Politics 101 for the UK General Election 2010

Introduction to British Politics

The Year 2010 will be a General Election year in the United Kingdom. As each Government can serve a maximum term of 5 years, the election must be held on or before Thursday 3 June 2010, with the most likely date thought to be May 6th (because local elections are already set for the same date). The incumbent Government can call the election at any time prior to the close of this current session of Parliament and although some speculators have hinted at a “snap election” as early as March, that seems very unlikely to favour the ruling Labour Party and so a long Spring campaign is ahead for all candidates.

A General Primer

This UK Politics primer is an introduction with an international audience in mind and therefore assumes no prior knowledge of the British electoral system.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a parliamentary democracy, which means that Government is voted into power by the people, to act in the interests of the people. The British style of parliamentary government is known as the “Westminster System” and named after the Palace of Westminster, which is where the UK Houses of Parliament stand. The Westminster Parliament is in fact the oldest parliamentary democracy in the world.

Parliamentary democracy differs from presidential government in that the head of state is not the same person as the chief executive. Also, The Prime Minister (Chief Executive) is elected to the legislature in the same way that other members are elected, and is the leader of the Party which wins the majority of the votes to the legislative body, (in the case of the UK, this is the ⁽ⁱ⁾House of Commons). To confuse things further, the UK is also a constitutional monarchy. There is a monarch as Head of State (Queen Elizabeth II) who remains politically impartial and de-facto power is granted to Her Majesty's Government on behalf of the people.

So to recap, in the UK we elect the Party not the Person, to form a Government. This happens by a process of local elections where we vote for Members of Parliament (MP's) to go to Westminster. The Party which has the ⁽ⁱⁱ⁾majority of MP's in the House of Commons forms the Government, and the leader of that Party becomes Prime Minister.

In common with presidential government, the UK also has checks and balances, but they work slightly different. The executive branch (the Prime Minister and Cabinet) are formed from the legislative body, (the House of Commons) and the Commons makes the laws, which to some extent may be approved or rejected by the upper house. (The House of Lords) This then passes up to the Queen to sign into law. This is known as Royal Ascent. The House of Lords is under constant reform. The judicial branch is formed from the High Court and the new Supreme Court.

I will not go into European Union law in much detail in this article as it is complex and somewhat controversial. The UK is a Sovereign Nation and as such makes its own laws, however as a signatory of many treaties within the EU, some laws are made in the European Parliament which then pass to the UK to ratify, or sometimes the UK makes its own version of European Law, in compliance with the spirit of the Treaties. Such was the case with the Human Rights Act (1998). Although some might argue the European Union is a Federalist project, I do not believe it is there yet, and it has done some good. So while I might like to discuss the democratic nature of the project, (or lack of same) that is for another day and another article.

Notes to this section:

1. the Lower House of Parliament is roughly equivalent to US, House of Representatives.

2. The majority required to form a Government means a majority of the entire house, ie more than all the other members put together. If no party has an absolute majority then it is called a “hung parliament.” This is very rare in the UK but if it happens then a coalition Government will have to be formed, where two or more parties have to work together. If no agreement can be made, then the Parliament will not be able to function and a new election may be called.

To demonstrate, the Daily Telegraph political coverage has a feature on the political map, and a Swingometer which shows how much change there needs to be for a change of Government, and whether that will be Conservative victory, a Hung Parliament, (or in an alternate reality, a Liberal Democrat victory).

Who won the last election and who is likely to win this one?

In 2005 Labour won the General Election with a majority of 66 seats and Tony Blair became Prime Minister for his 3rd (and ⁽ⁱ⁾final term) This means they had this many more than all the other MP's put together from all parties. According to the Telegraph, the Conservative Party needs to get an approximately 7% swing across the country to win an overall majority of 11 seats. This means in practice that they would need to get the largest postwar swing to ensure overall control, which is why some pundits are predicting a “hung Parliament” for the first time in over 35 years. This is where the winning party has to form a coalition government with one of the other parties. It is quite common in other systems where proportional representation is employed, (for example in the Scottish Parliament, Assemblies of Wales and Northern Ireland) but it is rare in the UK Parliament and in other countries that use the “first past the post” system.

It seems probable from opinion polls that Labour will not win, but will they lose? Will David Cameron do enough to win? That question and more in future installments, but I don't think that anything can be predicted well at this point.

If there is a hung Parliament and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg does get to play “kingmaker” then electoral reform may well be a factor in the 2010 Government. I will get to that in a later post. Because of the way power is currently split, a 1.5% swing⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ would see this eventuality - a hung Parliament with Labour being the largest single Party in Westminster, but also being unable to form a government without any coalition, because the opposition parties would have the majority. In this situation, it is likely that the Liberal Democratic Party would become pivotal but it is not absolutely certain that the Labour Party would be able to form a government. If the Lib–Dems decided not to work with the Labour Party, then all bets would be off. The Conservatives could theoretically work with the Lib-Dems and the minor parties to form a Government instead. This would be the weakest of scenarios however, and it is possible that the Parliament would not last long before a new election was called. Alternatively, there could even be a Conservative–Labour Coalition, a government of National Unity.

