List of political parties in the United Kingdom

Political parties in the United Kingdom lists political parties in the United Kingdom.

Brief history and overview

Prior to the mid-19th century British politics was 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 and the Anglican Church.

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 Trade 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 national 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 minor parties represented in the House of Commons are 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, minor parties have had some amount of 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.

Register of Political Parties

The Electoral Commission's register of political parties lists the details of parties registered to fight elections with their name in the United Kingdom. Under current electoral law only registered party names can be used on ballot papers.

As of 1 May 2006 it shows the number of registered political parties as below.

180 parties have their name registered for use only in England
1 party has its name registered for use in England and Scotland.
5 parties have their name registered for use in England and Wales.
131 parties have their name registered for use in in England, Scotland and Wales.
18 parties have their name registered for use in Scotland only
10 parties have their name registered for use in Wales only
In Northern Ireland, 53 parties are on the register, including the Conservative Party which fights elections in the province.

Major political parties in the United Kingdom

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:

Labour Party, centre-right to left-wing (traditionally left-wing) (356 seats in the House of Commons)
- Co-operative Party (all Co-operative Party MPs are also Labour MPs as part of a long-standing electoral agreement)
Conservative Party, centrist to centre-right (traditionally centre-right) (198 seats)
Liberal Democrats, centrist to centre-left. (62 seats)

Political parties with elected representation at a national or European level

Party	Representation					Comments
Party	UK House of Commons	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Europe	Comments
Labour Party	355	50	29	N/A	19	Traditionally left-wing, allied to Trade unions; more neo-liberal policies in recent years
Conservative Party	198	17	11	0	27	Centre-right party who were in government for about three-quarters of the 20th century
Liberal Democrats	63	17	6	N/A	12	The 'third party', moderate pro-Europeans, opposed to the Iraq war
Democratic Unionist Party	9	N/A	N/A	33	1	More hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
Scottish National Party	6	26	N/A	N/A	2	Centre-left party in favour of Scottish independence.
Sinn Féin	5	N/A	N/A	18	1^[1]	Republican party in Northern Ireland. Do not take their seats in the British House of Commons.
Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales	3	N/A	12	N/A	1	Centre-left party in favour of Welsh independence.
Social Democratic and Labour Party	3	N/A	N/A	18	0	Constitutional nationalist party in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Unionist Party	1	N/A	N/A	24	1	Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
Respect Coalition	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	0	Left wing party active in England and Wales.
Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Local party based in Kidderminster.
Scottish Green Party	0	7	N/A	N/A	0	Environmentalist party in favour of Scottish independence.
Scottish Socialist Party	0	6	N/A	N/A	0	Far left party in favour of Scottish independence.
Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party	0	1	N/A	N/A	0
Forward Wales	0	N/A	1	N/A	0	Socialist party in Wales.
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	0	N/A	N/A	6	0	Party in Northern Ireland which is neutral on the region's constitutional status, allied to the Liberal Democrats
Progressive Unionist Party	0	N/A	N/A	1	0	Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
UK Unionist Party	0	N/A	N/A	1	0	Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
UK Independence Party	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	10	Eurosceptic and generally Thatcherite party.
Green Party of England and Wales	0	N/A	0	N/A	2	Generally left-wing, certain apsects anti-capitalist, environmentalist party.

Note

^ Sinn Féin have one MEP from a UK constituency and another from the Republic of Ireland.

Minor political parties in the United Kingdom

Minor far left political parties in the United Kingdom

Minor far right political parties in the United Kingdom

Joke political parties in the United Kingdom

Church of the Militant Elvis Party
Fancy Dress Party
Millennium Bean Party
MP3 Party
Official Monster Raving Loony Party, the most well-known joke party, who have run Ashburton town council (in Devon) in the past
Rock'n'roll Loony Party
Stuckist Party
Teddy Bear's Alliance, a name used by Dom Joly in 1997

Minor religion-based political parties in the United Kingdom

Minor single-issue political parties in the United Kingdom

Miscellaneous minor political parties in the United Kingdom

The Consensus
Countryside Party
Democratic Party
Humanist Party
Liberal Party, Former members of the historic Liberal Party who refounded themselves as the Liberals when they felt that the old party had been lost in the merger with the SDP
The New Party (UK)
Third Way (UK)
UK Social and Countryside Party
Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
Your Party
Popular Alliance

Defunct and historic parties in the United Kingdom

English political parties

Vectis National Party

Scottish political parties

Welsh political parties

John Marek Independent Party (2003), evolved into Forward Wales

Irish political parties

Defunct far left and communist political parties in the United Kingdom

British Socialist Party (1911–20)
Common Wealth Party (1941–45)
Communist Party of Great Britain (1920–91)
Independent Labour Party (1893–1975)
International Marxist Group (1968–81)
Labour Party of Scotland (1973)
Revolutionary Communist Party (1944–50)
Revolutionary Socialist League (1938–44)
Socialist Alliance (1994–2005)
Social Democratic Federation (1884–1911)
Socialist Labour Party (1903–80)
Socialist League (1886–1903)
Workers International League (1937–44)
Workers Socialist Federation (1914–21)
Workers Revolutionary Party (1950–88)

Defunct British far right and fascist political parties

Miscellaneous British political parties

Campaign for Social Democracy (1973–74)
Democratic Labour (1972–79)
Green Party (UK)
Liberal Party (1839–1988)
Liberal Unionist Party (1886–1912)
Liverpool Protestant Party
National Liberal Party
National Socialist Party (1916–19)
New Party (1931–1932)
Referendum Party (1997 election)
Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1931–51, 1965–78)
Social Democratic Party (1981–90)
Socialist National Defence League
Women's Party (1917–19)

External links

v t e List of political parties in Europe
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