- THIRD PARTIES
- The UK has become a multi-party system now due to the increasing influence of third parties.
- In the 2010 GE produced hung parliament leading to Con-LD coalition
- Even as a minor coalition partner, the LD’s were able to act on a number of significant manifesto commitments, including an increase in the personal income tax allowance. Speculation of the UK entering a new era of British politics
- SNP success – 56 seats in 2015▪SNP enjoyed growing support since 2014 Scottish independence referendum
- Became third largest party in HofC after winning 56 out of Scotland’s 59 seats
- Could be seen as a ‘two and a half party system’
- Lib Dems had influence alongside L and C until SNP replaced them recently having more influence in HofC.
- Only 38 MPs were from parties other than L and C in 1974 election.
- In 2017, there was 89oL and C combined vote share of 67.3% in 2015, considerably lower compared to 96.8% in 1951.
- ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
- Proportional electoral systems have greatly impacted the 2 main parties in other elections
- UKIP came first in the 2014 European Parliament Election – winning 24 out of 73 available seats
- Use of closed party-list system also ensured that an additional 10 seats went to parties other than Conservatives and Labour
- Scottish Parl, Welsh Assembly and London Assembly Elections all use AMS (combination of FPTP with closed party list)
- In Welsh Assembly Elections it is therefore much easier for third parties to win seats and reduces the ‘winners’ bonus’ enjoyed by large parties in FPTP
- It involves election of 40 Assembly members from single-member constituencies (FPTP) and 20 regional AMs from larger regions (CPL)
- g., 2016 Welsh Assembly elections – Labour won 27/40 constituency seats with just 34.7% of vote – however, this meant the party only picked up an additional 2 regional seats, despite receiving 31.1% of regional vote.
- 6 regional seats went to Plaid Cymru, 5 to Conservatives and 7 to UKIP (which did not win a single constituency seat).
- ELECTION RESULTS
- Elections since 1974 suggest that the two-party system has come under strain.
- The Conservative and Labour parties may have still dominated the February 1974 General Election, but both parties lost a considerable share of the popular vote to third parties and, unusually, the election produced a hung Parliament and minority Labour government, after neither of the two main parties won a majority of seats.
- Instead, there was a considerable swing to third parties like the Liberal Party (gained 8 seats), Scottish National Party (gained 6 seats), and Plaid Cymru (gained 2 seats). Voting behaviour in the decades that followed continued to show increasing levels of partisan and class dealignment.
- Voters gradually became much less loyal to the two main parties, and the once strong link between working class voters and Labour, and middle-class voters and the Conservatives, began to break down.
- Many voters have become increasingly motivated by political issues that cut across the traditional left-right divide, much to the benefit of third parties that have adopted clear positions on these increasingly salient issues, such as UKIP (Europe and immigration), the Green Party (environment), and national parties like the SNP and Plaid Cymru (devolution and independence).
- Only 38 MPs were from parties other than Labour or the Conservatives in the landmark 1974 General Election, but in 2017, there are 89.
- The Labour and Conservative parties had a combined vote share of 67.3% in the 2015 General Election, which, while still substantial, is far below the 96.8% reached in 1951.