Political Parties

Political parties in Britain are not registered or formally recognized in law, but in practice most candidates in elections belong to this or that political party. One of the traditions of western democracy is to have a two-party system, when only two parties have a realistic chance to win the General Election. This system cuts off the extremists and keeps the ruling party under a close watch and criticism of the Opposition. The Whigs and the Tories are the oldest political parties in Britain. They marked their existence in 1679 by participating in Parliamentary election. In 1867 the Tories

became known as the Conservative Party though the former name also remained in usage. The Conservative party has right-wing principles, strongly supports the idea of free enterprise and protects the rights of property. The leader of the Conservatives is Iain Duncan Smith. The Whigs became known as the Liberal Party. The Liberals and the Conservatives remained the two main parties until 1945. Since 1945 the Liberal party lost the position of a main party. In 1900 a new party called Labour Representation Committee was formed. In 1906 it became the Labour Party. Since 1945, either the Conservative Party, or the Labour Party has held power. Since 1945 eight general elections have been won by the Conservative Party and six by the Labour Party. The Labour Party was traditionally a socialist party closely connected with Trade Unions. Clause 4 of the Labour Party constitution reads: “ The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few. Where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe. And where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.” During the 1980s and 1990s the party moved towards the political centre. The party is known nowadays as New Labour. The Leader of the Party is Tony Blair. A new party - the Liberal Democrats - was formed in 1988 when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party (formed in 1981 as a result of a split in the Labour Party). The Liberal Democrats oppose the right-wing policies of the Conservative Party and strongly support free public education and the National Health Service. They also believe that more political power should be given to people locally. The leader of the party is Charles Kennedy.

Other parties include two nationalist parties,Plaid Cymru (founded in Wales in 1925) and the Scottish National Party (founded in 1934). Plaid Cymru proclaims the following aims: to promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining Full National Status for Wales within the European Union; to ensure economic prosperity, social justice and the health of the natural environment, based on decentralist socialism; to build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour or social background; to create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language and to attain membership of the United Nations. The Scottish National Party did not make any kind of electoral impact until 1945, when Dr Robert McIntyre won a by-election. During the 1970s the SNP launched one of its most influential campaigns, “It’s Scotland’s Oil”. The perception that the Scottish people were being denied the economic benefits generated by the discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea transformed Scottish politics and gave the SNP a major boost in both membership and votes. The New Labour administration were forced to legislate for a devolved parliament and a referendum was held in Scotland in September 1997. The Scottish people gave their overwhelming support and the first Scottish General Election in history was held in May 1999. The SNP returned thirty five MSPs and were firmly established as Scotland’s second party and the only credible opposition to Labour.

In Northern Ireland there are a number of parties. by a group which broke away from the Ulster Unionists; and The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was formed in 1905 in response to the Home Rule crisis in Ireland. The founding father of the Ulster Unionist Party, Sir Edward Carson, viewed the establishment of a parliament at Stormont to be a dilution of the Union. However, once Stormont was in place, the UUP played an important role in the political system of the day. Being the largest party in Northern Ireland, the UUP formed the first Government. Over the next fifty years the UUP was in government. The UUP has a strong commitment to the Union and British citizenship. The Leader of the party is David Trimble. UUP represents the interests of Protestants in Northern Ireland.In the late 1990s UUP joined in peace talks with the British government, the government of the Republic of Ireland and Sinn Fein and negotiated the Belfast Agreement in April 1998. Ian Paisley formed the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971. This is another Protestant party in Northern Ireland. DUP refused to participate in the above-mentioned peace talks when in September of 1997 Sinn Fein/IRA were permitted to enter the talks process. Sinn Féin is the oldest political party in Ireland, especially active in Northern Ireland. The party takes its name from the Irish Gaelic expression for ``We Ourselves''. Since being founded in 1905 the party worked for the right of Irish Catholic people to attain national self-determination. Sinn Féin wants Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland. Sinn Fein is connected with the Irish Republican Army. In the past the party supported the use of violence against British rule in Northern Ireland.Sinn Féin is an Irish Republican party. Sinn Féin is backing the Good Friday Agreement, which Sinn Féin reached with the other parties and the Irish and British governments following multi-party negotiations in Belfast. These negotiations arose from the Irish Peace Process. The leader of the party is Gerry Adams. Orange Order is a Protestant strongly anti-Catholic organization in Northern Ireland. They are named after William of Orange who was William III of England and defeated James II and his Catholic army at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Nowadays, the Orangemen have Parades commemorating that battle on 12 July. This day is known as Orangemen’s Day. The parades hurt the feelings of Catholic population. The Social Democratic and Labour Party was founded in 1970. The leader of the party is Mark Durkan. The SDLP actively participated in attempts to establish peace in Northern Ireland. In 1988 the party had talks with Sinn Fein over a number of months in attempt to convince SF that the continued campaign of violence is futile. In 1989 the party becomes the second largest Party in the North, both in votes and Council seats.