As many of you know, I enjoy observing foreign elections, especially among Western-aligned Parliamentary nations. This year promises to be quite intriguing: Germany just had an election last year, the Netherlands has one coming in June, and with Canada's seemingly endless stream of minority governments, one can pop up there at any time. Right now, it's the UK's turn.
Queen Elizabeth dissolved the British Parliament today, ending one of the longest Parliaments in recent British history (if the Labour government had not called for elections within a few weeks, the term limit would have kicked in for the first time ever - it was enacted in 1715). Since the 2005 election, in which Tony Blair won a third term as Prime Minister, the Labour party has been mostly trailing in the polls, only earning a bump into the lead around the time that Gordon Brown took over as PM in 2007. The Conservatives have had a double digit lead in the polls for a few years, but recently, as luck would have it for Labour, polls currently show the Conservatives lead at only 5 to 11 points. With a month to go, anything can happen.
So here's pretty much everything you need to know about each party, starting with the three major parties and elaborating into the more important minor parties.
Great Britain
Labour - Led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Labour, a centrist to center-left party advocating democratic socialism, is currently in its longest stretch as government in the party's history and this year will be trying to match the predecessor Thatcher-Major Conservative governments with four consecutive election victories. This will be Brown's first election as leader.
Conservative - The Conservatives, a center-right party advocating conservatism and British unionism, have been out of power since 1997, when John Major lost a landslide to Tony Blair and the Labour Party. Since Major's defeat, the Tories - as they are popularly known - have had four different leaders, and the current leader, 43-year-old David Cameron, is in his first election as leader.
Liberal Democrats - Formed from the combination of a historically major party (the Liberals, who were supplanted on the left by Labour) and a relatively upstart party (the Social Democrats) in 1988, the "Lib Dems" have been gaining more and more seats in Parliament and will be hoping in this election to continue their growth and play kingmaker in a hung parliament. Led by 43-year-old Nick Clegg, this center-left to left wing party, which espouses social and market liberalism, hopes to reform Parliament to make it more multilateral.
UK Independence Party - A Eurosceptic right-wing party, the UKIP has been around since 1993 advocating support for the British pound against the Euro, and ultimately, withdrawal from the EU. The party has had momentum building for it for some time - though they've never officially had a member in the Commons, there are now two peers in the House of Lords who are with the UKIP (including the party leader, Lord Pearson) and the party's big breakthrough came last year in the European elections, when they managed to beat out Labour for second place in total votes and seats behind the Conservatives. The question now is whether the UKIP can breakthrough with its first elected members of Parliament.
Green Party of England and Wales - A left-wing party naturally advocating Green politics, the GP-EW will likely be running a slate of more than 300 candidates in England and Wales (out of 573 seats) for the first time in this election. The party is still growing - they earned 2 seats last year in the European election, and had a single member in the House of Lords until his death in 2008. The Greens have a shot at earning some seats, including leader Caroline Lucas, who holds one of the European Parliament seats, who is running in a constituency that gave the Greens 20% of the vote in 2005.
British National Party - Easily the most controversial party in Great Britain today, the far-right BNP continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Led by its equally controversial leader, Nick Griffin, the BNP has found increasing electoral success since taking 0.7% of the vote in 2005, culminating in earning a seat in the London Assembly and a pair of seats in the European parliament. The party's controversy stems from its nationalist and right-wing populist stances, which play awfully close to fascism and white nationalism. In fact, before February, the BNP had a clause in its constitution restricting membership to Caucasians. The party's gaining profile has been very troubling to many Britons, but their gains are in part fueled by protest votes against the policies of the major parties.
Scotland
Scottish National Party - A center-left nationalist party advocating independence for Scotland, the SNP is one of the most popular parties in Scotland, although this hasn't come with a great deal of success in national elections. The SNP, for the first time, earned a plurality of the the seats in Scottish Parliament in 2007, and their leader, Alex Salmond, is the First Minister of Scotland. Last year in the European elections, the SNP earned 2 of Scotland's 6 seats, but the party holds only 7 of Scotland's 59 seats in Parliament - Labour dominates much of the remainder of the country.
Wales
Plaid Cymru - Similar to the SNP, only focused in Wales, the center-left Plaid ("Party of Wales," in Welsh) stands for Welsh independence and democratic socialism. Unlike the SNP, they haven't had nearly as much success. They do hold 1 of 3 Welsh seats in Europe, but only 3 of 40 in Parliament and are only a junior member of the ruling coalition in the Welsh Assembly. Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones is the Deputy First Minister of Wales, and is a former member of Parliament.
Northern Ireland
Politics in Northern Ireland are dominated by the sectarian split, and as such the major parties of Great Britain largely stay away from Northern Irish elections.