Whilst I do not share the view of Paul Linford that this would be the best option, I can understand why he says it. 

"Well, because the country is facing three big challenges at the moment which, in my view, would be best handled by a bipartisan approach.

They are, firstly, the economy, and specifically the question of how to tackle the budget deficit. Secondly, how to restore trust in politics after the twin scandals of the Iraq War and MPs’ expenses. And thirdly, how to bring our involvement in Afghanistan to a successful, or at the very least an honourable, conclusion"

Well, it would be preferable to a Tory Government anyway!

1. Gordon Brown became Prime Minister when Tony Blair stepped down. It is not necessary under our system for the Prime Minister to be directly elected when the Party changes Leadership midterm because as I have pointed out earlier, we elect the Party to form a Government, by voting for MP's locally. Although it does sometimes happen that a Prime Minister in this position will call an early General Election to establish a clear mandate to govern, Gordon Brown decided not to call one.

2. The popular vote percentage does not accurately reflect the number of MP's due to constituency boundaries and population spread. This is therefore an estimate relative to the most likely constituencies to flip based on 2005 results .

Who are the main parties, their leaders and what do they stand for?

There are 3 major Parties in the UK with relation to the Westminster Parliament.

Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats. Since the 1920s, the main political battle at the General Election has been between the Labour Party and The Conservative Party with almost all Prime Ministers coming from those two parties. The Liberal Democrats (in their current form) are a strong 3rd party and get a reasonable percentage of the vote and number of seats, but are extremely unlikely to win enough seats to form a Government.

Left to right:

Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

A Brief History

The Whigs and The Tories

The Labour Party are a Centrist / Centre–Left Party, (with similarities to US Democrats) With its Trade Union roots, Labour is allied with Unions and Co-Operatives. The modern Labour Party policy utilises the so called 3rd Way of mixed market economics, where it used to be more socialist in nature. Most people think of the Labour Party as Centre–Left. They are more likely to support big government, and state control, but in recent years have moved away from that model, and if anything, have moved more to the right.

The Conservative Party are a Centre–Right Party. (with similarities to US Republicans) Economically, they support Free Market policies, and socially, they tend to support more traditional values.

Liberal Democrats are Centre–Left/Centrist (with similarities to liberals within the Democratic Party?) and is slightly to the left of the Labour, the Lib–Dems promote social liberalism.

However, according to PoliticalCompass.org, it seems all of our Parties have shifted right.

a rant or two along the way ...

The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown, leader of the Labour Party, which has the majority of Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

The Party is also sometimes known as “New Labour” but that is not its official name, this was a campaigning phrase coined by former Prime Minister Blair (and advisers) in his successful General Election campaign of 1997. Described by themselves as a Democratic Socialist Party, Labour is officially a Centre–Left Party, but in economic terms, it has moved further to the right during the Blair years, which is partly what the New Labour project was about. New Labour's mission was described by Blair-ites as "controlling the centre ground and appealing to middle England." Blair was very much a centrist in the Bill Clinton mold. And then came 9-11 the Iraq war and Afghanistan and it all began to unravel for Blair, but on the whole, he was a good Prime Minister, at least for his first term. Oh he won a second and third term, even after Iraq, because no one likes the alternative much. So the Tories spent 3 terms  in the wilderness. And then he went, because he stayed too long, and started inventing unpopular policies like the ID card scheme. It goes to their heads you see! exactly the same could probably be said about Margaret Thatcher. Sometimes a Prime Minister is in too long, I for one would welcome two shorter fixed terms like the US. I think power corrupts. Just a thought.

So, Gordon Brown on taking office, at first seemed to abandon the name “New Labour” and many in the political world are saying that the New Labour project is now finished. Now he has started using the name again, perhaps he thinks that moving back to the perception of something "New", will save his government. It seems unlikely, for he is a very unpopular Prime Minister, perhaps because he was not elected, and perhaps because he was the Chancellor of The Exchequor that oversaw the economic melt down. Perhaps a combination of things, but the public has just seemingly had enough. So for that matter, many believe that Labour are finished, at least for the next election. In terms of the political spectrum, Gordon Brown is perceived as more leftist, but also as more authoritarian and less libertarian than the core of his party. The ID card scheme and the abuse of privacy and civil liberties through anti - terror laws have damaged the Labour Party quite severely in that regard, although started by Tony Blair, as a response to “The War on Terror” it was not abandoned by his successor.

What does Labour stand for? According to their official site, “Labour stands for … social justice, a strong community and strong values.” As a centre–left party you would expect as much. In some regards they have done well, but they have not always been honest about the figures, especially on crime and unemployment and I believe the country is in the mood for change. It also has historically stood for the working class, from a strong Union base. In some regards they have reduced unemployment, but they have concentrated far more on young people and not on the core of the country than one would expect. ‘A New Deal’ for young people, was the motto in the late 90s and the turn of the Century. Of course the children are our future, and yes this is important, but with the pension age likely to increase, then what about Skills for life? I expected better from the “Peoples Party”, as Blair called them when they originally swept to power. They took the peoples goodwill, and over time they have squandered it. New Labour was all a bit hypocritical to me, and a mixed bag. “Education! Education! Education!”, was the rallying cry, and part of the 97 Labour Party Manifesto, and yet one of the first things they did was to end free tuition at University level. Student debt has now reached unmanageable levels. Yet there is no putting the Genie back in the bottle, even the Lib Dems have abandoned the idea, although perhaps not fully.

