Two-Party System

Question 1

what is the debate over the two major parties and the two-party system?

Answer 1

in the UK, the two major parties are undeniably the Conservative Party and Labour Party, who have dominated the political system for decades

however, whether they still remain the dominant force in UK politics and whether the UK still has a two-party system is widely debated

Question 2

arguments to suggest that the two major parties continue to dominate and there is still a two-party system

Answer 2

FPTP maintains their dominance

they have larger memberships than the other parties

even when disillusionment leads to smaller parties rising, this seems to be temporary

Question 3

arguments to suggest that the two major parties no longer dominate and there no longer a two-party system

Answer 3

FPTP has not produced strong majorities in recent years as more votes seem to be going towards smaller parties

the membership of smaller parties is rapidly increasing

disillusionment with the major parties is growing

Question 4

conclusion

Answer 4

overall, while smaller parties may have grown they have no yet reached a point that seems to genuinely challenge the dominance of the major parties

therefore, it is clear that the major parties still remain the dominant force in UK politics

Question 5

FPTP maintains their dominance: fosters a two party system where only the major parties have any real chance of being elected

Answer 5

FPTP fosters a two party system where only the major parties stand any real chance of being elected

for instance, in the 2010 general election, the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties won every seat except one in England

moreover, even when the Conservative opposition had their vote radically reduced in 1997, they still easily formed the official opposition

Question 6

FPTP maintains their dominance: the reality for smaller parties is that…

Answer 6

the harsh truth of the FPTP electoral system therefore seems to be that smaller parties stand no real chance of getting enough seats to make a difference

a minor party has to get 30% of the vote nationally or have a strong concentration of votes in certain regions known as heartlands to make any impact

but this is a formidable task because under FPTP the major parties have numerous safe seats and heartlands where other parties cannot have an impact, whereas the minor parties have a dispersal of votes across the country rather than dominating certain constituencies

Question 7

FPTP maintains their dominance: examples of small parties receiving a lot of votes but not many seats

Answer 7

UKIP and the Green Party received over 5 million votes in 2015, but only received 2 seats between them because these votes were not concentrated

this is exactly why, throughout British political history, only the major parties have been in power despite the numerous smaller parties that continue to emerge

minor parties will never dominate Westminster, so the pattern of two-party domination will be likely to continue unless the FPTP voting system is reformed, but there seems little appetite for this

Question 8

under FPTP the major parties no longer dominate: FPTP has not been producing strong majorities in recent years

Answer 8

FPTP has not been producing strong majorities in recent years because smaller parties are rising in significance and gaining more electoral support, thus challenging the dominance of the major parties

no single party has been in office with a clear majority, except in 2015 but even this was only a 12 seat majority

for example, in 2010, the Conservatives had to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats because they were 20 seats short of a majority

Question 9

under FPTP the major parties no longer dominate: what can the major parties no longer be sure of?

Answer 9

it seems that the major parties can no longer assure themselves that they will take turns in holding power as a hung Parliament is a more likely outcome, meaning that the major parties may have to broker power with minority parties in order to form a government

this is what occurred after the 2017 election, in which the Conservatives were 8 seats short of a majority, resulting in a hung Parliament and had to form a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP

Question 10

under FPTP the major parties no longer dominate: what happens in the event of a hung parliament?

Answer 10

in the event that a government has a small majority or no majority at all, they tend to be seen as weak and unstable

for example, Theresa May has been severely undermined throughout the Brexit process

her lack of a majority has caused undeniable problems with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, problems that may have been much easier to maintain and control had she had a majority in the Commons

this suggests that the major parties are no longer the dominant force in the political system as they can no longer secure strong independent majorities or form governments without the assistance of smaller parties

Question 11

under FPTP the major parties no longer dominate: conclusion about FPTP

Answer 11

overall, while the strength of the major parties under FPTP may be weakening, they are still securing more votes and seats than the minor parties and have managed to hold onto power even in the event of weak or no majorities

therefore, the major parties have not yet been sufficiently challenged, so it can be argued that the major parties still remain the dominant force in UK politics

Question 12

party membership: membership of major parties declining

Answer 12

membership of smaller parties is rising which challenges the major parties and suggests that they are not the dominant force in UK politics

only 1.6% of the electorate now belong to one of the three main UK parties, which fell from 3.8% in the 1980s

in particular, the Conservative Party have seen a rapid drop in membership within this period, from having 400,000 members in the mid-1990s to only around 150,000 by 2016

Question 13

party membership: rising membership of smaller parties

Answer 13

there has been a profound increase in the membership of smaller parties

SNP - in 2013 only had a membership of 25,000, but in 2016 this rose to 120,000 and as of 2018, it now has more members than the Conservative Party

the Green Party only had 13,000 members in 2013, but by 2016 this had risen to 55,000

Question 14

party membership: membership of major parties is rising

Answer 14

while minor parties are growing in significance, the major parties still dominate because the membership of the other major parties continues to rise

Labour witnessed a huge rise in membership, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader, from 190,000 when Labour was last in government to 515,000 in 2016 – known as the Corbyn effect

membership of the Liberal Democrats also increased from 49,000 during the 2010-15 coalition to over 82,000 by 2017

Question 15

party membership: major parties still have more members

Answer 15

the membership of largest parties are also still much larger than smaller parties

for example, the Conservative Party still has 124,000 members and Labour has 540,000 members as of 2018

as opposed to the Green Party’s 55,000 members and UKIP’s 23,600 members

Question 16

disillusionment with major parties: support for minor parties is temporary

Answer 16

while the electorate has displayed signs of switching their support to minor parties on certain issues, particularly if they feel disillusioned with how the major parties are treating the issue, this support seems to eventually diminish which points to the continued dominance of the major parties

only the major parties can offer voters cohesive policies on governing the UK, whereas minor parties tend to ‘come and go’ depending on political trends of the time – the major parties are far more established and permanent

Question 17

disillusionment with major parties: support for minor parties is temporary (UKIP example)

Answer 17

minor parties, such as UKIP will fade away, largely because they are constructed on a single issue and once that issue has been decided they lose their cause to exist

for instance, in 2015 UKIP won over 3.8 million votes because they had surged in popularity among those who felt frustrated with the way that the Conservative Party leadership seemed to be avoiding the issue of Britain’s membership of the EU

but in 2017, once the Brexit referendum had been held and Britain had begun the process of leaving the EU, UKIP dropped in popularity and only secured around 600,000 votes

Question 18

disillusionment with major parties: continued disillusionment and frustration

Answer 18

disillusionment with the major parties is so profound that they can no longer be said to be the dominant forces in UK politics

in fact, the trend of support for minor parties is likely to continue rather than decline, as the electorate has broken away from its normal voting pattern and grown frustrated with the major parties

Question 19

disillusionment with major parties: Brexit Party and Change UK

Answer 19

continued disillusionment can be seen clearly in 2019 with the emergence of the Brexit Party and Change UK, who are both frustrated with how the Brexit process is being handled and have broken away from the major parties as independent groups to begin their own campaigns

Question 20

disillusionment with major parties: 2019 EU Parliament elections

Answer 20

the decisive rejection of the major parties in the 2019 EU Parliament elections can be seen as evidence that the electorate also shares this frustration with the major parties

the Brexit Party won around 30% of the vote, while the Liberal Democrats came second with around 19% of the vote

whereas the Labour Party only secured 13% and the Conservatives were embarrassingly defeated, only securing around 9% of the vote

this illustrates the fact that growing disillusionment with the major parties is leading to clear defeats and decisive rejections in favour of smaller parties, suggesting that the major parties are not the dominant forces in UK politics anymore