Democratic Unionist Party - The largest and more hardline of the Unionist parties, the right-wing DUP had some tangential association with Loyalist paramilitary groups through its founders, but is now entirely committed to political support for British Unionism and social conservatism. The DUP is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and holds 8 of Northern Ireland's 18 seats in Parliament.
Sinn Fein - Best known as the former political arm of the Irish Republican Army, center-left Sinn Fein continues to advocate primarily for a united and independent Ireland but has operated away from the IRA for nearly 20 years now. Led by long-time leader Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein maintains a policy of abstensionism from the Westminster Parliament - that is, when elected, they refuse to take their seats in London. This policy has continued to this day despite dropping their abstensions from the Northern Ireland Assembly (where they are the second largest party) and the Dail Eireann in Ireland (where they are a minor party). SF holds 5 of 18 seats in Parliament, and last year earned the most votes in the European election in taking 1 of 3 Northern Irish seats.
Social Democratic and Labour Party - Committed to Irish nationalism and democratic socialism, the center-left SDLP is much like Sinn Fein, only without the extremist past and with a willingness to work with the opposition in London. Formed during "The Troubles," they were noted for their rejection of violence and extremism, and were more electorally successful than SF until the end of the terrorist campaigns. Since then, the SDLP has fallen behind SF in terms of support from Catholic nationalists. They hold 3 seats in Parliament.
Ulster Unionist Party - Formerly the most prominent Protestant party, the UUP earned support from most mainstream Unionists throughout "The Troubles" but like the SDLP, has lost ground in the new era of peace. Former Northern Irish First Minister David Trimble lost his seat in Parliament in the last election. The largest party in Northern Ireland as recently as 1997, the UUP managed to elect only one candidate to Parliament in 2005. The UUP is basically at rock bottom and have entered into an alliance with the Conservative Party to bolster its chances in this election. It has had mixed results so far - the combined effort earned the Tories/UUP a seat in the European Parliament last year, but the UUP's one elected member of the Commons quit the party over the alliance.
Alliance Party - While it's not a new concept in Northern Irish politics, the Alliance Party is still seeking a foothold with a platform of centrism and non-sectarianism after 40 years of existence. They continue to run candidates in every constituency - a rarity among parties without representation - but the political situation continues to cast a vote for Alliance as a spoiler and voters continue to prefer the other four parties by a wide margin.
So there you have it - lots of different storylines to watch for in this election. I'm sure there won't be too many posts on this thread but I'll pop in from time to time with election news.
Queen Elizabeth dissolved the British Parliament today, ending one of the longest Parliaments in recent British history (if the Labour government had not called for elections within a few weeks, the term limit would have kicked in for the first time ever - it was enacted in 1715). Since the 2005 election, in which Tony Blair won a third term as Prime Minister, the Labour party has been mostly trailing in the polls, only earning a bump into the lead around the time that Gordon Brown took over as PM in 2007. The Conservatives have had a double digit lead in the polls for a few years, but recently, as luck would have it for Labour, polls currently show the Conservatives lead at only 5 to 11 points. With a month to go, anything can happen.
So here's pretty much everything you need to know about each party, starting with the three major parties and elaborating into the more important minor parties.
Great Britain
Labour - Led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Labour, a centrist to center-left party advocating democratic socialism, is currently in its longest stretch as government in the party's history and this year will be trying to match the predecessor Thatcher-Major Conservative governments with four consecutive election victories. This will be Brown's first election as leader.
Conservative - The Conservatives, a center-right party advocating conservatism and British unionism, have been out of power since 1997, when John Major lost a landslide to Tony Blair and the Labour Party. Since Major's defeat, the Tories - as they are popularly known - have had four different leaders, and the current leader, 43-year-old David Cameron, is in his first election as leader.
Liberal Democrats - Formed from the combination of a historically major party (the Liberals, who were supplanted on the left by Labour) and a relatively upstart party (the Social Democrats) in 1988, the "Lib Dems" have been gaining more and more seats in Parliament and will be hoping in this election to continue their growth and play kingmaker in a hung parliament. Led by 43-year-old Nick Clegg, this center-left to left wing party, which espouses social and market liberalism, hopes to reform Parliament to make it more multilateral.
UK Independence Party - A Eurosceptic right-wing party, the UKIP has been around since 1993 advocating support for the British pound against the Euro, and ultimately, withdrawal from the EU. The party has had momentum building for it for some time - though they've never officially had a member in the Commons, there are now two peers in the House of Lords who are with the UKIP (including the party leader, Lord Pearson) and the party's big breakthrough came last year in the European elections, when they managed to beat out Labour for second place in total votes and seats behind the Conservatives. The question now is whether the UKIP can breakthrough with its first elected members of Parliament.
