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This is a list of political parties in the United Kingdom.
Prior to the mid-19th century politics in the United Kingdom were dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense but somewhat loose alliances of interests and individuals. The Whigs were associated with the newly emerging moneyed industrial classes, and the Tories were associated with the landed gentry, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.
By the mid 19th century the Tories had evolved into the Conservative Party, and the Whigs had evolved into the Liberal Party.
These two parties dominated the political scene until the 1920s, when the Liberal Party declined in popularity and suffered a long stream of resignations. It was replaced as the main left-wing party by the newly emerging Labour Party, who represented an alliance between the trades unions and various socialist societies.
Since then the Conservative and Labour Parties have dominated British politics, and have alternated in government ever since. The UK is nearly but not quite a two-party system however. The Liberals merged with the Social Democrats because they had very similar views and became the Liberal Democrats which are now a sizeable third party whose electoral results have improved in recent years.
The UK's First Past the Post electoral system leaves small parties disadvantaged on a UK-wide scale. It can, however, allow parties with concentrations of supporters in the constituent countries to flourish. Other than the Respect coalition and Health Concern, the only other parties winning seats in the House of Commons at the 2005 General Election were based in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In recent years, proportional representation-based voting systems have been adopted for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the London Assembly and the UK's seats in the European Parliament. In these bodies, other parties have had success.
Traditionally political parties have been private organisations with no official recognition by the state. The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 changed that by creating a register of parties.
The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties[1] lists the details of parties registered to fight elections, and their registered name, in the United Kingdom. Under current electoral law, including the Registration of Political Parties Act, the Electoral Administration Act 2006, and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, only registered party names can be used on ballot papers by those wishing to fight elections. Candidates who do not belong to a registered party can use "independent" or no label at all.
As of 30 June 2008 it shows the number of registered political parties as below.
Three parties dominate politics in the House of Commons. They all operate throughout Great Britain (only the Conservative Party stands candidates in Northern Ireland). Most of the British Members of the European Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, and the National Assembly for Wales represent one of these parties:
| Party | Representation | Comments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK House of Commons | Scottish Parliament | National Assembly for Wales | Northern Ireland Assembly | European Parliament | ||
| Labour Party | 354 (inc 29 as Lab Co-op) |
46 (inc 9 as Lab Co-op) |
26 (inc 4 as Lab Co-op) |
N/A | 19 | Traditionally left-wing now claims the "centre ground" of British politics; allied to Trade unions; free market policies have replaced its earlier socialist platform in recent years; supports greater European integration |
| Conservative Party | 196 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 27 | Centre-right to right-wing party which can be loosely divided into three categories, though with considerable overlap: The Thatcherites, who strongly support a free market and tend to be Eurosceptic, the economically moderate but socially conservative One Nation Tories, and the more radical Libertarian wing |
| Liberal Democrats | 63 | 16 | 6 | N/A | 12 | Traditionally centrist, has drifted slightly to the left since the emergence of New Labour while remaining socially progressive; supports greater European integration |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 9 | N/A | N/A | 36 | 0 | More hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland, has a socially right-wing political agenda, with historical ties to Protestant working classes, thus a centre-left economic history until recently |
| Scottish National Party | 7[2] | 47 | N/A | N/A | 2 | Centre-left party in favour of Scottish independence. |
| Sinn Féin | 5 | N/A | N/A | 28 | 1[3] | Irish Republican party in Northern Ireland, supports socialism; abstentionist. |
| Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales | 3[2] | N/A | 15 | N/A | 1 | Centre-left party in favour of Welsh independence. |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | 3 | N/A | N/A | 16 | 0 | Constitutional Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, has a centre-left and social democratic political orientation. |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 1 | N/A | N/A | 18 | 1 | Unionist party in Northern Ireland which is traditionally an amalgam of the political spectrum, considered more moderate than the Democratic Unionist Party. |
| Respect Coalition | 1 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 0 | Far left[4] party active in England and Wales; concentrates on an anti-war platform. Ideology is socialism. |
| Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Local party based in Kidderminster. |
| Scottish Green Party | 0 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 0 | Environmentalist party in favour of Scottish independence. |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 0 | N/A | N/A | 7 | 0 | Liberal party in Northern Ireland that aims to breakdown sectarian divisions between Catholics and Protestants. Has a neutral stance on the Constitutional issue of Northern Ireland's status and is linked with the Liberal Democrats |
| Progressive Unionist Party | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | Loyalist party in Northern Ireland broadly sympathetic to the Labour Party, has links to a loyalist paramilitary, the Ulster Volunteer Force. |
| Green Party in Northern Ireland | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | Environmentalist party in Northern Ireland. |
| UK Independence Party | 1 [5][6] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Eurosceptic party which favours withdrawal from the EU and free market economics. |
| Green Party of England and Wales | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 2 | Generally centre-left, environmentalist party. |
See also: Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom 2004-2009.