(Note – this article was written on June 18th)
The United Kingdom’s party system is dominated by two major parties: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, with a smaller but significant presence of smaller parties like the Scottish National Party or the Liberal Democrats. This creates the “two-and-a-half party system” where each of the two major political parties that stand apart on the political spectrum needs a coalition with a smaller “half” party for political control.
The Conservative Party, often referred to as the Tories, and the Labour Party are the two principal political forces in the UK. Their prominence can be traced back to the early 20th century, when the Labour Party emerged to represent the working class, challenging the dominance of the Conservatives and the Liberal Party. The Conservatives traditionally draw support from business interests, the middle and upper classes, and rural areas. In contrast, Labour has historically represented industrial workers, trade unions, and more recently, urban and younger demographics.
Both the Conservatives and Labour have deep-rooted histories and have shaped the UK’s political, social, and economic landscape for over a century.
Several factors contribute to the dominance of the two largest parties. Both the Conservatives and Labour have deep-rooted histories and have shaped the UK’s political, social, and economic landscape for over a century. Their institutional presence and organisational structures are well-established, providing them with significant advantages over newer or smaller parties. Additionally, the UK’s electoral system for general elections, known as First-Past-the-Post (FPTP – a system where the candidate who secures the most amount of votes wins the election, which might not necessarily be a majority of all the votes casted), tends to favour larger parties. In each constituency, the candidate with the most votes wins, which often leads to a ‘winner-takes-all’ outcome. This system can thus marginalise smaller parties and reinforces the dominance of the two main parties, often simply because the latter have the necessary organisational structures to fight elections across the nation. For example, after the 2019 general election while the Tories formed a majority government with 365 seats in the Parliament they actually had a vote share of 43.6%, the Lib-Dems only got a meagre 11 seats even though they received 11.5% of all the votes cast in that election. This starkly highlights the disproportionality of the FPTP system.
The media in the UK too often focuses on the Conservative and Labour parties, given their historical and political significance, and also perhaps for the sake of convenience. This coverage helps the two major parties to maintain their prominence in the public eye and reinforces their positions as the main contenders in elections. The presence of parties like the Liberal Democrats, formed in 1988 from a merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, introduces a crucial element of plurality into UK politics. They have historically positioned themselves as a centrist alternative to the Conservatives and Labour. While they have struggled to achieve the same level of dominance, they have had periods of significant influence, such as during the coalition government with the Conservatives from 2010 to 2015.
However, while the system benefits from stability, it can also lead to a lack of proportional representation.
The two-and-a-half party system has significant implications for democracy in the UK. The dominance of two major parties can provide political stability and clear governance, as it is often easier to form a majority government. This can lead to more decisive and coherent policy-making. However, while the system benefits from stability, it can also lead to a lack of proportional representation. Smaller parties and their supporters often feel marginalised, as their votes may not translate into parliamentary seats under the FPTP system. This can lead to disillusionment and lower voter turnout among those who feel their voices are not adequately represented. More importantly, if a party can easily get a majority of seats on its own and not have to discuss and deliberate with any allies for key policy decisions then it gains the ability to bring in often undemocratic, overnight changes into policies which hurt everyone – like the recent changes into the UK’s visa policies by the Tories, which has caused the Higher Education sector to go in a free-fall due to an expected drastic fall in the number of international students.
The prominence of two major parties ensures that a wide range of policies and ideologies are debated within the political mainstream. However, it can also lead to polarised politics, with less room for moderate or alternative viewpoints that might be better represented in a more proportional system. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for appreciating the strengths and limitations of UK democracy. The UK’s two-and-a-half party system is a product of historical evolution, electoral mechanics, and media dynamics, providing stability and clear choices for voters while presenting challenges for broader representation and inclusivity in the democratic process.
