pimpdave wrote:I really don't know much about the political parties in Britain, so I'm hoping some of you Limeys can help educate me. About all I know is the Labour Party is one of them, but I have no idea what they stand for, etc.
OK, there's 3 major political parties
# The Labour Party (leader - Gordon Brown (previously Tony Blair))
# The Conservative Party ("The Tories") (leader - David Cameron)
# The Liberal Democrats (leader - Nick Clegg)
Labour are currently in power, and have been since 1997. They're
traditionally the most left wing/socialist party of the three, and the majority of their funding still comes from trade unions. Since the early 90s they've gradually shifted towards centre-right economically speaking - although they do still stand very much for equal rights and generally them being in power does benefit people who're less well off. Traditionally their support comes from the big cities plus Scotland and Wales ... it's very much a working class party, although it does attract a little support from the middle class.
The Conservative Party, usually referred to as "The Tories" (their original party name) are the oldest political party in the world! They were in power from 1978 until 1997, and had an iconic leader in the form of Maggie Thatcher for the majority of the time. People tend to have strong feelings towards her - mostly hatred, but some really love her. She was very much in favour of the free market - and the Tories in general stand for "traditional family values" and the free market. They're probably the closest to the Republican party in the US. They're traditionally the party of the upper and middle classes.
The Liberal Democrats - aka the Lib Dems - are the third biggest party. They've not been in power since the 1920s, although they do attract a sizable vote still (around 20%). They're a centre-left party, although not really a 'socialist' one, and generally have a stronghold of support in the middle classes, plus the more educated working classes. They're probably closest ot the Democrats.
In addition there's a few regional political parties ...
# The Scottish National Party (leader - Alex Salmond)
# Plaid Cymru (leader - Ieuan Wyn Jones)
# The Democratic Unionist Party (leader - Peter Robinson)
# Sinn Fein (leader - Gerry Adams)
# SDLP (leader - Mark Durkan)
The
Scottish National Party are a centre-left party who are in support of full Scottish independence from England - currently Scotland has the same kind of power that a 'state' does within the US. They've recently become the largest supported political party in Scotland, ahead of Labour.
Plaid Cymru hold a similar view about Wales. Wales has some independence from England, but it's much less than a State would enjoy in the US. Plaid are centre-left too. I've got a feeling that Plaid, Labour and the Lib Dems are roughly equally supported in Wales.
The
Democratic Unionist Party are politically centre-right and are in favour of Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK
Sinn Fein are
allegedly the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (a terrorist organisation which has been inactive for the past decade or so), who are in favour of Northern Ireland becoming part of the Republic of Ireland. They're centre-left.
SDLP are another centre-left, Northern Irish party who are in favour of Northern Ireland becoming part of the Republic of Ireland ... although they don't have any supposed associations with the I.R.A.
Finally, there's a few minor political parties which attract a small amount of the vote
# The British National Party (BNP)
# The Green Party
# The UK Independence Party (UKIP)
The BNP are a far right political party with known sympathies towards the Nazi party and Klu Klux Klan.
The Green Party are an enviromentalist (hippy
) party
UKIP are a centre-right party in favour of Britain becoming totally independent from the rest of Europe
They're really not worth more than one line - none of those parties will get in to power - it's highly unlikely they'll make a significant impact on British politics
