Does the UK predominantly operate within a two-party political system?
The stated question of whether the UK predominantly operates within a two-party system has been a heavily challenged area of debate at the centre of British Politics. However, beneath the suggested two-party domination of Conservative and Labour, there is a much more intricate foundation attached to British politics that is made up of several emerging parties in recent years such as the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), the Liberal Democrats and UKIP at the forefront of this progression.
The most obvious cause and reinforcement for a two-party system in the UK is due to its “First-Past-the-post” (FPTP) electoral system. It’s winner takes all style ensures that parties can reach power despite not having the majority of votes. This can be very harmful to smaller parties, as King suggests the system effectively reduces “the number of political parties to two , since voters do not want to waste their votes on parties that have no chance of forming a government” (King, 1982, p.272) .Thus supporting the notion of ‘strategic voting’ , in which people feel the only way their vote can count , is if in support of one of the two major parties .With many under the impression that a vote for a smaller party is merely a wasted vote it becomes increasingly harder for them to breakthrough and have any sort of impact politically without enough voter support. This can be evidenced through the 2015 General election, in which the misrepresentation of minority parties as a result of FPTP is highlighted. As Ghose notes upon the fact the “Greens and UKIP won nearly five million votes but received just two seats between them” (Ghose,2015) thus proving the clear struggle for minority parties to transfer their popular vote into parliamentary seats as a consequence of FPTP.
However, the role of small parties in UK politics should not be underestimated. The UKIP demonstrated such in context of the Brexit referendum. As Downes suggests “The notion that mainstream parties are perceived to be weak on policy issues such as immigration arguably leads to direct political capital for UKIP.” (Downes, 2013). UKIP were effectively able to recognise public concern over immigration and exploit these insecurities in their favour. Despite not being elected UKIP were able to directly impact and shape the outcome of possibly the UK’s most divisive referendum in recent history. In several ways UKIP were able to set the agenda of many minority parties following the referendum, as through placing wider emphasis on singular issues such as immigration and exposing larger parties shortcomings they can provide the public with potential alternatives.
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The 2010 General Election and the Coalition:
In addition to this there has been a blatant display of public disapproval toward both the Labour party and the Conservatives in recent years. A turning point in politics for this disapproval can be seen in the 2010 General election which resulted in a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. As Martin and Vanberg recognise the historic enormity of this achievement by emphasising on the fact “for the first time since World War II, a coalition government assumed power in the United Kingdom” (Martin and Vanberg, 2020, p.325) Liberal Democrat success is also evidenced by Parker who appreciates that same sex marriage legislation in the UK could not have been secured without “Lib Dem support” (Parker, 2015) further enhancing Liberal Democrat influence in the coalition government. The coalition of 2010 ultimately, challenges the perception that the UK predominantly operates in a two-party system as despite not being one of the two largest parties, the Liberal Democrats were still able to carry out their Parliamentary function and influence policymaking.
figure 2 by David Sanders showcasing the clear increase in voter support for SNP since 2010
Alongside the fact following the 2010 election the SNP have accumulated 43 seats in Westminster whilst the percentage of votes for Conservatives and Labour continues to decline, one can infer that the UK is potentially heading toward a more multi-party system.
Politically Fragmented?
However, despite the progression in some aspects for minority parties, the UK still is yet to be clearly defined as a ‘multi-party system’, as aforementioned this is due to the plurality electoral system in the form of FPTP. Minority parties in the UK will ultimately struggle to impose themselves on British political elections as long as FPTP remains in place and consequently the UK can best be defined as being politically fragmented.
Bibliography:
Downes, J. (2013). What Explains the Rise of Minor Parties in British General Elections since 1997? 2 This article is CC BY. James Downes Essex Student Journal, [online] 6(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.5526/esj66.
Ghose, K. (2015). The 2015 General Election: A Voting System in Crisis. [online] www.electoral-reform.org.uk. Available at: https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/publications/the-2015-general-election-report/#sub-section-2.
KING, A. (1982). SHOULD WE CHANGE THE BRITISH ELECTORAL SYSTEM? Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, [online] 130(5309), p.272. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41373377.
Martin, L.W. and Vanberg, G. (2020). Coalition Government, Legislative Institutions, and Public Policy in Parliamentary Democracies. American Journal of Political Science, [online] 64(2), p.325. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45295317?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A96bb8e7027592f621b1332be481c3258&seq=1.
Parker, G. (2015). Highs and lows of the UK’s coalition government. [online] @FinancialTimes. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/45f73818-d17e-11e4-ad3a-00144feab7de.
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The illustration of the UK as a two-party political system by the author is a more than reasonable, since the premiership of Ramsay MacDonald in 1928 every single Prime Minister has been from either the Labour or Conservative party (Laundy, 1958). As the author explains the exception to this would be the 2010-15 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. As the author investigates, the coalition showed that smaller parties had the ability to influence policy. However, this point could have been expanded upon by a more nuanced example of a smaller party influencing governmental policy and breaking the two-party system, for example, the 2017-19 Conservative government’s confidence and Supply deal with the DUP. The impact of smaller parties becoming involved within the ‘two-party system’ would have also been beneficial to utilise as pointing to the existence of a two-party system, for example, the Liberal Democrat annihilation at the 2015 general election (Hawkins & Keen , 2015).
This blog post poses an interesting question of just how the UK is mostly a two-party political system. The writer discusses the absence of any real impact from parties outside of the two main parties, the Conservatives and Labour. The writer also discussed the role of the electoral system in the UK, and how it can lead to strategic voting as many voters do not see any point in voting for a smaller party as they are aware the party is unlikely to able to make any real impact so they simply choose to vote for one of the two larger parties, therefore enhancing the issues of the two-party system. However, the author also discusses the example of when the two-party system was not apparent in the 2010 general election, here we see the impact voters can have when the two main parties are not addressing public needs.
Although this is a brilliantly written piece, the post could have touched more on the role that smaller parties have on the two main parties even though they might not receive a large share of votes and perhaps the piece could have touched more on how the two-party system could be rectified to have a more diverse system.
Arnott, M. and Kelly, R., 2018. Small parties and law-making (pp. 131-140). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This blog post offers an interesting analysis of the complexities surrounding the two-party system in UK politics, highlighting the influence of emerging parties such as the SNP, Liberal Democrats, and UKIP. While the traditional dominance of the Conservatives and Labour has long shaped political discourse in the UK, the rise of these smaller parties underscores the evolving nature of British politics. One aspect that could be further explored is the role of regional dynamics in shaping the political landscape of the UK. As the post mentions, the SNP’s significant gains in Westminster seats and the decline in support for the Conservatives and Labour suggest a potential shift towards a more multi-party system. However, it would be interesting to delve deeper into the regional variations in party support and electoral outcomes. For example, how do regional identities, cultural differences, and historical legacies influence voter behaviour and party allegiances across different parts of the UK? Understanding these regional nuances can provide valuable insights into the broader trends shaping politics.