Politics of the United Kingdom

The politics of the United Kingdom are based upon a unitary state and a constitutional monarchy. Its system of government (often known as the Westminster system) has been adopted by other countries, such as Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Jamaica.

Political parties

There are three main political parties in the United Kingdom, although it is worth noting that in Northern Ireland, where politics is dominated by the 'border question', none of these parties has a strong following and the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats do not stand candidates. Between them, the three main British political parties have, in one form or another, held power since 1678.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - 1678

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The main parties outside Northern Ireland are:

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• The Labour Party
• The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party)
• The Liberal Democrats

The last General Election for the House of Commons was held on May 5, 2005. The results are listed below.

Related Topics:
General Election - May 5, 2005

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(Note - Numerous other political parties received votes but failed to win any seats.)

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• Labour, 35.2% (356 seats, 47 fewer than in 2001) - led by Tony Blair
• The Conservatives, 32.3% (197 seats, 33 more than in 2001) - led by Michael Howard
• The Liberal Democrats, 22.0% (62 seats, 11 more than in 2001) - led by Charles Kennedy
• Others, 10.5% (30 seats)
• Democratic Unionist Party (9 seats, 4 more than in 2001) - led by Rev. Ian Paisley
• Scottish National Party (6 seats, 2 more than in 2001) - led by Alex Salmond
• Sinn Féin (5 seats, 4 more than in 2001) - led by Gerry Adams.
• Note - Sinn Féin's elected members of parliament refuse to take their seats, citing the requirement to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch.
• Plaid Cymru (3 seats, 1 fewer than in 2001) - led by Dafydd Iwan
• Social Democratic and Labour Party (3 seats) - led by Mark Durkan
• Ulster Unionist Party (1 seat, 5 fewer than in 2001) - led by Reg Empey
• Respect (1 seat) - led by George Galloway
• Independent "Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern" Richard Taylor keeps his seat from 2001
• Independent Peter Law wins the constituency of Blaenau Gwent

Two parties have no seats in Parliament, but multiple seats in the European Parliament

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• Green Party
• United Kingdom Independence Party

Veritas has one MEP, its founder and former leader Robert Kilroy Silk, though he was elected for UKIP (which he later left). A number of other parties have local councillors such as the Liberal Party (in Kidderminster), Mebyon Kernow (Cornish nationalist party) in Cornwall, Scottish Socialist Party (Glasgow) and the Communist Left Alliance (in Fife). The British National Party (BNP) has councillors in a number of towns such as Burnley and, though having no seats in Parliament, achieved some good results in the 2005 election and 5 percent of the national vote in 2004 European Elections.

Related Topics:
Veritas - MEP - Robert Kilroy Silk - Liberal Party - Mebyon Kernow - Scottish Socialist Party - Left Alliance - British National Party - Burnley

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History of political parties

UK political parties originated in 1662 in the aftermath of the English Civil War, with the creation of the Court Party and the Country Party, soon becoming known as the Tories (now the Conservative party, still commonly referred to as 'the Tories') and the Whigs (now the Liberal Democrats, though the term 'Whig' has become obsolete). The two remained the main political parties until the 20th century.

Related Topics:
1662 - English Civil War - Tories - Whigs - 20th century

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The term 'Tory' originates from the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678-1681 - the Whigs were those who supported the exclusion of the Roman Catholic Duke of York from the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Tories were those who opposed it. Both names were originally insults: a "whiggamor" was a cattle driver, and a "tory" was an Irish term for an outlaw.

Related Topics:
1678 - 1681 - Duke of York - Irish

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Generally, the Tories were associated with lesser gentry and the Church of England, while Whigs were more associated with trade, money, larger land holders (or "land magnates"), expansion and tolerance. Both were still committed to the political system in place at that time. Neither group could be considered a true political party in the modern sense.

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The Rochdale Radicals were a group of more extreme reformists who were also heavily involved in the Cooperative movement. They sought to bring about a more equal society, and are considered by modern standards to be left-wing.

Related Topics:
Radicals - Cooperative

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After becoming associated with repression of popular discontent in the years after 1815, the Tories underwent a fundamental transformation under the influence of Robert Peel, himself an industrialist rather than a landowner, who in his 1835 "Tamworth manifesto" outlined a new "Conservative" philosophy of reforming ills while conserving the good.

Related Topics:
1815 - Robert Peel - 1835

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Though Peel's supporters subsequently split from their colleagues over the issue of free trade in 1846, ultimately joining the Whigs and the Radicals to form what would become the Liberal Party, Peel's version of the party's underlying outlook was retained by the remaining Tories, who adopted his label of Conservative as the official name of their party.

Related Topics:
1846 - Radicals - Liberal Party

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The term 'Liberal Party' was first used officially in 1868, though it had been in use colloquially for decades beforehand. The Liberal Party formed a government in 1870 and then alternated with the Conservative Party as the party of government throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Related Topics:
Liberal Party - 1868 - 1870 - 19th century - 20th century

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The Irish Parliamentary Party was set up to replace the Home Rule League in 1882. It remained the third-largest party in British politics until 1918, often holding the balance of power.

Related Topics:
Irish Parliamentary Party - Home Rule League - 1882 - 1918 - Balance of power

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In 1900, the Labour Representation Committee was established and it changed its name to The Labour Party in 1906. After the First World War, this led to the demise of the Liberal Party as the main liberal force in British politics. The existence of the Labour Party on the left of British politics led to a slow waning of energy from the Liberal Party, ending with it taking third place in national politics. After performing poorly in the elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924, the Liberal Party was superseded by the Labour Party as the party of the left.

