Party system in the UK Dr Paromita Chakraborty

Party system in the UK Dr. Paromita Chakraborty, Surendranath College

§ Political parties are the backbone of the British system. Introduction Today britain is dominated by two major parties the labour party and the conservative party. Other parties are the liberal Democrats, the Scottish nationalist party democratic unionist party.

§ The british party system is a two party system, which basically means that there are two parties which are approximately equal in strength. Features of the british party system § The british political parties are ideological in character. The parties shapes its policies and actions through a particular ideology. The conservative party is liberal in nature and focuses on minimum government, and capitalism whereas the labour party looks at socialism and protecting the interests of the working class. § The parties in UK have mass membership.

§ The parties in britain are highly centralized. In the UK the Features ( cont. ) local party branches have very little powers, and they don’t have any influence on the national party policy. The party leadership is hence very strong in britain.

§ A two party system provides stability to a democratic Two party system (conclusion) government. Due to a two party system a party can have absolute majority in the house of commons. Two party system also provides for unity of policy in the cabinet. § However the two party system don’t offer voters wide range of political choice. § It also leads to the concentration of enormous powers on the prime minister and the cabinet.

§ The political parties recruit members and arrange meetings. § The select candidates for elections and campaigns on Functions of the british political parties behalf of the candidate during elections. The parties have an important role in organizing election campaigns. § The parties keep in touch with the opinions of the people and help in policy formulation of the party. § One of the functions of the majority party in parliament is to support the cabinet. The opposition party also plays an important role as it questions the government and keeps the cabinet on alert.

§ The political parties explain political issues through phone, television and radios. Functions (cont. ) § The political parties link the electorate with the government. § Parties also allow for a strong opposition. Thus parties provide means of peaceful change in government.