Similarities and differences between the UK s two major political parties

It is difficult to generalize on this issue, because under the contemporary Western electoral system, almost all the big parties claim to be the party representing the whole people, except for some far-right and far-left parties, but most of these small parties have limited influence.

The Conservative Party and the Labour Party in Britain have basically maintained their attitude towards maintaining the political and economic system, but the Labour Party has been more active in promoting the "third way" and promoting the reform of the political system, especially the reform of the upper house of the British Parliament by the former cabinet of Blair. The Conservatives, on the other hand, are skeptical.

Economically, Labour advocates neoliberalism, emphasizing a degree of state interference; The Conservative Party, on the other hand, adheres to economic liberalism and opposes excessive interference in economic affairs.

In recent years, the British economy has been sluggish, resulting in a disadvantageous performance of the Labour Party in the British local elections, and Brown's cabinet is in trouble, and the Conservative Party is expected to win in the next **.

Parliament debated the question of the succession to the throne of Duke James (later James II), with MPs who opposed the Duke of James having the right to the throne denounced as whigs (Scottish robbers) by their political opponents, and MPs who favored the Duke of James as a tory (a celebration of Irish Catholic gangsters). Since then, the two factions have gradually called themselves in this way, forming two political factions, which take turns in power.

1 The Labor Party has about 400,000 members, of which more than 90% are members of trade union collectives, and the rest are intellectuals and small and medium-sized capitalists. The system of trade unions is the main pillar of the party. Its organizational structure consists of four parts: the leader, the Labour parliamentary group, the Labour organisation outside Parliament, and the Labour Party headquarters.

The leader of the Labour Party is elected by the Labour Parliamentary Group, and when the Labour Party is in power, the leader is the Prime Minister and the Cabinet members are appointed by him.

2 The right-wing Conservative Party, representing the interests of the British monopoly capitalists, large landowners and aristocracy, is generally supported by the corporate community and the wealthy class to reduce the size of the "shadow cabinet" and divert the power of the party leader, making the decision-making mechanism more democratic, rather than the Conservative leader alone.

3 The members of the Liberal Democratic Party are mainly industrial and commercial capitalists, lawyers, teachers and students, representing the interests of the petty bourgeoisie and business owners. However, at present, the Liberal Democratic Party still does not have the climate and conditions to become the ruling party.

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The party system is a central element of the UK's work. The main political parties in the UK are: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Welsh National Party, and a number of political parties in Northern Ireland.

At present, the United Kingdom has a two-party system, that is, two main political parties take turns to organize ** to hold state power and manage national public affairs. The two ruling parties are Labour and Conservative. They were formed by two factions in parliament, the Tories and the Whigs, who advocated the preservation of the prerogatives of the monarch and the latter which advocated the sovereignty of the parliament.

After the passage of the Electoral Reform Act by Parliament in 1832, the original political factions were transformed into political parties, that is, the Tories were transformed into the Conservatives, and the Whigs were transformed into the Liberal Party, and a system of alternating power between the two parties was formed. This is the world's earliest political party system. After the First World War, the Labour Party replaced the Liberal Party and took turns with the Conservative Party, pushing Britain's modern two-party system to a new stage.

The main functions of the ruling party are:

1. Grasp political power and formulate policies;

2. Integrate interests and reflect public opinion;

The main functions of the opposition parties are:

1. Supervise the legitimacy and rationality of the ruling party's governance;

2. Maintain the stability and continuity of the political system.

Political parties are an internal driving force and mechanism for the long-term existence and development of the bourgeois democratic political system in Britain. The Labour Party and the Conservative Party take turns in power, and the peaceful and democratic replacement of the ruling party and the opposition party has maintained the social and political stability of Britain, and is an effective method and means for the British bourgeoisie to maintain and improve its rule.

Be. Britain was the first country in the world to have a bourgeois political party and the first to establish and implement a two-party system. Currently, the UK is a two-party system under the parliamentary cabinet system.

The British party system, and the parliamentary system from which it arose, are the product of British historical development. The British bourgeoisie used parliamentary democracy and political parties to fight for their own rights in the struggle against the feudal monarchy and aristocracy, established their own rule, and formed a parliamentary system and a political party system in the modern sense on the basis of inheriting and transforming the parliaments and political parties of the feudal era.

