Minor Parties and the Multiparty System (AQA A-Level Politics): Revision Notes

Minor Parties and the Multiparty System

Understanding minor parties

Minor parties are smaller political parties that typically have few or no MPs in the House of Commons. Examples include the Green Party, the Brexit Party, and nationalist parties such as the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru. Though they rarely win general elections, these parties play a significant role in UK politics, particularly in influencing the political agenda – the issues that become the subject of decision-making and debate by those in power.

Unlike the United States, the UK has a large number of significant minor parties alongside the three main national parties. While these parties are unlikely to win Westminster elections outright, they remain important in several ways and frequently help to shape political debate.

The role of minor parties in political debate

Minor parties influence UK politics in three main ways: through regional nationalist movements, through holding the balance of power in hung parliaments, and through single-issue campaigns that force main parties to respond.

Nationalist parties

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has strong concentrated support in Scotland. It is now the largest Scottish political party in terms of seats both at Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament. In 2019, the SNP won 48 seats and secured 45% of the total vote in Scotland. This substantial support gives the party considerable influence over political debate.

In Wales, Plaid Cymru has a smaller but still significant presence. In 2019, it won four out of 40 Welsh seats and secured just over 10% of the vote. While less influential than the SNP, Plaid Cymru ensures that Welsh interests and the case for greater Welsh autonomy remain part of the political conversation.

Northern Ireland parties

Northern Ireland has its own distinct party system based largely on the nationalist/unionist divide. The three main British parties are almost entirely absent from Ulster politics. In 2019, only the Conservatives contested any seats (four) directly, receiving just 0.7% of the total vote.

This means Ulster politics is entirely dominated by parties that would be considered 'minor' on the mainland:

• Unionist parties: Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
• Nationalist parties: Sinn Féin and Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)
• Non-sectarian parties: Alliance Party

Single-issue parties

'Single-issue' parties such as the Green Party, UKIP, and the Brexit Party have also proven far from insignificant, particularly in European elections. These Eurosceptic parties performed exceptionally well in European Parliament elections.

In 2014, Nigel Farage's UKIP won just over 26% of the vote in the European elections, defeating all three main parties. His newly formed Brexit Party then won the 2019 European Parliament elections by an even larger margin, finishing first with over 31% of the vote. The Green Party also pushed the Conservatives into a humiliating fifth place in these elections.

The wider impact of these results demonstrates how minor parties shape the political agenda. Many argue that the success of Eurosceptic parties pushed the Conservative Party into taking a more resolute position on Brexit to avoid losing votes and potentially seats to these rivals. The ongoing attraction of Eurosceptic parties and especially the high public profile of Nigel Farage meant that the Conservatives could never ignore the debate over the UK's future relationship with the EU.

The Green Party similarly influences political debate despite limited Westminster representation. While posing less of a direct threat to the main progressive parties than Eurosceptic parties do to the Conservatives, it has ensured that environmental issues remain on the political radar. The party's consistent advocacy has pushed climate change and environmental policy up the agenda for larger parties.

The extent of a multiparty system in Britain

The question of whether Britain has a multiparty system depends largely on which part of the UK political system you examine. The answer is different for Westminster compared to the devolved regions and other political institutions.

Two-party dominance at Westminster

Looking at the green benches of the Commons would strongly suggest a two-party duopoly between the Conservatives and Labour. After the 2019 election, 87% of the seats were held by the two largest parties, based on a combined vote share of nearly 76%. This indicates strong two-party dominance at the Westminster level.

However, some previous general elections suggested elements of a multiparty system. For example, in 2010 the combined Conservative/Labour vote share was only 65%, although their share of seats was somewhat higher at 87%. This demonstrates how the FPTP electoral system exaggerates the seat share of the two main parties.

Multiparty systems beyond Westminster

When examining the devolved assemblies, local councils, and other political institutions, a very different picture emerges:

Devolved assemblies: Politics in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland operates on a multiparty basis. Scotland has three- or four-party politics, with the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal Democrats all holding significant representation. These assemblies use proportional electoral systems, which allow smaller parties to gain representation more easily.

European Parliament (pre-Brexit): No fewer than 10 parties won seats in the last European elections in 2019. This demonstrated the multiparty nature of UK politics when proportional representation is used.

Northern Ireland: Politics frequently involves contests between several parties, despite some local electoral pacts designed to avoid splitting the unionist or nationalist vote. Multiple parties regularly hold seats and influence.

Local councils: Many local authorities have hung or balanced councils with no party in overall control. Independents also have a significant presence on many local councils, especially in more rural areas. In the 2019 council elections, independents won over 1,100 council seats – not far off the total achieved by the Liberal Democrats.

House of Lords: Even at Westminster, the unelected Lords is a multiparty chamber. No party has an overall majority, and there are more cross-bench peers than either Labour or Liberal Democrat peers.

The link to electoral systems

A clear pattern emerges: where FPTP is absent, a multiparty system is often present. The devolved assemblies use proportional systems (such as the Additional Member System), which give smaller parties a better chance of winning seats. This allows for more diverse representation and multiparty politics.

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