Reference. Major UK political parties

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on April 6 that the next general parliamentary elections in the country will be held on May 6 this year.

Traditionally, representatives of several dozen parties are allowed to participate in the elections (there were about 60 in the last elections in 2005), however, only ten parties are currently represented in the House of Commons, which now consists of 646 deputies.

This is due to the single-mandate election system, when the winner in a particular constituency is the candidate with a simple majority of votes. Small parties find it more difficult to claim victory in certain constituencies, despite the fact that they sometimes gain a significant share of the vote.

Three main forces

The Labor Party is the ruling party in the United Kingdom and has been in power since 1997. Leader (since 2007) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Gordon Brown, 59 years old).

The Labor Party was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century with the active participation of representatives of the left-wing labor movement ("labor" in translation from English means "labor", "labor force"). For years, Labor has been on the left of the UK political spectrum. Trade unions continue to play a prominent role in the party.

Against the background of a sharp decline in popularity among voters, the younger generation of Labor, led by Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown, developed the ideology of "New Labor" in the mid-1990s. The party abandoned socialist ideas and became center-left, fighting for the voters of the English middle class. This did not take long to affect the growth of the party's ratings, and in 1997 the Laborites received a record number of mandates in history (418) and an absolute majority (179 seats) in the House of Commons.

The Laborites advocate the preservation of the necessary role of the state in the economy, the elimination of social inequality and support for social programs in education, health care and the fight against unemployment, the existence of limited economic needs of immigration, the protection of minority rights and active European integration.

In the 2005 general parliamentary elections, Labor won a 35.3% share of the vote and 356 seats (an absolute majority) in parliament. Tony Blair became the first Labor leader to lead the party to election victory three times in a row. However, in 2005, Labor won with a significantly lower result than in 1997 or 2001. The reasons for this were electoral fatigue from the presence of one party in power, the negative attitude of society towards British participation in the war in Iraq, voters' disappointment in the politics of Labor and problems within the party itself.

Labor is traditionally popular with voters in the industrialized regions of the north and northwest of England, London, and Scotland and Wales.

Labor is currently gaining 27-33% of the vote in opinion polls.

The main slogan of the party in the upcoming elections is the phrase "A fair future for all" ("Future fair for all").

The Conservative Party, politically and colloquially also known as the "Tories" (after the name of the old party from which modern conservatives grew up). Since 1997 - the largest opposition party in the United Kingdom. Leader (since 2005) - head of the "shadow" cabinet of ministers David Cameron (43 years old).

After the departure of the most charismatic conservative leader of the twentieth century, the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives went through a difficult period in their history: low ratings, frequent changes of leaders in search of a bright personality and attempts to reform the party program.

In the 2005 elections, the Conservatives won 32.3% of the popular vote and won 192 seats in the House of Commons, once again becoming Her Majesty's official opposition. Under the leadership of David Cameron, the party re-branded the green tree as its symbol as a symbol of the party's commitment to environmental issues that were previously the prerogative of left-wing parties. Cameron rejuvenated the Conservative shadow cabinet by moving the party to the center of the political spectrum and starting a battle for new constituencies.

In forming the lists of candidates for the 2010 elections, the conservatives, following other parties, relied on equality and diversity, primarily on increasing the proportion of women, representatives of ethnic and other minorities.

The main points of the conservatives' program are the reduction of excessive financing of social programs and the role of the state in the economy, more responsible spending of public funds, the encouragement of private entrepreneurial initiative, the protection of traditional family values, the adoption of a law on the mandatory referendum of any decision on the transfer of power from Great Britain to the European Union.

Conservatives are traditionally popular with voters in affluent rural areas in central, south and southeast England, as well as wealthy London areas.

Conservatives are currently gaining 35-41% of the vote in opinion polls.

The main slogan of the party in the upcoming elections is the phrase "Time for Change".

The Liberal Democrats is the third largest and most influential political party in Great Britain. The name is often shortened to Lib Dems. Leader (since 2007) - Nick Clegg (Nick Clegg, 43 years old).

The Liberal Democratic Party was formed in 1988 as a result of the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties. On the British political spectrum, the Libdem are the most centrist, with a slight left leaning. Party leader Nick Clegg is more center-right than most of his fellow leaders in the party.

Liberal Democrats suffer the most from the lack of a proportional electoral system in Britain. Thus, in the 2005 parliamentary elections, they received 22.1% of the vote, but only 62 seats in the House of Commons (less than 10% of the total number of mandates). That is why the Libdemists are actively promoting the idea of ​​a transition to a proportional electoral system instead of the current majoritarian one.