The party system in the UK is a two-party system based on a responsible cabinet. This party system is closely integrated with the British parliamentary system, and is both a product of and a part of the parliamentary system.

The UK has a two-party parliamentary cabinet. A two-party system refers to a capitalist political system in which two parties with similar powers elect a majority of seats in parliament or take turns in power through elections. The former is typified by the United Kingdom, the latter by the United States.

It should be noted here that the rotation of the two ruling parties does not mean that there are only two ruling parties, that is, there may be a third party. The two existing parties in Britain are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The party with the majority of seats in Parliament is the ruling party, so the opposition party is the party that has the second majority of seats in Parliament.

The opposition party has the same constitutional status as the ruling party and is also known as the "Queen's opposition party". One of the functions of the opposition party is to supervise the ruling party's governance and constrain its governance in many ways, such as organizing a shadow cabinet. A shadow cabinet is a power body with exactly the same structure as the ruling party's cabinet, and it is ready to replace the cabinet as a reserve to govern.

The British and American two-party systems have similarities and differences from their origins, legal status, mechanisms of action and the dilemmas they face, and it is difficult to describe them simply, but the biggest difference is that the United Kingdom belongs to the parliamentary cabinet system, while the United States belongs to the ** system. At present, the United States has jumped out of the framework of the original parliament and implemented a two-party party system under the ** system. The differences between the political party systems of the two countries are specific to the relationship between the two major parties, which is reflected in the following:

In the United Kingdom, the relationship between the ruling party and the non-ruling party is the relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party, while in the United States, it is divided by whether or not it is in the White House. The U.S. Constitution does not allow for a majority in Congress to topple and overthrow the incumbent**.

Yes, it is now Labour and the Conservatives who take turns in power.

The two-party system in Britain is definitely not the invention of some politician or political organization, nor is it the result of a revolutionary movement or political event; The two-party system in the United Kingdom is a product of the long-term development of the British parliamentary system. The history of the British Parliament dates back to the century, while political parties did not emerge in Britain until the end of the century. The first two major political parties to emerge in England were actually two factions in Parliament, and the group loyal to the king at that time was called the Court Party, also known as the Tory Party; Its antithesis was known as the Township Party, also known as the Whig Party.

The Tory represents the conservative forces in Parliament and is the forerunner of the Conservative Party; The Whigs were a radical wing of parliament and were the forerunner of the Liberal Party. At that time, the two parties were only active in parliament, and it could not be said that there was already a two-party system in the modern sense. It was not until the turn of the century later, with the realization of a series of parliamentary reform legislations, that the organization of the two major parties developed on a national scale.

The Tories established the "Carlton Club" and the following year changed its name to the Conservative Party. Around the same time, the Whigs changed their name to the Liberal Party and formed the "Reform Club" in the same year. The Conservative Party established the "National Union of Constituency Associations of Conservative Constituencies", and the Liberal Party formed the "National Liberal Party Alliance".

It was only then that the basic features of the modern British two-party system were in place. These basic characteristics are: ( Of the many legally existing political parties, only two have the strength to compete for a majority of seats in Parliament; ( The two major parties have permanent organizations inside and outside Parliament, ** and locally, which are constantly influencing each other with the electorate; Both major parties recognize the British constitution and have made it their campaign to come to power through parliamentary elections; • Opposition parties are constitutionally recognized and become an integral part of State institutions.

Britain is the birthplace of the parliamentary system and the political party system of the modern West, and compared with the two-party system of the United States, the two-party system of the United Kingdom is more typical, and has a more far-reaching impact on the political party system of many countries in the world, especially the former British colonial countries. It can be seen that the two-party system in Britain is not artificial, but naturally formed in the process of social development. The two-party system is inextricably linked to Britain's history and society, as well as to other aspects of the political system.

Talking about the two-party system in isolation from the historical conditions and actual environment at that time will inevitably fall into one-sidedness.

Characteristics of the two-party system: a: the activities of the two parties revolve around parliamentary elections, and the ruling party not only holds executive power, but also legislative power; B: The two parties are centralist.