Party system of England

MAIN FEATURES OF PARTY SYSTEM

1. Two-Party System.
An important feature of the party system of England is the predominance of two parties.
This two-party system has persisted for about three centuries. The bi-party system has
arisen wholly from historical circumstances and in no wise from plan or design. The
earliest parties were the Tories and the Whigs, who appeared in the eighteenth century.
Early in the nineteenth century, the Tories came to be known as Conservatives and the
Whigs as Liberals.
In 1900 the Labour Party came into existence and for some time there was tri-party
system. Besides the three great parties, the Conservative, Liberal and Labour, there were
numerous minor parties and groups. A complete change in the party positions took place
after the Second World War. The two party system remained in the Britain with the
decline of liberal party .Now there are only two major parties, the Conservative and
Labour, though minor parties and groups still exist.

2. Composite Character of Parties.

The British political party lines have never been wholly drawn on class lines. In the
nineteenth century the bulk of the aristocratic and wealthier classes was drawn into the
Conservative party which represented the viewpoint of the man who had deep respect for
tradition believing it to be the necessary anchorage of a sound social order. The Liberal
party was the party of reform and change along the lines of middle class thinking. The
Labour party was in the beginning the expression of the trade unions and socialist
societies; its ideal and object was the socialist state, to be achieved through the
progressive curtailment of competitive enterprise and the substitution thereof by public
ownership, operation and control.

But during the twentieth century the class complexion of the major British parties has
considerably changed. The Conservative party has adopted an increasingly liberal attitude
on many issues and the labour party has broadened its base so that it today receives
substantial support from the middle and even the upper classes. It has cut deeply into the
former Liberal and Conservative strongholds.
Today both the Conservatives and Labours have to appeal to the broad cross-section
of the electorate; without such appeals they cannot hope to win a majority in Parliament.
This helps to reduce any tendencies towards social and political conflict based
exclusively on class interests

3. Rigid Party Discipline.

Every major political party in England has nation - wide organisational network and
enforces rigid discipline in committee in its ranks. ,Each party has a threefold
organisation
(1) the local party party committee in each parliamentary constituency
(2) the parliamentary party consisting of all members of the party who are actually in
Parliament, with an elected leader, and
(3) a national organisation
In the twentieth century there has been tremendous growth of party discipline, both
inside Parliament and outside it. In Parliament the party Whips have become very
powerful. All the members of the party are enjoined upon to attend Parliament at the
crucial moment of voting and the party Whip sees to it that every member gives blind
support to the party. If a member disobeys the party Whip he may have to face
disciplinary action not stopping short of expulsion from the party In England the
phenomenon of Aya Ram Gaya Ram defection is very uncommon.
4. Continuous Party Activity.

Another important feature of the British party system is that the party organisations
continue to function throughout the year uninterruptedly. In America the party
organisations become active only during election days: they tend to relax between the
dates fixed for elections. On the contrary, threat of parliamentary dissolution at any time
keeps British party organisations constantly mobilized. Party media continue to bombard
the electorate with party propaganda throughout the year. This accounts for the
remarkable political awareness of the British electorate.

5. Her Majesty's Opposition.

The two-party system in Britain has given rise to an officially recognized opposition in
Parliament. The party which commands a majority in the House of Commons forms the
government and the other which is in a minority is recognised as Her Majesty's
opposition. Thus the opposition party constitutes a branch of Her Majesty's Government.
The leader of the opposition is considered to be the alternative Prime Minister. He is paid
a salary from public funds for leading the opposition against the government. He is often
described as "Shadow Prime Minister" and forms Shadow Cabinet which includes
prominent members of his party. The members of the Shadow Cabinet keep an eye on the
activities of all the departments of the government and bring the light of publicity to bear
on their acts of omission and commission. This institution of an officially recognised
opposition is a peculiar feature of the British party system.

6. Responsible Behaviour of the Opposition.

The leader of the opposition and the members of his party know that if their party gets
a majority in the next general election, they will be called upon to form the government;
then they will be confronted with the same problems which the government has to face at
present. Naturally they cannot afford to be irresponsible in their conduct . They cannot
give to the electorate the promises and assurances which they cannot fulfil when they
themselves are in power, nor do they irresponsibly criticise the government for the things
which they themselves cannot mend or the acts which they cannot avoid. The electorate
expects that whatever the promises the opposition makes it will fulfil them, when it is
returned to power. This accounts for the spirit of moderation and attitude of compromise
in the British political system.

