Evaluate the view that the only political parties that matter in our political system are the Labour and Conservative parties A-A* graded (written in 2022 when I was doing my a-levels - I now study PPE at uni).
Hope this can help!
Evaluate the view that the only political parties that matter in our political system are
the Labour and Conservative parties
The UK can be recognised to have a long-running two party divide for decades where Labour and
Conservative compete for authority, however minor parties can be recognised to be gaining influence
in governance and are gaining popularity in recent years. Minor parties are being utilised by the people
to be represented and show emotion towards the government but there is a limit as to how much
power minor parties truly have under the two major parties. Therefore Labour and Conservative can
be recognised as the most important within our political system.
It can be argued in the UK that the instilled political system has a two party divide, meaning the two
biggest parties (the Labour party and the Conservative party) are typically competing for a higher
proportion of seats in order to form government. Within the UK statistically it can be recognised that
the two major parties competing for this larger proportion are Labour and Conservative. With an
exception to the coalition in 2010, a party has not gained legitimacy through a general election to hold
authority unless it was Conservative or Labour since 1922, which highlights how they dominate UK
politics and have a strong influence. Therefore these two parties are the only realistic parties able to
have a true chance at forming government, minor parties such as UKIP, Green and Plaid Cymru have
very little chance at competing with them and gaining a big enough share of seats. However, it is
apparent that minor parties have an influence on UK politics. This is seen in the support for the
Scottish National Party (SNP), who gained 48/59 seats in Scotland in the general election of 2019.
The SNP has a strong push towards an independent Scotland and is widely supported by the Scottish
people as seen in results from previous general elections, although recognised as a minor party the
SNP can be seen as influential in parliament as their drive for a independence referendum was fulfilled
and in 2014 was held. Similarly minor parties can be seen to exert influence in a coalition as seen in
2010 between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats when the Conservative party failed to gain
enough seats alone to form government. In this instance a coalition can inherently enhance
democracy as it allows a minor party to have a say legislatively and put forward ideas to represent
their supporters. However, this argument can be seen to lack significance as in total in the
Westminster system minor parties are often disregarded as seen in the fact the Liberal Democrats
held less power in this coalition as the minority. The real power will always be in one of the two major
parties - Labour or Conservative.
However, minor parties can be seen to matter within the UK political system as they offer an
alternative party with different views to the two major parties in the UK. The public are diverse in
opinion and minor parties such as the Green party, UKIP and SNP are recognised to cater for these
views in their agenda. For example the Green party have a strong force behind ‘green’ attitudes of
climate change and environment, more than seen in the two major parties along with UKIP who gained
a lot of attraction in 2015 and managed to gain 12% of the vote in the general election due to its
differing views especially in regards to the United Nations. Whereas major parties such as Labour and
Conservative hold a broader agenda to appeal to a mass of people, minor parties as these have a
more specific agenda specialising to those who are considered the minority. This can appeal to the
public as they may feel more represented by a smaller party rather than one with a broader approach.
In contrast, minor parties can be undermined as they have dispersed popularity and support across
the nation which is highly difficult to be represented under the current electoral system, FPTP, as
seen in UKIPs percentage of votes to seats ratio. UKIP gaining 12% of the vote only left them with 1
MP under FPTP, suggesting that minor parties cannot thrive under FPTP and an alternative system is
necessary for them to have true authority. This is apparent to the public which can also lead to
strategic voting, where if they align themselves with the Green agenda they may vote for Labour to try
to get their views represented in government. Overall it is a more significant argument that although
minor parties hold influence they do not have enough to make legislative change and cannot compare
to the more major parties.
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