UK Political Parties in Context (Edexcel A Level Politics): Revision Note

The development of a multi-party system

• The UK is usually described as having a dominant two-party system at Westminster

  • However, devolution, electoral reform in devolved bodies, and changing voting behaviour have created features of a multi-party system

• This has consequences for how governments are formed and how parties compete

• Party success is shaped by factors ranging from leadership and funding to national circumstances and media influence

Party systems in the UK

What is a party system?

• A party system refers to the number of parties with a realistic chance of forming a government

• The number of parties that have a chance of forming government is a result of the electoral system chosen

  • Majoritarian and plurality electoral systems generally returning two-party systems

  • Proportional electoral systems generally returning multi-party systems

Types of party systems

Arguments the UK is (or remains) a two-party system

• UK government at Westminster is dominated by Labour and Conservatives and has been for around 100 years

  • Even in 2024, the most disproportionate election ever, Labour and Conservatives gained 57% of the vote but 82% of the seats

• Labour and Conservative spend considerably more on elections than other parties, spending between 5 and 6 times more each than the Liberal Democrats in 2024

• Even when minor parties influence policy, these policies are enacted by one of the two major parties, for example Brexit in 2016

• Labour and Conservative continue to do relatively well in the devolved region elections and in the elections for mayors

Arguments the UK is becoming more of a multi-party system

• Since 2010: more coalition, minority or small-majority governments

• Scottish Parliament 2007: Greens (2 seats) held the balance of power between Labour (56) and SNP (57)

• Northern Ireland: power-sharing since the Good Friday Agreement (1998)

• Wales: no single-party majority in Senedd elections since 1999; all resulted in coalition or minority governments

Implications of a multi-party system for Government

• More negotiations and agreements needed to form a government

  • Coalitions, minority governments, confidence-and-supply deals more likely

• Smaller parties may gain leverage even with few MPs

  • E.g, Greens holding balance of power in Scottish Parliament (2007)

  • E.g, DUP confidence-and-supply deal (2017)

• Policies may reflect influence of several parties rather than one dominant party

• Governments can be less stable or shorter-lived

• Multi-level politics (devolved parliaments) encourages more parties to be viable

Factors affecting party success

• A range of political, organisational and external factors shape whether parties succeed or fail in UK elections

  • These include leadership, funding, policies, national circumstances and performance in office

  • The media also plays a major role, influencing how parties and leaders are perceived and shaping voter behaviour

• No single factor guarantees success - different factors matter more or less depending on the political context

Factors affecting party success

Parties and democracy

Parties are good for democracy

• They:

  • Provide genuine political choice, encouraging participation

  • Allow voters to hold governments accountable

  • Simplify complex issues, improving political education

  • Recruit and train political leaders

  • Organise government and opposition, creating stability

  • Adversary politics ensures scrutiny between elections

Parties are bad for democracy

• They:

  • Risk becoming narrow elites dominated by wealthy donors

  • Polarisation undermines consensus

  • Reliance on funding raises transparency concerns

  • Whips limit MP independence and local representation

  • Internal factions undermine unity and policy delivery

  • Declining membership suggests weakening public engagement