Beyond the Duopoly: The Significance and Challenges of Smaller Parties in UK Politics

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Introduction

The landscape of UK politics has long been dominated by the duopoly of the Labour and Conservative parties, with their policies and ideologies shaping the political direction of the UK. The first past-the-post electoral system has traditionally favoured these two major parties, making it challenging for smaller parties to gain significant representation in the House of Commons. Despite this, since the 1970s we have witnessed a notable shift in the political landscape, as smaller parties have demonstrated impact in various ways.

In the post war years from 1945-1974, the United Kingdom’s party system could be accurately described as a classic case of “two-partism”- where competition for votes was almost completely focused on direct confrontation between the two major parties (Sartori, 1976).

At this time, the two main parties being the only significant political players could be explained by a ‘two- class, two- party’ model of politics, with Labour representing working-class interests, whilst Conservatives represented the interests of the middle class. (Webb and Bale 2021)  

Changing trends towards a multi-party system

The two major parties saw their combined average vote share fall from 90.3% between 1945–70, to 73.4% between 1974–2019. (Webb and Bale 2021)

In 2017 there appeared to be a reversal in the trend towards a multi-party system, with Labour and Conservatives collectively obtaining 82.3% of the vote- however the best explanation for this change was the collapse of UKIP in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. 2015 UKIP voters began to defect to the Conservatives, viewing them as the best guarantee of their desired Brexit (Prosser 2018), rather than displaying a true reversion to the trend of the two-party system seen before 1974. (Webb and Bale 2021)

This trend towards a multi-party system could be due to new political interests since 1970, going beyond traditional British patterns of class alignment with the two main parties. (Garnett and Lynch 2012). This increasing complexity of issues reflects the growing pluralism within British society. (Quinn 2013). There has been an increasing call for focus on different issues within politics, such as nationalism, the environment, UK- EU relations etc., meaning the two main parties have increasingly been drawn into conflict over issues which did not align with the “two classes two parties “agenda, leaving a middle ground where smaller parties can more effectively form agendas and solutions.

Smaller parties have often proved instrumental in dealing with these issues, such as Scottish independence (SNP), the environment (Green party), and Brexit (UKIP and the Brexit party). (Webb and Bale 2021)

Issues smaller parties face

The First Past the Post electoral system in the UK makes it challenging for smaller parties to win seats.

Even if a smaller party has a significant share of the vote across multiple constituencies, it may still not win any seats if it doesn’t come first in any specific area. This results that smaller parties do not always gain fair representation: In 2015, UKIP secured 3.9 million votes in the general election, although it only achieved one seat in the House of Commons. (Stamp 2015)

Tactical voting is also common under FPTP, where people vote for a larger party who they know actually has a chance of winning, rather than “wasting” their vote on a smaller party candidate, whom they might actually prefer. (Mellon 2022)

Despite the First Past the Post system being traditionally discriminatory to smaller parties, it can occasionally be manipulated to their advantage. If one of the large parties does not win an overall majority of seats, then it becomes necessary to facilitate agreements with smaller parties to gain enough support in the House of Commons. Recent examples can be seen in the coalition government formed between David Cameron’s Conservatives and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats between 2010–15, and again in 2017-2019 between Theresa May’s Conservatives and Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party. (Webb and Bale 2021)

Conclusion

In post-war Britain, the two-party system provided political stability, facilitating decisive governance and clear policy direction. This was perhaps the most effective form of democracy for the UK at the time, rather than consensus democracy due to the absence of obvious divisions between sections within British society as opposed to elsewhere. (Webb and Bale 2021) However, as modern Britain has evolved, the two partyism of the UK has arguably become outdated.

While FPTP has advantages such as simplicity and clear outcomes, it has obvious issues in terms of fair representation, as smaller parties are at a clear disadvantage as a result of this system. Without a change to the electoral system at Westminster it is unlikely the picture will change for smaller parties, leading to potential problems such as less political diversity and less representation of diverse viewpoints.

References

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Conservative party election poster 1959 (2019) The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2019/09/04/lettersnothing-can-achieved-delaying-brexit-country-crying-election/.

Garnett, M. and Lynch, P. (2012) Exploring British politics. London: Taylor & Francis Group.

Mellon, J., 2022. Tactical Voting and Electoral Pacts in the 2019 UK General Election. Political Studies Review, 20(3), pp.504-516.

Prosser, C., 2018. The strange death of multi-party Britain: the UK General Election of 2017. West European Politics, 41(5), pp.1226-1236.

Quinn, T., 2013. From two-partism to alternating predominance: The changing UK party system, 1950–2010. Political Studies, 61(2), pp.378-400.

Sartori, G. (1976) Parties and party systems: A framework for analysis. Cambirdge, England: Cambridge University.

Stamp, G. (2015) UKIP being ‘cheated’ by voting system, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34368901 (Accessed: 19 February 2024).

Webb, P. and Bale, T. (2021) ‘Parties and the Political System’, in The Modern British Party System. 2nd edn. Oxford Academic.

Composition of the governments working majority, 16 February 2024 (2024) Institute for Government. Institute for Government. Available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/government-majority (Accessed: 18 February 2024).