UK parties in context

• Models found in Liberal Democracy's

  1. A one-party dominant system: A number of parties but only one has a realistic chance at holding government
  2. A Two-Party system: Two large parties are the central players but minor parties challenge them
  3. A Multi-Party system: a number of parties contend for gov. coalitions are the norm
• Between 1945-74 Labour and Tory won a total of 91% of the votes and almost 98% of the seats
• In the mid 70s the two party dominance was threatened with the Lib Dems and the share of the vote between the two central parties fell to 73% between 1979-2010
• The two party system survived thanks to the first-past-the-post system
• The coalition in 2010 was described as a 2 and a half party system with Lib Dems securing 23% of the vote
• In the 2010 election almost 35% of voters didn't support the two central parties
• The 2015 election made the return to the two party system
• The Devolved Bodies Role

  • The use of AMS in Scotland and Wales has produced massively different outcomes to the Westminster elections
  • Scotland has been governed by the SNP since 2007, before this was a liberal-labour coalition
  • Wales has been governed by mostly coalitions (Labour-Plaid) (Liberal-Labour)
  • NI is a fully proportional system (STV), in 2017 the assembly collapsed due to internal disagreement, the first minister and 4 others drawn from the DUP and deputy first minister and 3 others drawn from Sinn Fein and one independent post
  • NI has the most multi-party system with in the 2017 election DUP 28 seats, Sinn Fein 27, SDLP 12, Ulster Unionist 10, Alliance Party 8
• Factors that affect party success - Leadership

  voters respond very positivley to a strong leader who have a clear sense of direction. For example Labour under Callaghan seemed week as it was unable to control the trade unions during 'The Winter of Discontent, Thatcher won the 1979 election as she offered a tough response to the strikes maybe not because she was personally popular. Parties can also be successful due to a charasmatic and seemingly friendly leader such as Tony Blair or Boris Johnson
• Factors that affect party success - Party Unity

  disunity in political parties is not popular and often doesnt come off well in elections, For example, The conservatives under May were divided between brexiteers and remainers and that lead eventually to Mays resignation. The tories were also divided under Major which eventually lead to their downfall in 1997
• Factors that affect party success - The Media

  the growing importance of the media has tended to reinforce the publics opinion on parties and leaders. TV image and Newspaper comments become increasingly important in shaping the public's outlook on politics. For example in the 2010 election the appeal of Nick Clegg as a leader came mostly from his media appearance in TV debates and personality
• Factors that affect party success - Policies

  Parties who have popular and well rounded manifestos and polices are more likely to be successful than those whos manifesto's and policies are vauge or unpopular. Both Thatchers radical policies in 1979 and Blairs 'Third-way" in 1997 were both capturing to the public which could have been part of their success
• Factors that affect party success - Wider political contexts

  if a party has been in power for a long time, voter fatigue and need for change may settle in along with parties being more likely to make mistakes. The tories are currently polling very badly as there have been a whole range of 'sleezy' acitivites and mistakes along with being in power for 14 years
• Factors that affect party success - Opposition

  If the opposition to government is strong and able to point out the weakenesses in government to the public they are more likely to see success in the next election as they can swing voters very easily. For example Labour opposition in the run up to 1997 was skilled at exploiting Major's failures and weaknesses so were able to run a slick and strong campaign