Partially, employment prospects have improved under New Labour, they have reduced unemployment (with a caveat that we truly have become a nation of banks, shopkeepers and service industries,) and the NHS has improved under Labours watch. They introduced a decent Human Rights Act and better rights for most people, including GLBT, Women, and minorities. They have reduced ordinary crime (to some extent) but made little or a negative impact on violent and sexual crime. Economically, Labour have been a disaster over the past few years, but they are not entirely to blame, it was the Tories who destroyed Britain's manufacturing base, and that is a significant factor in why we are the last major western nation that still in recession. Still, you can't blame the previous government when you have had 3 terms to fix it, so why haven't Labour done much to change the overall employment climate? Why are there not more real training courses that provide genuine job prospects for mature adults? Why are they so intent on fully embracing the Free Market, that one of our last (and most loved) assets, Cadburys chocolate are sold to the highest bidder? I doubt that even the Americans would have allowed that to happen. Are we become the most capitalist of all, and under the watch of the so called Socialists? It's complicated, but what we have here is not socialism, not by a long way. If we did, we would have a car industry left, but we don't do we?

I'll cover what the Conservatives really stand for when I figure it out. When anyone figures it out! Anyone? David Cameron's Conservatives are not the Tories of old, or are they? I don't trust them anyway. So I won't vote for them. It just looks like they will win.

My own personal views are more closely aligned with the Liberal Democrats, and I consider myself an Independent voter, but it looks like we are facing a Tory Government. The best I can hope for is a hung Parliament and electoral reform. Because like many of the country, given the choices, they are all bad and ‘none of the above’ springs to mind. Electoral reform could mean some form of Proportional representation, but this is only likely to happen if the Liberal Democrats get a strong showing in the polls and there is a hung parliament.

The Other Parties

There are literally hundreds of "minor parties", (that is those which are not likely to get enough seats to form a significant bloc in Parliament) but the largest, most relevant of them are:

UKIP (UK Independence Party) - Mainly campaigns about the European Union, is focused on the UK leaving the EU, but has said that it intends to release a complete manifesto.

The Green Party. Mainly concerned with ecological issues but has in previous elections released a complete manifesto of domestic and international policy. It is not likely to win many seats. I will deal with these in a later post.

Devolution and how it affects the General Election

To complicate matters even further for the uninitiated, the UK also has devolved Regional Government since 1997 as the United Kingdom is made up of 4 Nations in Union: Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. At present, Scotland has its own Parliament whilst Wales and Northern Ireland have Regional Assemblies, however all regions send MP's to Westminster as well and as the UK Parliament it is Sovereign over the others. Incidentally England does not have its own Parliament, which Is a matter for some debate.

The Scottish Nationalist Party is not a minor party in Scotland, as the Leader Alex Salmond is the First Minister of Scotland, and forms the minority government there, but relatively few SNP candidates are expected to win seats in the Westminster Parliament. The same goes for Plaid Cymru, (the Welsh Nationalist Party) and regional parties of Northern Ireland . Whilst they may win some seats at Westminster, they will not affect the outcome, and the 3 main parties also have candidates in those regions. This article is related to the Westminster Parliament, and a whole new section needs to be written to deal with Regional Issues. For now, it is suffice to say that the 3 main Parties contest seats in the whole of the UK, and no other smaller party really comes close to brokering power in the UK government.

The last Liberal Coalition

Incidentally, from 1916 - 1922, David Lloyd George was the last Liberal Prime Minister, (and the only Welsh Prime Minister to date) in a coalition government with the Conservative Party. Then the unions began to form power blocs and send politicians to Westminster. So the Labour Party happened, while the Liberals split and went into the wilderness. Now the Liberal Democrats are getting stronger each year, and are doing particularly well in Local Government Councils, could their time be coming around again? I hope so, even if only to break the two party system and force the politicians to earn our votes.

And finally

In summary, this is the briefest of introductions to UK Politics. I hope to cover more detail in future installments, and discuss what each of the Parties main campaigns are about, as well as taking a closer look at the key politicians, not only the leaders, but also those who will influence the outcome.

For a fully visual explanation of Left and Right, worldwide I think you'll love this!.

“A concept-map exploring the Left vs Right political spectrum. A collaboration between David McCandless and information artist Stefanie Posavec, taken from the book The Visual Miscellaneum ”
via Left vs Right | Information Is Beautiful.

Related articles by Zemanta

• PM confirms plan to reform voting (guardian.co.uk)
• Who's afraid of a hung parliament? (sluggerotoole.com)
• Daily View 2×2: 4 February 2010 (libdemvoice.org)

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Series: British Politics

This entry was posted on Saturday, 23rd January 2010 at 00:01 and is filed under Law, Politics, UK Politics. Follow responses to this entry through the RSS Comments feed.

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