Aims and Methods of the Parties

1. The Conservatives.
The Conservative party believes that the existing basic structure of society resting on
private ownership and control of the means of production, is sound and must be
maintained. They do not believe in economic equality. They support tariffs and protection
of home industries. They are against state ownership of means of production. They
support the claims of the Established Church, the Crown and the House of Lords.
Naturally, they enjoy the support of the Church and wealthier sections of society.
However, the Conservative party is no more committed to the nineteenth century laissez
faire capitalism; it has considerably changed its attitude and accepted the welfare state as
the ideal of domestic policy.
2. The Liberal Party.
The Liberal party supports the policy of social reform and amelioration. It urges
economy in national expenditure and abolition of tariffs. It urges state regulation rather
than state ownership
or state management. Like the Labour party it wishes the Government control banks,
investments, transport, electric power and to regulate co industry. Its agriculture policy is
to secure a more efficient use of land through the provision of small holdings allotments.
The Liberal ways a middle way between the capitalism of the Conservatives and the
socialism of Labour
3. The Labour Party.
It differs fundamentally from the Conservatives and Liberals. It is avowedly socialistic
and believes in the public ownership and control of the means of production. For this
purpose it advocates the nationalisation of s of the railways, banking, mines ctc To begin
with, it wants that work, living wages, education, leisure, and insurance against
unemployment, sickness and old age must be guaranteed to all public utilities and natural
monopolies must be nationalized. But it ultimate aim is the nationalisation of land and all
forms of industrial capital. The Labour party rejects the aims and methods of the
communists. It does not believe in revolutionary methods. It believes in evolutionary
socialism. Its fundamental principles are gradualism and democratic methods. They also
believe in using the democratic state to attain the goal of socialism and in retaining it
after the goal is achieved.
4.The Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party or Greens is a green, left-wing political party in England and
Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have served as the party's
co-leaders. The party currently has one representative in the House of Commons and two
in the House of Lords, in addition to hundreds of councillors at the local government
level and three members of the London Assembly.
The party's ideology combines environmentalism with left-wing economic policies,
including well-funded and locally controlled public services. It advocates a steady-state
economy with the regulation of capitalism, and supports proportional representation. It
takes a progressive approach to social policies such as civil liberties, animal rights,
LGBT rights, and drug policy reform. The party also believes strongly in non-violence,
universal basic income, a living wage, and democratic participation. It is split into various
regional divisions, including the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party, and is
internationally affiliated with the Global Greens and the European Green Party.

5.The Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic
political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence
from the United Kingdom and for membership of the European Union, with a platform
based on civic nationalism. The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has
the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 45 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House
of Commons at Westminster, and it is the third-largest political party by membership in
the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
 Founded in 1934 with the amalgamation of the National Party of Scotland and the
Scottish Party, the party has had continuous parliamentary representation in Westminster
since Winnie Ewing won the 1967 Hamilton by-election. With the establishment of the
devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second-largest party, serving
two terms as the opposition. In the 2021 election, the SNP gained one seat and entered a
power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.
The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland in terms of both seats in the
Westminster and Holyrood parliaments. The SNP is a member of the European Free
Alliance (EFA). The party does not have any members of the House of Lords, as it has
always maintained a position of objecting to an unelected upper house.

Role of the Parties in Governmental System.

A government in England always enjoys a majority position in Parliament. It may be
based on the strength of a single party or on a coalition of parties. This position assures it
"the institutional opportunity of implementing advantage its programme. This
institutional discipline cohesion the British executive is the consequence of and cohesion
of the political parties. This is in marked contrast to the position of the executive in the
United States. Secondly, the presence of a strong and vigilant opposition ensures that no
act of commission or omission of the government can go undetected and criticized.
Consequently, the government is always alert; it cannot be negligent of its duties and
irresponsible in its behaviour.
It is the party system that has imparted stability, coherence, popularity and dignity to
political institutions of England.