Minor parties Flashcards
Name some minor parties
SNP Plaid Cymru UKIP DUP Green Party
When was SNP established
1934
When did SNP win its first parliament seat and where
First parliamentary seat at Hamilton by election in 1967
Plaid Cymru dates from ____
1925
When did Plaid Cymru win its first seat in Westminster
Won its first seat at Westminster in 1996 Camarthen by election
Where is Plaid Cymru’s main support
Main support in welsh - speaking North Wales - South Wales = Lab dominated
When was UKIP founded
1993
When was Nigel Farage elected as UKIP leader
2006
What was the Green Party originally known as
PEOPLE - then known as the ecology party - then changed name to GP
When did the Green Party change its name to the Green Party
1985
When was the DUP founded and by who
1971 - by the reverend Ian Paisley
What was the DUP’s priority when it was founded
Priority to keep NI as part of the UK
When it was founded what did the DUP have strong links to
Strong links with the free Presbyterian Church & its social conservatism
Name some significant achievements of the SNP
Before 2015 highest number of MP’s the SNP returned to Westminster had been 11 but in 2015 the SNP won 56 of the 59 Scottish constituencies in the HOC
Became the third biggest party in the HOC following the gen elections of 2010 & 2015
What is a significant achievement of Plaid Cymru
In the 2017 gen election Plaid Cymru won 4 of the 40 welsh parliamentary seats - most it has ever won - influence always minimal at Westminster
What are some significant achievements of UKIP
Little impact until the 2004 EU parliament election when it achieved 16% of the vote - following election of Farage broadened support in EUP among white WC by opposing EU membership & further immigration
Expansion of EU in 2004 & 2007 / flood of east Europeans contributed to electoral success in 2014 EUP elections UKIP beat both Lab & Conserv with 26.6% of the vote + 24 seats
What are some significant achievement of the Green Party
In 1989 Greens achieved 15% in the European Parliament elections
In 2010 Caroline Lucas won Brighton pavilion for the Greens further increasing her share of the vote in 2015 & 2017 gen election - 2015 over a million people voted Green - 3.6% of the vote -
What is a significant achievement of the DUP
In 2005 gen election it became the largest unionist party at Westminster + biggest share of the vote in elections to the Stormont assembly - 28% of the vote
What has the DUP played an indispensable role in
The development of the peace process in NI - initially opposed to power sharing with republican parties
Where is the SNP most powerful
Scotland
What are some policies the SNP has put into place in Scotland
Has maintained free uni tuition policies by not adopting tuition fees that exist elsewhere in the UK
Prescription charges have been abolished
The SNP’s ___ MP’s provide the party with almost _____ times more voting influence than the __ Lib Dem MP’s elected in 2017
45
Three
12
From ____ to _____ Plaid Cymru formed a coalition with ______
2007 to 2011
Labour
How does Lab’s dominant influence over Plaid Cymru affect the party
Lab’s dominant influence ensures that Plaid Cymru’s influence has generally been limited at Westminster and on the Northern assembly
How does Farage add to UKIP’s influence (impact on British politics)
His high profile media presence , plain - speaking , common sense and criticism of establishment politicians
What evidence is there for UKIP’s influence being tiny
Influence still tiny - in 2017 gen election leader Nuttall lost only seat party had support plummeted to 1.8%
How did UKIP fuel Euroscepticism?
By contributing to ref promise made by Conservs
What evidence is there for UKIP helping to determine the 2015 gen election
Lab lost 7 seats to Conserv due to strong showing by UKIP - partisan dealignment - fuelled euroscepticism so conservs ref promise was desirable
How has the Green Party impacted British politics
Encouraging main parties to adopt more environmentally friendly policies in the 2017 gen election - shadow chancellor McDonell announced that the govt’s response to climate required ‘a transformation of our institutions and how our economies run’
What did the previous shadow chancellor McDonell say about the govts response to climate change
Required ‘a transformation of our institutions and how our economies run’