In addition, the party's program has a strong ecological and pro-European component, they support the election of the House of Lords; in the economy - for less government intervention. The Libdemists won respect for the fact that, unlike the Laborites and the Conservatives, they did not support Britain's participation in the Iraqi campaign.

Currently, in opinion polls, the Liberal Democrats are gaining 18-21% of the vote. They are most actively supported by residents of southwest England, Cornwall, rural areas of Scotland and Wales, as well as the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Since 1997, the Liberal Democrats have consistently improved their election results, and many commentators assign them a key role if neither of the two leading parties gains an absolute majority and a situation of "hanging parliament" arises.

In their campaign slogan, the Liberal Democrats combined the main messages of the Labor and Conservative parties - "Change that works for you: building a fairer Britain" ("Change that works for you: building a fairer Britain").

National parties

Scotland and Wales traditionally have strong positions of local national parties - the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Welsh "Plaid Cymru".

The SNP is the first largest faction in the Scottish Parliament and forms the minority government. The Plaid Camry is the second largest faction in the Wales Assembly and forms a coalition government with Labor.

The main points of the programs of both parties is the achievement of independence for Scotland and Wales, and as we move towards this goal - the conquest of maximum autonomy within the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In the national parliament, the SNP and the Play Camry are much weaker. Scottish nationalists in the elections in 2005 received 1.5% of the vote and 6 seats in the House of Commons, Welsh gained 0.6%, winning in 3 parliamentary districts.

A separate party system exists in Northern Ireland, where there are currently four main parties. Two of them - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) - advocate the preservation of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and defend the interests of Ulster's Protestant majority. The other two - the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) and Sinn Fein - defend Republican interests and advocate unification of Ireland.

The two extreme forces of the Northern Ireland political spectrum, DUP and Sinn Fein, are currently forming the Ulster coalition administration.

In the 2005 elections, the DUP received 0.9% of the total number of voters in the United Kingdom and 9 seats, UUP - 0.5% and 1 seat (currently UUP has a cooperation pact with the British Conservative Party), SDLP - 0.5% and 3 seats, Sinn Fein - 0.6% and 5 seats.

Sinn Fein MPs have been boycotting their parliamentary duties in London for many years, as their work in parliament requires taking an oath of allegiance to the British monarch, which is contrary to their political convictions.

Votes from small parliamentary factions become important in free voting, when the ruling party cannot force its members to vote with a united front and there may not be enough votes to pass a government bill.

Political marginals

The micro-parties Respect and Health Concern each have one seat in parliament. The Respect Party was formed in 2004, and its only representative in parliament is the ultra-left MP George Galloway, ousted from the Labor Party. He is famous for his relentless criticism of the British campaign in Iraq, his participation in the reality show "Big Brother", litigation with the British media, defending socialist ideals and supporting extremist movements. The Health Concern is formed in Kidderminster and initially advocated the rebuilding of the disbanded emergency department at the local hospital, but then expanded its agenda.

Three influential political forces in Great Britain are still not represented in parliament, which already have mandates in local authorities and in the European Parliament (elections to it are held according to a proportional system).

This is the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which aims at the country's exit from the European Union. In 2005, the party won 2.2% of the vote nationwide, but did not win in any constituency.

This is the Green Party, which promotes environmental issues, advocates for the localization of the economy and the legalization of soft drugs, while occupying a moderately Eurosceptic position. In the 2005 elections, the party won 1.0% of the British vote, but did not receive seats in parliament.

This is the far-right British National Party (BNP), which advocates the prohibition of immigration to the UK, the restoration of corporal punishment and the partial restoration of the death penalty for the most serious crimes - pedophilia, terrorism and murder. Only in 2010, the party allowed the admission of representatives of other races and ethnic groups, in addition to the white British. The BNP currently has one MP in the London Assembly and two in the European Parliament, but it does not yet have any MPs in the British Parliament. In the last parliamentary elections, she won 0.7% of the vote.

In 2005, a total of about 60 parties took part in the elections, and their deputies received more than 500 votes. Among them there were quite exotic ones, for example, the Alliance for the Legalization of Cannabis, Let's Make Politicians History, and the Party of Scottish Pensioners. In addition, well-known political and social movements were represented in various districts that are not very popular in Britain - socialists, communists, Christian Democrats and others.

According to opinion polls, small parties in the upcoming elections can count on a combined 9-17% of the vote.