Minor Parties (PP 2.3) Flashcards
What are the three “established parties” on the spec, in the UK?
Conservatives
Labour
Liberal Democrats
What is a broad definition of a ‘major party’?
- Broad geographic base of representation, across England, Wales and Scotland
- More than a handful of MPs
What are the two main parties that run in Northern Ireland?
- DUP (unionist party with seats in the HoC; Catholic)
- Sinn Fein (nationalist; wins seats in Westminster but does not take them up; Protestant)
What could a ‘minor party’ be seen as, in contrast to a major party, and give examples for each point on minor parties)
- Very few MPs, or none at all (i.e. Greens, Reform)
- Regional parties (i.e. SNP, DUP, Plaid Cyrmu)
As of the 2024 election, how many parties were registered?
394
What are the biggest minor parties?
- Green Party (England and Wales)
- SNP (S)
- Plaid Cyrmu (W)
- UKIP
- Reform
- DUP (N.I)
- Sinn Fein (N.I)
- SDLP (N.I)
- Scottish Green Party (S)
- Alliance (N.I)
What smaller parties have won seats in Parliament?
- From 1970, SNP began winning seats in general elections (but until 2015, very few)
- From 1974, Plaid Cyrmu has won seats in Wales (also few)
- Greens won a single seat in 2010; four in 2024
- UKIP won a seat in 2015; Reform won 5 in 2024
What are the ways that a minor party can have an impact?
- In devolved and local governments
- By supporting a major party
- Impacting on election result by taking votes away
- Changing the political landscape
How do minor parties have an impact in Scotland?
SNP has been the governing party in Scotland since 2007
How do minor parties have an impact in Wales?
Although Labour has been the biggest party in the Welsh Assembly since its inception, it has relied on agreements / coalitions with Plaid Cymru and the LibDems.
How did the rise of SNP from 2010 onwards impact the Labour, and how did this change in 2024?
- Was at the cost of Labour, which used to have a large majority of MPs sent to the House of Commons from Scottish seats.
> 2024 election showed when Labour was winning nationally, it was able to win back a significant chunk of the seats it had last in 2015.
How can minor parties have an impact by supporting a major party to form a government?
2017-19 Conservative government
> Needed a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP, who wanted something in return.
> Came in the form of a £1 billion package worth of extra spending for the Northern Irish government.
What impact did SNP have in 2014?
- By winning a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP were able to claim that they presented the will of the Scottish people and were able to demand a referendum on Scottish independence.
> Held in 2014, and the vote was lost (45/55)
> Independence remains a possibility
What impact did UKIP/Reform have on the Conservative Party, and why was this ironic?
- UKIP’s impact was in taking votes off other parties (only one one seat ever), mainly the Conservatives.
> While Reform UK were more successful in 2014, wining five MPs, there main impact was again winning votes off the Conservatives.
> This has destabilised the Conservatives.
What was the impact of Reform in the 2024 election?
In 2024, Reform UK were boosted by the votes of previous Conservative supporters, adding to their low vote of 24%.
> It also meant that they lost many seats to Labour and the LibDems, leading to their worst election result ever.
What was UKIP’s impact in the 2015 election?
UKIP won 13% of the vote in 2015
> Likely to have been drawn more from Conservative voters (around 4 percentage point is likely to have come from the Conservatives, and only 1 percentage point from Labour)
> Without UKIP, its possible that the Conservatives would have won 40% of the vote and Labour 31%. This meant that although the Conservatives won, they had only a small (ten seat) majority.
> Without UKIP their majority may have been larger (perhaps thirty seats).
What impact is Reform having on the Conservative Party?
It could be argued that the success that Reform UK had in the 2024 election is starting to have a similar effect, pulling the Conservatives (and to a degree) further towards the right on some issues, especially immigration
What could be argued about UKIP?
It could be said that UKIP have been the most influential party in British politics in the last thirty years.
How did UKIP eventually end up completely altering the political landscape?
- They kept the question of Britain’s relationship with the EU on the political agenda.
> In an attempt to stem this loss of support to UKIP, the Conservative leader David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union if the Conservatives won the 2015 general election.
When was Reform UK founded, by who, and why?
Reform UK was formed in 2018 as the Brexit Party.
> It was formed by Nigel Farage as the successor to UKIP which had campaigned for Britain to leave the EU.
> The Brexit Party’s main policy was for a “no deal” Brexit which would mean Britain cutting all ties with the EU.
What was the impact of the Brexit Party (now Reform) in 2019?
- In the 2019 European Parliament election, the Brexit Party won the most votes with 31%, pushing the Conservative Party towards a harder Brexit.
- In the 2019 General Election, the Brexit Party did not stand against any sitting Conservative MPs and stood in less than half of UK constituencies.
> Nationally they won only 2% of the vote (but won more votes in the seats they contested) and did not come close to winning any seats.
> Johnson’s victory in the 2019 General Election was a victory for the Brexit Party’s politics.
What are the core ideas of Reform UK (aligning with right-wing populism)?
Populism
Nationalism; anti-immigration
Anti-EU, and against international bodies
Libertarianism (individual liberty, negative freedom)
Anti-environmentalism
Social conservativism and fiscal conservatism
What are the economic policies of Reform UK, as listed in their 2024 election manifesto?
Reduce All Taxes.
> Reform UK are a low tax party.
> In favour of no-one paying income tax on the first £20,000 of their income (neo-liberal idea that lowering tax will boost economic growth.)
> Propose to pay for this by increasing government borrowing in the short term (and believe that economic growth will make this unnecessary in the long term); similar to Liz Truss disaster
Reducing Energy Costs.
> Increase the use of gas, coal, oil and nuclear
> Plan to shut down renewable energy
> Use of fracking
What are the welfare policies of Reform UK, as listed in their 2024 election manifesto?
Education.
> Removing “woke” teaching methods especially anything that looks critically at racism or gender.
End waiting lists for the NHS.
> Much greater spending on the NHS (without much substance into how)
What are other policies of Reform UK, as listed in their 2024 election manifesto?
Harsh immigration policies
> Reform promises to stop all boats crossing the Channel and immediately detain and deport all irregular migrants, along with other measures to minimise migration.
When was the SNP founded and why was it formed?
- Formed in 1934
- Main purpose is to lead Scotland out of the UK and into independence
Who are the most notable leaders of the SNP, and why?
Alex Salmond (1990-2000; 2004-2014)
> Two stints, a combined two decades of service
> Organised the 2014 referendum
Nicola Sturgeon (2014-2023)
> Led the party to several electoral successes and was a prominent advocate for a second independence referendum.
Humza Yousaf (2023–)
> The current leader, focusing on navigating post-Sturgeon politics and pursuing the goal of Scottish independence.
What are the core ideas of the SNP?
- Scottish independence
> Failing this, they want as much power to the devolved Scottish government as possible - Broadly a moderate social democratic party; on the left-wing
What are the economic policies of the SNP?
Economic policy is to the left
> Has taken the railways in Scotland back into public ownership
> Has raised taxes for higher earners to pay for better public services.
What are the welfare policies of the SNP?
- Strong commitment to diversity and multiculturalism.
> Fairly open to immigration
> Strong policies on LGBTQ and has recently come into conflict with the UK government on transgender rights - Strong commitment to the welfare state.
> Strongly committed to state health care and education.
> No charges for prescriptions in Scotland and students do not pay tuition fees.
What is the foreign policy of the SNP?
- SNP remain strongly committed to membership of the EU
- Accepts the UK’s membership of NATO
- Accepts Atlanticism
