party systems/party success/factions

PARTY SYSTEMS

types of party systems

• one party

  • only one political party exists and forming another one is illegal

  • communist countries like China, Vietnam etc

• dominant party system

  • there is more than one party but usually only one holds political power

  • caues lack of accountability and competition

  • SNP holds nearly all the parliamentary seats and has governed Scotland since 2007

• two party system

  • Only two parties have a realistic chance of forming a government. Implies that two parties win the vast majority of the votes at elections and most of the seats in parliament

  • conservative and labour make up two party system

• multi-party system

  • Several parties competing for votes and power. At least two parties have a realistic chance of being in government.

  • Coalition governments are common

  • These parties are more fragile and unstable that two party states

  • coalition govs = bad because the two parties tend to disagree on major topical things

    • 2010 coalition - Libs opposed trident, cons support

UK has a two party system

• UK remains a two-party system in terms of seats as labour and conservative usually make up majority of the Commons, with there being a main government and a shadow government

• London mayoral elections have been dominated by the two-party system, with only conservative and labour candidates ever finishing top two

Two-and-a-half-party system-> Labour and Conservatives are main political parties however Liberal Democrats are a sizeable third party with 72 seats from 2024 GE -> they often hold the balance of power between these two main parties e.g. In the 2010 coalition with the Conservatives.

• However, it is extremely rare that this third party - the Liberal Democrats, will ever actually be able to form their own government.

UK has a multi party system

• UK is a multi-party system in terms of votes. Other parties are only unable to convert their proportion of votes into significant numbers of seats because of the electoral system (FPTP) which discriminates against them (link this to electoral reform topic)

• NI has its own system that appears to be a multi-party one, w/ several parties being required to form a coalition to create a gov, but the system is dominated by the DUP and Sinn Fein, suggesting a two-party system

• % of seats won by two main parties has decreased over the years (from 1979-2019), possibly hinting at a future multi-party system?

• dominance of 2 party system in the UK constantly decreasing -

  • in 2019 tory and labour had 75.8% of the vote but only got 57.4% in 2024

what kind of party system does the UK have

• The UK is largely a two-party system, as mainstream politics has been primarily dominated by either the Labour or Conservative party, with the exception of the 2010 Conservative- Liberal Democrat coalition. 

• However, the UK could be seen as a two-and-a-half party system due to the existence of the Liberal Democrats party, a sizeable third party which often acts as the 'middle ground' between the two leading parties and often the party that is considered when a coalition is necessary.

• Although the LibDems will never gain enough seats to form their own government, they are still the third largest party in the Commons and have a considerable amount of votes across the UK

FACTORS AFFECTING PARTY SUCCESS

leadership

• voters respond to the quality of the individual who leads a party and therefore is a potential PM

• there have been leaders who may have been seen to have damaged the prospects of their party

  • Jeremy Corbyn antisemitism allegations worsened reputation of Labour, making them lose voters

• leaders could enhance their party’s prospects

  • Boris Johnson heavily influenced success of conservative party in 2019 GE, with the campaign slogan being back Boris

  • this got them an 80 seat majority

unity

• hard for divided parties to get elected due to them lacking an image of a strong coherent gov which could alienate voters

• links to voting behaviour as people vote based on governing competency - aka valence voting

• many examples of how unity influence party success

  • in 2019, having suspended moderate conservatives from the party and required all candidates to sign a pledge to make sure Brexit was done. the conservative party was able to unify around the central issue of brexit while the labour party found itself divided over issues of Brexit and antisemitism. conservatives did very well at 2019 GE, getting 80 seat majority

the media

• electorate often influenced by the image of a party as portrayed in the media, especially newspapers

• TV/radio broadcasters like BBC and ITV must remain neutral, but media can still have impact on voting

  • 2010, Nick Clegg’s performance in TV debates was widely praised and helped the LibDems do well enough to form a coalition gov w the Tories

  • in contrast, in 2017, Theresa May’s refusal to participate in televised debates vs Jeremy Corbyn’s good performance helped shift the media perceptions of the two leaders

  • LibDems going from 11 seats in 2019 GE to 72 seats in 2024 shows importance of successful campaign and use of media

PARTY FACTIONS

what are party factions

• a distinct group within a political party, whose views vary significantly from the main party policies

• Often factions are to the left or right of the party's position

• Some factions have a formal membership and organisation while others are loose and represent little more than a policy tendency.

conservative party factions

• One Nation Caucus

  • Goes back to the 19th century but the caucus was only established in 2019

  • 8 seats

  • centre-right, pro welfare. more left wing faction

• European Research Group (ERG)

  • established 1993

  • right wing, neo-conservative. wanted a hard Brexit

  • Suella Braverman is a member

  • highly influential in the years after the Brexit referendum, putting pressure on Theresa May to do a hard Brexit. However since they achieved their aim of a hard Brexit under Boris Johnson their influence has declined.

  • There were 12 members in 2022 declining from 35 in 2020.

• New Conservatives

  • established 2023

  • right-wing neo-conservative

  • were vocal advocates of the Rwanda policy

• Conservative Democratic Organisation

  • established 2022

  • Priti Patel and Liz Truss in it

  • loyal to Boris Johnson

how divided is the conservative party?

• The conservative party has been shown to be increasingly divided within the past 5 years, likely due to the raised controversies from the three most recent conservative PMs

  • Boris Johnson and Partygate, Lizz Truss via tanking the UK's economy, and Rishi Sunak and his highly unethical "Rwanda Scheme" alongside Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

• Due to the PMs over the last 20 years being majorly conservative, this would have led to growing discontent within the party as there has been a wide range of ideas surrounding changes to legislative.

• Key events such as Brexit have also led to discontent within the party, as some campaigned to stay within the EU (e.g. David Cameron) and some were adamantly positive about the UK leaving (e.g. Boris Johnson).

• influenced 2024 GE as the Conservative party has been so divided in recent years

  • explained by the high number of factions. too divided to form a united front so they were unable to hold a strong election campaign.

  • The controversies over the more recent years have helped to grow discontent within the party especially as the we had 3 PMs within a 5 year span. 

labour party factions

• Progressive Britain

  • established 1996

  • supported Tony Blair

  • support new labour policies

• Labour First

  • established 1980

  • very anti-Corbyn. old labour policies

how divided is the labour party?

• The labour party is considerably less divided that the conservatives, shown in the fact that the only 3 factions were founded over the course of the past 60 years, compared to the conservative where the majority of factions originated within the past 5 years.

• This may be largely due to Labour presented a more united front as leaders of the opposition rather than as government considering the most recent Labour PM before Keir Starmer in 2024 was Tony Blair 1997-2007.

• As the opposition, Labour would certainly have needed a more united front due to their lack of majority seats, so they would have needed as much support they could get in order to hold the government to account correctly.

• However, this may alter and more factions may arise as the recent 2024 elections meant the first Labour PM in 17 years - Keir Starmer - and there has certainly been a lot of controversy surrounding these "new labour" policies vs "old labour" policies. Starmer's gov has faced both external and internal criticisms.

  • might face issues with labour presumably taking in policies that align w/ reform uk

LibDem party factions

• Social Liberals

  • Goes back to the Liberal Reforms of 1906 when an early version of the Welfare state was established

  • modern liberalists

• orange book liberals

  • established 2004

  • classical liberalism

  • the leader Ed Davey is in this faction

how united is the LibDem party?

• Fairly united - small division between modern liberalism and orange book liberals and then a slightly more left wing group