ETVT that the Labour and the conservative party are the only parties that matter in the UK Flashcards
The Electoral system makes it so
The FPTP system allows for major parties to dominate the political system and fails to represent smaller parties. We can see this in evidence of the general election outcomes.
Every single government formed since 1945 has been led by either the conservative or the labour party. FPTP favours the two main parties.
There is very poor representation of small parties in FPTP, for example in 2015 UKIP won 12.6% of the vote but failed to win a seat, this is because they couldn’t gain enough support in a single
constituency area, maintains the two-party system, therefore allows for poor representation, whereas the labour party won 30% of the vote and 232 seats.
The constituency system in the UK leads to wasted votes, in 2015 UKIP finished second in 120 seats but due to FPTP these votes will not count to the overall outcome, they are discarded and therefore wasted.
For example, in the 2019 General Election the Green Party received 865,707 seats nationally but only secured one seat.
In 2011, both major parties campaigned against AV during the referendum.
FPTP doesnt reinforce the two party system
Arguably from 1974 onwards the two-party system at general elections has broken down, with the vote share of the two main parties slipping to 74% in 1974.
FPTP has not always given the governing party a majority, in 2010 the conservatives only won 306 seats, falling short of a majority, this forced them into a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.
Devolution has meant third parties have become more important
Devolution has made nationalisation more important, for example the SNP has become a ‘major’ party in Scotland and therefore it is no longer correct to argue these are the only parties that matter.
The Scotland Act 1998, The government of Wales act 1998 and the Good Friday Agreement 1998 devolved numerous powers to the nations of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Doing so has meant smaller parties have far more influence over the UK political system.
As a result, they have power over Scottish policy and legislation, for example as of April 6th the SNP reduced the top rate of tax threshold from £150,000 to £125,000.
Until 2007 the Scottish parliament was controlled by a labour-LibDem coalition, furthermore the Welsh parliament has seen 4 different types of government including a labour-LibDem coalition and a coalition between Labour and Plaid Cymru.
Devolution despite this has not gone far enough
Ultimately parliament is Sovreign, and at Westminster the two largest parties still dominate.
For example, In 2023 Rishi Sunak’s government blocked legislation passed by the SNP and the Scottish parliament that would have made Scotland the first part of the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender.
Westminster used the ‘nuclear option’ and blocked the bill before it reached Royal Assent.
Furthermore, the UK supreme court ruled in 2022 that the Scottish Parliament and the SNP would not be able to call a second referendum without the approval from parliament, the SNP had no power to legislate In this case.
Deoplarisation and less of a idelogically devide
Recently, despite a brief interlude from 2015-2020 under Corbynism, there has been heavy depolarisation in British Politics, parties are no longer as ideologically defined and therefore cover a huge array of politics and topics, to ‘catch’ as many voters they can.
This depolarisation was entrenched by 13 of New Labour where aspects of Neo-Liberalism such as Privatisation, lower taxes and deregulation were policies accepted by both the labour and conservative party.
Change UK Party in 2019. This party saw members ‘cross the floor’ and join it from both the Conservatives (e.g. Sarah Wollaston), Labour (e.g. Chuka Umunna). Following its dissolution, most of these members then joined the Liberal Democrats.
As parties become less ideologically driven, they cover a wider range of issues, such as the conservatives promise to ‘Get Brexit Done’ and reach Net Zero by 2050. Parties such as the SNP, Green party and the Brexit party only have individual focuses and therefore catch a minority of the population.
Small parties still represent smaller issues
In the 2019 General Election the three major parties took differing positions on the central issue of Brexit. The Conservatives promised to ‘Get Brexit Done’, Labour promised a renegotiation and second referendum, whilst the Liberal Democrats promised to simply scrap Brexit.
Party leader Nigel Farage said ‘We want our country back’ and inspired the official slogan of the Brexit campaign ‘Take back control’, arguably had significant influence over the final result of the 2016 referendum to leave the EU.
The SNP is the largest party in Scotland and supports campaigns for the Scottish Independence, after an agreement in the Scottish parliament and Westminster a referendum od independence was held In 2014, which was primarily driven by the SNP.
