What are the political parties of England? How can you describe them?

Question

You know, how the US has the Democrat and Conservative? Is it the same? And the Labour, Whig, and Tory ... are they still around?

Answer 1

Hope you don't find this too boring.

In the United Kingdom, there are currently three national parties with representation in the House of Commons: the Labour party, the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats.

The Labour party, which is currently in government, was founded in 1900 and originally was a socialist party with strong links to the workers' unions. The party had trouble holding on to government and was never able to achieve a full second term in power. This changed when Tony Blair became leader in 1994, moving the party to the centre and founding New Labour, based on Bill Clinton's 'Third Way'.

The Conservative party, which is currently in opposition, is the oldest and most successful party in the world and has a centre-right philosophy. The party originated in 1678 when it was called the Tory party. The position and name of the party changed in 1830 under the leadership of Robert Peel. The Conservatives have held power in Britain for longer than any other party put together and its Prime Ministers include Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. However, the party became unpopular in the 1990s losing power to Blair's New Labour in 1997. With Blair's departure last year, the Conservatives have regained support and are now expected to win the next general election.

The Liberal Democrats were originally two parties which merged in 1988 from the historic Liberal party, which was founded in 1859 out of the Whigs, and the Social Democratic Party, a splinter group from Labour which formed in 1981. The party is seen as centre-left and did very well in the last election but has since had two leadership elections and several scandals.

In Wales and Scotland there are pro-independence party, Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) and the Scottish National Party (SNP), both have representation in the House of Commons and the SNP are a minority government in the Scottish parliament. Also, Plaid Cymru is in coalition with Labour in the Welsh assembly.

In Northern Ireland there are four main parties, Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party support Northern Ireland joining the Republic of Ireland and the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party who wants to remain part of the UK. All four are represented in the House of Commons.

There are other parties which do not have representation in parliament. The United Kingdom Independence Party which wants the UK to leave the EU, the environmental Green party, the far right British National Party and many many more.