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Major Political Parties

Three parties currently dominate the national political landscape in Britain: the Conservative Party, theLabour Party, and theLiberal Democrats.

The Labour Party has only been in government for four short periods of the 20th century. It was last in government between 1997and2010underTony BlairandGordon Brown.The party won a 179-seat majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair, its first general election victory since October 1974. The party's large majority in the House of Commons was substantially reduced to 66 in 2005. Having won 258 seats in the 2010 general election, the Labour Party is theOfficial Oppositiontoday.

The Labour Party has historically been a left-of-centre one. It was broadly in favour of socialism and advocated socialist policies such as equality of opportunity, social justice, economic planning, public ownershipof key industries,government interventionin the economy,redistributionof wealth, increased rights for workers, thewelfare state, publicly-funded healthcare and education. Beginning in the late-1980s and subsequently underTony Blair, the party moved away from socialist positions and adoptedfree marketpolicies, leading many observers to describe the Labour Party asSocial DemocraticorThird Way, rather than democratic socialist.

The Labour Party was supported by the trade unions, the working class and some of the middle class. Its electoral strongholds are historically in Scotland, south Wales and the Midland and northern English industrial cities. But traditional class-based support has changed with more social and job mobility. Tony Blair modernized the party by moving to the centre, captured some voters from the Conservatives and distanced himself from the trade unions.

The modern Conservative Party was founded in 1834 and is an outgrowth of the Torymovement or party, which began in 1678. Today it is still referred to asthe Tory Party and its members as Tories. The Conservative Party is a right-of-centre party. It regards itself as a national one and appeals to people across class barriers. It emphasizes personal, social and economic freedom, individual ownership of property and shares, law and order.

The party’s support comes mainly from business interests, the middle and upper classes, but a sizeable number of skilled workers and women vote Conservative. Its strongholds are in southern England, with scattered support elsewhere in the country.

Currently the Conservatives is the largest political party in the United Kingdomthat adheres to acentre-rightphilosophy ofconservatismandBritish unionism.The Conservative Party won the largest number of seats at the 2010 general election, returning 307 MPs, though not enough to make an overall majority. As a result of negotiations following the election, they entered a formal coalition with the Liberal Democrats to form a majority government. Its party leader, David Cameron, isPrime Ministerof the United Kingdom.

David Cameron announced his intention to reform and realign the Conservative Party, saying they needed to change the way they looked, felt, thought and behaved, advocating a more centre-right stance as opposed to their recent staunchly right-wing platform. Although Cameron's views are probably left of the party membership and he has sought to make the Conservative brand more attractive to young, socially liberal voters, he has also expressed his admiration for former PM Margaret Thatcher, describing himself as a "big fan of Thatcher's. Since the election of David Cameron, the party policy has increasingly focused on social and quality of life issues such as the environment, government services (most prominently theNational Health Serviceand theHome Office) and schools.

The Liberal Democrats are the third-largest party in the UK Parliament, behind Labour and the Conservatives. They were formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Partyand theSocial Democratic Party.Promoting social liberalism, Lib Dems seek to minimize state intervention in personal affairs: they oppose what they call the 'nanny state'. While objecting to state limitations of individual rights, they favour a welfare state that provides for the necessities and amenities of life.

They support multilateral foreign policy. The party opposed British participation in the War in Iraq and support withdrawal of troops from the country. The Lib Dems are the most pro-EU of the three main parties in the UK. The party has strong environmentalist values – favouring renewable energy and commitments to deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Since their foundation, the Lib Dems have advocated an electoral reform to use proportional representation (a system which would increase their number of seats), replacing the House of Lords with an elected chamber, and cutting government departments.

1. Answer the questions to the text:

1. How many major political parties are there in Great Britain? What are they?

2. What is the current ruling party in the UK? Who is its leader?

3. What is the largest opposition party?

3. What are the modern concepts of the three parties?

2. Agree or disagree with the statements.

1. The main political parties represented in Parliament today are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats.

2. The party with the most MPs after a general election usually forms the Government. The next largest party becomes the official Opposition.

3. The modern Labour Party is supported by the trade unions, the working class and some of the middle class.

4. The current leader of the Conservatives acts as the Leader of the Opposition, heads the Shadow Government, and is a left-of-center politician.

5. The Conservatives are a political party with centrist policies, advocating an electoral reform with a view to use proportional representation and replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber.

4. Points for discussion:

1. The role of the parties in British society.

2. Is a multi-party system an integral feature of the political life of a country?

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