Evaluate the view that the only political parties which matter in the UK are the Labour and
Conservative parties. (30)
FPTP creates a strong two-party system in Westminster so this limits all minor party’s
significance severely. This view depends on where the two major parties ‘matter’- electorally at
Westminster this is very strong, but in regional areas this is not so much. Minor parties have a
large ideological impact and can impact policies heavily. Overall, Labour and Conservative are
electorally the only parties that matter in parliament but recently minor parties have made a big
impact, and do matter.
The most significant point in favour for the view that Labour and conservative are the only
parties that matter is electorally in Westminster. FPTP makes a strong two-party system
between the two major parties, Labour and Conservative. In 2019, they collectively won 76% of
the vote and 87% of the MPs in the house of commons. FPTP distorts the vote in their favour-
and gives minor parties much less chance of winning MPs, shown by how Brexit won 2% of the
vote and 0 MPs, when they should’ve received around 13 MPs if the vote was proportional.
However, May was dependent on 10 DUPs in a confidence and supply agreement, showing
how Conservatives couldn’t survive without the help of a minor party. Also, in 2019 SNP won 48
out of 59 of MPs in Scotland- which previously would’ve been won by Labour. This is because
Scottish people would vote Labour to be represented in parliament, and by 1997 there were no
Conservative MPs in Scotland. But they still were not being represented in parliament, so the
SNP was created. This makes it impossible for Labour to win an election now, showing that
other parties matter. Also, Conservative were in coalition with LibDem in 2010-2015, since they
won a minority government. This shows that other parties do matter, and they have been part of
the government in recent times. Overall, Labour and Conservative are electorally significant,
shown by how they have always been part of government, however smaller parties do matter,
like the SNP and LibDems.
Another strong point in favour for the view that Labour and conservative are the only parties that
matter is electorally in other elections. This is shown by London Mayor elections and PCC
(police crime commissioner) elections which use SV, and favours only Labour and
Conservative. London Mayors have only ever been Labour or Conservative. However, in the
2014 European elections which use regional party lists (a strong form of proportional
representation), UKIP won with 24 MEPs, and in 2019 Brexit won with 29 MEPs, while
Conservatives came 5th. In scottish elections, AMS ( a mild form of PR), SNP won, while
Conservatives were ‘saved’ by the top-up seats. Overall, Labour and Conservative matter
greatly under majoritarian systems, but not under PR systems shown by the 2014 and 2019 EU
elections, showing that other parties do matter.
A final point in favour for the view that Labour and conservative are the only parties that matter
is their policy making. Labour and Conservative are the only parties to ever have been in
government since 1945. This shows that they have had most of the power in decision making in
government for over 75 years. However, the SNP pushed Labour to the left in order to compete
with them, and hopefully for Labour to win back some seats in Scotland. Brexit was influenced
greatly by other parties like UKIP. Threat from UKIP and other Eurosceptics was a major reason
for Cameron holding the referendum. And as Brexit won the 2019 MEPs, this pushed Johnson
to ‘get Brexit done’. Also, all parties agree on being carbon neutral by 2050, to ward off threat
from the Green party. Overall, Labour and Conservative matter greatly in terms of policy making
in government, but other parties have made a great influence on their policy making, like the
SNP, UKIP, Brexit and the Green party.
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