Green Party of England and Wales - A left-wing party naturally advocating Green politics, the GP-EW will likely be running a slate of more than 300 candidates in England and Wales (out of 573 seats) for the first time in this election. The party is still growing - they earned 2 seats last year in the European election, and had a single member in the House of Lords until his death in 2008. The Greens have a shot at earning some seats, including leader Caroline Lucas, who holds one of the European Parliament seats, who is running in a constituency that gave the Greens 20% of the vote in 2005.
British National Party - Easily the most controversial party in Great Britain today, the far-right BNP continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Led by its equally controversial leader, Nick Griffin, the BNP has found increasing electoral success since taking 0.7% of the vote in 2005, culminating in earning a seat in the London Assembly and a pair of seats in the European parliament. The party's controversy stems from its nationalist and right-wing populist stances, which play awfully close to fascism and white nationalism. In fact, before February, the BNP had a clause in its constitution restricting membership to Caucasians. The party's gaining profile has been very troubling to many Britons, but their gains are in part fueled by protest votes against the policies of the major parties.
Scotland
Scottish National Party - A center-left nationalist party advocating independence for Scotland, the SNP is one of the most popular parties in Scotland, although this hasn't come with a great deal of success in national elections. The SNP, for the first time, earned a plurality of the the seats in Scottish Parliament in 2007, and their leader, Alex Salmond, is the First Minister of Scotland. Last year in the European elections, the SNP earned 2 of Scotland's 6 seats, but the party holds only 7 of Scotland's 59 seats in Parliament - Labour dominates much of the remainder of the country.
Wales
Plaid Cymru - Similar to the SNP, only focused in Wales, the center-left Plaid ("Party of Wales," in Welsh) stands for Welsh independence and democratic socialism. Unlike the SNP, they haven't had nearly as much success. They do hold 1 of 3 Welsh seats in Europe, but only 3 of 40 in Parliament and are only a junior member of the ruling coalition in the Welsh Assembly. Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones is the Deputy First Minister of Wales, and is a former member of Parliament.
Northern Ireland
Politics in Northern Ireland are dominated by the sectarian split, and as such the major parties of Great Britain largely stay away from Northern Irish elections.
Democratic Unionist Party - The largest and more hardline of the Unionist parties, the right-wing DUP had some tangential association with Loyalist paramilitary groups through its founders, but is now entirely committed to political support for British Unionism and social conservatism. The DUP is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and holds 8 of Northern Ireland's 18 seats in Parliament.
Sinn Fein - Best known as the former political arm of the Irish Republican Army, center-left Sinn Fein continues to advocate primarily for a united and independent Ireland but has operated away from the IRA for nearly 20 years now. Led by long-time leader Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein maintains a policy of abstensionism from the Westminster Parliament - that is, when elected, they refuse to take their seats in London. This policy has continued to this day despite dropping their abstensions from the Northern Ireland Assembly (where they are the second largest party) and the Dail Eireann in Ireland (where they are a minor party). SF holds 5 of 18 seats in Parliament, and last year earned the most votes in the European election in taking 1 of 3 Northern Irish seats.
Social Democratic and Labour Party - Committed to Irish nationalism and democratic socialism, the center-left SDLP is much like Sinn Fein, only without the extremist past and with a willingness to work with the opposition in London. Formed during "The Troubles," they were noted for their rejection of violence and extremism, and were more electorally successful than SF until the end of the terrorist campaigns. Since then, the SDLP has fallen behind SF in terms of support from Catholic nationalists. They hold 3 seats in Parliament.
Ulster Unionist Party - Formerly the most prominent Protestant party, the UUP earned support from most mainstream Unionists throughout "The Troubles" but like the SDLP, has lost ground in the new era of peace. Former Northern Irish First Minister David Trimble lost his seat in Parliament in the last election. The largest party in Northern Ireland as recently as 1997, the UUP managed to elect only one candidate to Parliament in 2005. The UUP is basically at rock bottom and have entered into an alliance with the Conservative Party to bolster its chances in this election. It has had mixed results so far - the combined effort earned the Tories/UUP a seat in the European Parliament last year, but the UUP's one elected member of the Commons quit the party over the alliance.
Alliance Party - While it's not a new concept in Northern Irish politics, the Alliance Party is still seeking a foothold with a platform of centrism and non-sectarianism after 40 years of existence. They continue to run candidates in every constituency - a rarity among parties without representation - but the political situation continues to cast a vote for Alliance as a spoiler and voters continue to prefer the other four parties by a wide margin.
So there you have it - lots of different storylines to watch for in this election. I'm sure there won't be too many posts on this thread but I'll pop in from time to time with election news.
