 8,750 [10]

(May 2015)

 Green political party in favour of Scottish independence.
NI21 0 N/A N/A 1 N/A 0 Unionist in Northern Ireland, which advocates progressive and liberal policies, with non-sectarian ideals
Green Party in Northern Ireland 0 N/A N/A 1 N/A 0 406 [10]

(May 2015)

 Green political party in Northern Ireland.
Traditional Unionist Voice 0 N/A N/A 1 N/A 0 Strongly social and national conservative unionist party in Northern Ireland, opposed to the St Andrews Agreement.

†Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the UK House of Commons as they do not to swear allegiance to the crown.

Minor parties

Miscellaneous minor UK parties

Warwick ASOC Party

Minor UK left/far-left parties

Minor UK far-right parties

Minor UK religious parties

Minor English parties

Main article: Politics of England

Minor Scottish parties

Main article: Politics of Scotland

Minor Welsh parties

Main article: Politics of Wales

Minor Northern Irish parties

Joke parties

See Joke political parties in the United Kingdom

Defunct and historical parties in the United Kingdom

Defunct English parties

Defunct Scottish parties

Defunct Welsh parties

Defunct Northern Irish parties

Defunct left-wing parties

Defunct far-right parties

Defunct joke parties

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ John Marshall: Membership of UK political parties; House of Commons, SN/SG/5125; 2009, page 6. www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg-05125.pdf Retrieved 5 January 2012
  2. ↑ "Party Finance - The Electoral Commission : Regulatory issues : Political parties : Registers : Register of political parties". Registers.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  3. ↑ https://pefonline.electoralcommission.org.uk/Search/EntitySearch.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/07/exclusive-tories-announce-tens-thousands-increase-membership-party-conference
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28542408
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru work as a group in the House of Commons
  7. ↑ http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2015/mar/nicola-sturgeons-address-snp-conference
  8. ↑ Sinn Féin have one MEP from a UK constituency and three others from the Republic of Ireland.
  9. ↑ https://twitter.com/oflynnmep/status/580056349872115712
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Membership of the Green Party of England and Wales passes 60,000". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "The Green Party's Core Values". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Green Party - Drug Use". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Bluer, Jordan (2 March 2015). "OpenPolitics: 'Wikipedia-like' manifesto lets YOU decide the agenda". Mancunian Matters. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Something New". OpenElectoralCommission. Retrieved 16 Mar 2015. A mirror of data from the Electoral Commission PEF entity registration search.
  15. ↑ http://leftunity.org/stoke-on-trent-councillor-duncan-walker-why-i-left-labour-and-joined-left-unity/
  16. ↑ Goodwin, Matthew (19 August 2012). "The far right is fragmenting". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Gable, Sonia (8 April 2012). "Britannica Party fields four candidates". Searchlight. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  18. ↑ Beaton, Connor (21 June 2014). "BNP splinter joins anti-indy campaign". The Targe. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  19. ↑ http://eccentricparty.org/
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10 20.11 "List of Political Parties either renamed or deregistered since 2002" (PDF). 16 December 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  21. ↑ "Ex-Tory donor launches Trust Party on expenses pledge". BBC News. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  22. ↑ Boggan, Steve (25 February 1993). "Miss Whiplash faxes by-election promise". The Independent (London). Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  23. ↑ "United Kingdom Unionist Party - Statement of Accounts for 2006" (PDF). Electoral Commission. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-13.

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