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The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties lists the details of political parties registered to contest elections in the United Kingdom, including their registered name. Under current electoral law, including the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998, 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 29 April 2024, the Electoral Commission showed the number of registered political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as 391.
Before the middle of the 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. The concept of right and left came originally from France, where the supporters of a monarchy (constitutional or absolute) sat on the right wing of the National Assembly, and republicans on the left. In the late 19th century, the Liberal Party began to lean towards the left. Liberal Unionists split off from the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and moved closer to the Conservatives over time.
The Liberals 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, which 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 as other parties have significant support. The Liberal Democrats were the third largest party until the 2015 general election when they were overtaken by the Scottish National Party in terms of seats and UK political party membership, and by the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in terms of votes.
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. In the 2015 election, there was widespread controversy when the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Green Party of England and Wales received 4.9 million votes (12.6% of the total vote for UKIP and 3.8% for the Greens) yet only gained one seat each in the House of Commons. After that election, UKIP, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, and the Green Party of England and Wales, together with its Scottish and Northern Ireland affiliated parties, delivered a petition signed by 477,000 people to Downing Street demanding electoral reform.
Since 1997, proportional representation-based voting systems have been adopted for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), the Northern Ireland Assembly, the London Assembly and (until Brexit in 2020) 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% of the electorate) to 2005 (1.3%).
There are a number of political parties in the United Kingdom that do not have representation in the House of Commons, but have elected representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament These are:
Party | Founded | Political position | Ideology | Leader | House of Lords |
Holyrood | Stormont | Local government | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) | 1905 | Centre-right | British unionism Conservatism |
Doug Beattie | 2 / 824 [Note 10]
|
— | 9 / 90
|
54 / 19,103
| |
Scottish Greens | 1990 | Centre-left to left-wing |
Green politics Scottish independence Scottish republicanism |
Patrick Harvie, Lorna Slater (job share) |
— | 7 / 129
|
— | 35 / 19,103
| |
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) | 2007 | Right-wing | British unionism National conservatism Social conservatism Euroscepticism |
Jim Allister | — | — | 1 / 90
|
9 / 19,103
| |
People Before Profit (PBP) | 2005 | Left-wing to far-left | Socialism Trotskyism Anti-capitalism Irish reunification |
Eamonn McCann[Note 11] | — | — | 1 / 90
|
2 / 19,103
|
Party | Description | |
---|---|---|
Conservative and Unionist Party | A party loosely divided into three categories; the Thatcherites, who strongly support a free market with restrained government spending and tend to be Eurosceptic, the Cornerstone Group, who advocate for the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles, and the One Nation Conservatives. | |
Labour Party | A social democratic party with democratic socialist elements that has its roots in the trade union movement. The party has several internal factions, which include: Momentum, Open Labour, Progressive Britain, Blue Labour, and the Labour members standing jointly with the Co-operative Party (as Labour and Co-operative). | |
Co-operative Party | A party that promotes cooperative principles and values and provides political representation for the British co-operative movement. Since 1927 has been in an electoral alliance with the Labour party, standing joint candidates (under the Labour and Co-operative description). | |
Scottish National Party | Scottish nationalist and social democratic party which supports Scottish independence and membership of the European Union or further devolution for Scotland. | |
Liberal Democrats | A liberal party; its main branches are social liberals based around groups such as "Social Liberal Forum", and the more centrist "Liberal Reform" grouping, which believes that economic liberalism should be emphasised more. There is also a social democratic faction and influence within the party. | |
Democratic Unionist Party | British Unionist and socially conservative, national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. | |
Sinn Féin | Irish republican party dedicated to the reunification of Ireland and the creation of a new republic based on democratic socialist values. | |
Plaid Cymru | Democratic socialist, social democratic, Welsh nationalist party in favour of Welsh independence or further devolution for Wales. | |
Social Democratic and Labour Party | Irish nationalist and social-democratic party supporting a United Ireland. | |
Alba Party | A pro-Scottish independence and Scottish nationalist party founded in February 2021. | |
Green Party of England and Wales | Green political party that favours environmentalism, progressivism and sustainability. | |
Scottish Greens | Green political party in favour of Scottish independence and Scottish republicanism. | |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | Liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. | |
Reform UK | A right-wing populist and Eurosceptic party, led by businessman and former long-time Conservative Party donor and member, Richard Tice. | |
Workers Party of Britain | A socialist, socially conservative and Eurosceptic party led by former Labour and Respect MP, George Galloway. | |
Ulster Unionist Party | A conservative and Unionist party in Northern Ireland. | |
Traditional Unionist Voice | Strongly social and national conservative unionist party in Northern Ireland. | |
People Before Profit | A socialist and Trotskyist party that is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. |
Party | Founded | Political position | Ideology | Leader | Local authorities | Councillors | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Party | 1989 | Centre | Liberalism (British), Euroscepticism | Steve Radford | Liverpool, North Yorkshire, Test Valley | 5 | |
Social Democratic Party (SDP) | 1990 | Fiscal: Centre-left Social: Centre-right |
Social democracy, social conservatism, communitarianism, Euroscepticism | William Clouston | Leeds City Council | 2 | |
Climate Party | 2022 | Centre-right | Green conservatism | Edmund Gemmell | Buckinghamshire Council | 1 | |
National Flood Prevention Party | 2011 | — | Single-issue | Ewan Larcombe | Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council | 1 | |
Party of Women | 2023 | — | Radical feminism, gender-critical feminism, transphobia | Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull | Cheshire West and Chester Council | 1 | |
Social Justice | 2023 | Left-wing | Environmentalism, democratic socialism | Simon Chester | North Yorkshire Council | 1 |
This is a table of notable minor parties. Many parties are registered with the Electoral Commission but do not qualify for this list as they have not received significant independent coverage. Parties active across Ireland may have representation in the Republic of Ireland but not Northern Ireland.