Evaluate The View That The Lab And Con Party Are The Only Parties That Matter In The Uk Flashcards
Intro
Minor parties stand candidates in elections, but have very little chance of winning themselves.
Some, such as the SNP and Sinn Fein, are nationalist parties which only stand candidates in a
part of the UK, whilst others stand across the UK and seek to have a distinct policy message,
including Reform UK and the Green Party.
Success in elections and fptp
In 2017 and 2019 elections, there was also an increase in the support for the two min parties.
- 2017, lab and con 82.4 percent of the vote, whilst in 2019 they won 75.7 of the vote.
- ukip and reform are perhaps the most striking eg of a smaller party harmed by fptp e.g 2015, ukip won 4 mil vote but 1 seat and in 2024, reform uk won 14.3 per of vote but 1 seat.
Not only does fptp lead a 2 party system despite sig support for minor parties, it also gives the winner a major ‘bonus’ where their seat share significantly outstrips their vote share. E.g - 2024, lab won just 33.7 per of vote, but 63.2 per of the seats.
Ca= minor parties have also had sig success in terms of seat shares in recent elections, especially where they had sig geographically concentrated support
- 2024, lib dems won a record of 72 seats with 12.2 per of the vote. The fact that they increased their num of MPs by 61 show how vulnerable two party dominance is
Reform uk finished 2nd in 2024 elections with 98 seats
Paragraph 2 Ability to play a meaningful role in gov
Majority strong gov allows them to pass laws easily, have always been in govt by end of ww2
Even when in coalition govs, the majority gov dominate gov and policy. E.g= 2010 coalition gov, for example, the conservative party’s austerity policies dominated and the Lib Dem’s weren’t able to keep their promise of not raising uni tuition fees [tripled] devolved powers from NI,Scotland and wales could easily be retraced by a simple act of govt bc of parliamentary sovereignty.
Ca= electoral success in devolved bodies
E.g snp has been in power in Scotland since 2007, and through the Scotland act 1998,2016 has granted them autonomy to make sig policy changes , such as abolishing prescription fees and tuition fees.
In coalition, Lib Dem’s weren’t able able to drive policies such as the 2015 recall of mps act and personal allowance.
Paragraph 3 Impact over policy
Major impact over uk politics and policy
Thatcher was able to implement her New Right philosophy and massively change economic policy by lowering taxes from 83 per to 60 per.
Blair had massive constitutional reform success such as the constitution reform act 2005 and foreign policy such as Iraq war which were all passed by a majority.
Ca- minor parties have sig indirect influence over policy
E.g= use their platform and the media to put pressure on gov over major problems- in many ways they are like pressure groups that use the electoral process to pursue their aims. The Green Party, for example, pressured the gov on topics such as environmentalism and so the tories committed to net zero by 2050. UKIP had influenced brexit and led to the brexit referendum under Cameron ,and may and Johnson made it officially happen in 2020