Related Topics:
1900 - Labour Representation Committee - 1906 - First World War - 1922 - 1923 - 1924

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Following two brief spells in minority governments in 1924 and 1929-1931, the Labour Party had its first true victory after World War II in the 1945 "khaki election". Throughout the rest of the twentieth century, Labour governments alternated with Conservative governments. The Conservatives were in power for most of the time, with the Labour Party suffering the "wilderness years" of 1951-1964 (three straight General Election defeats) and 1979-1997 (four straight General Election defeats).

Related Topics:
1924 - 1929 - 1931 - World War II - 1945 - Khaki election - 1951 - 1964 - 1979 - 1997

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During this second period, Margaret Thatcher, who became leader of the Conservative party in 1975, made a fundamental change to Conservative policies, turning the Conservative Party into a staunch right-wing party. In the General Election of 1979 she defeated James Callaghan's troubled Labour government after the winter of discontent.

Related Topics:
Margaret Thatcher - 1975 - General Election of 1979 - James Callaghan - Winter of discontent

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For most of the 1980s, and the 1990s under her successor John Major, Conservative governments pursued policies of privatisation, anti-trade-unionism, and Monetarism, now known collectively as Thatcherism.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1990s - John Major - Privatisation - Trade-union - Monetarism - Thatcherism

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The Labour Party elected staunch left-winger Michael Foot as their leader after their 1979 election defeat, and he responded to Margaret Thatcher's government by moving the party further to the left, a move which split the party and is widely believed to have made Labour unelectable for a decade.

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In response to Labour's leftward shift, some moderate members formed a breakaway group in 1981, called the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP formed an alliance with the Liberal Party which contested the 1983 and 1987 general elections as a centrist alternative to Labour and the Conservatives. After some initial success, the SDP did not prosper, and was accused by some of splitting the anti-Conservative vote.

Related Topics:
1981 - Social Democratic Party - 1983 - 1987

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The SDP eventually merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats in 1988. Support for the new party has increased since then, and the Liberal Democrats (often referred to as LibDems) in 1997 and 2001 gained an increased number of seats in the House of Commons.

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Labour were badly defeated by the Conservatives in the general election of 1983 and Michael Foot was replaced by the more moderate Neil Kinnock as leader of the Labour Party. Kinnock expelled the far left-wing Militant Tendency group, and moderated many of the party's policies. He was replaced by John Smith after Labour's narrow defeat in the 1992 general election.

Related Topics:
General election of 1983 - Neil Kinnock - Militant Tendency - John Smith - 1992 general election

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Tony Blair became leader of the Labour party after John Smith's sudden death from a heart attack in 1994. He continued to move the Labour Party back towards the centre (his critics would say to the centre-right, but most of them said the same about Kinnock and Smith) by loosening links with the unions and dropping policies such as unilateral nuclear disarmament. This, coupled with the professionalising of the party machine's approach to the media, helped Labour win the 1997 General Election with a historic landslide result. The Labour Party has moved from being a social democratic party to a radical socialist party, to being a social democratic party again.

Related Topics:
Tony Blair - Kinnock - Smith - Union - Nuclear disarmament - Profession - 1997 General Election - Social democratic - Socialist

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Political landscape today

The Labour Party consolidated its position in 2001, winning a full second term - a first-time achievement for the Labour Party.

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This led to a crisis of confidence in the Conservative Party, which had become complacent with its position as the 'natural party of government' after its 18 years of power. The party's drift to the right lost it nearly all its working-class voters, and its ageing membership (average age 65) and vote (third party among the under 45s) mean that avoiding extinction became a higher priority than winning an election. However, with Labour's recent drop in popularity in 2003-2004 coinciding with Conservatives appointing Michael Howard as leader, the Conservatives appeared to have begun to recover their position as serious challengers to the Labour government. However, Tony Blair's party secured a majority for the third time in May 2005, albeit with a greatly reduced majority.

Related Topics:
Michael Howard - 2005

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"Regional" parties in Great Britain

Other, smaller, British political parties are generally "regionally" based, often advocating independence for their country or region. They include

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• Mebyon Kernow (Sons of Cornwall)
• Cornish Nationalist Party
• Scottish National Party (advocating independent Scottish statehood within the EU)
• Scottish Socialist Party (campaigning for a socialist Scottish republic)
• Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist Party)

Several of these parties contest only within a specific area, sometimes a single County, Borough or District. Examples include the Better Bedford party, one of the dominant parties in Bedford Borough Council, led by Bedford's current Mayor, Frank Branston.

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The fringe parties

Other political parties exist, but generally do not succeed in returning MPs to Parliament. There is a tendency on the far left and right for a proliferation of tiny groups (also known by the French term 'groupuscules'), sometimes characterized by extremely rigid ideologies and built around personalities, that are constantly splitting to create new groups.

Related Topics:
Political parties - Parliament - Groupuscule

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Among them is the anti-immigration British National Party.

Related Topics:
Immigration - British National Party

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However, in the European Parliament, the Green Party cannot be regarded as a fringe group, as they are members of the substantial pan-European Green group.

Related Topics:
European Parliament - Green Party

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Independents

There are also a few independent politicians with no party allegiance. This normally occurs only when an MP decides to break with his party in mid-session. Since the Second World War only three MPs have been elected as independents, though others have been elected after breaking away from their party:

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• Martin Bell represented the Tatton constituency in Cheshire between 1997 and 2001. He was elected following a "sleaze" scandal involving the sitting Conservative MP, Neil Hamilton -- Bell, a BBC journalist, stood as an anticorruption independent candidate, and the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties withdrew their candidates from the election.
• Dr. Richard Taylor MP was elected for the Wyre Forest constituency in the 2001 and 2005 elections, on a platform opposing the closure of Kidderminster hospital.
• Peter Law MP was elected for the Blaenau Gwent constituency in the 2005 election. He stood in protest of Labour's all-women shortlist for candidates.