Despite their juxtaposing beginnings, the two major parties nowadays look very similar in fundamental ideas and policies. This essay will consider economic, welfare, and foreign policies to conclude that the major parties clearly agree more than they disagree on policies and ideas.

Pressure groups are groups that seek to influence politics in order to achieve particular goals, sometimes in their own interests or that of minority groups within the population. However, this essay will reject the view that pressure groups enhance democracy.

Valence issues are when there isn’t significant disagreement between parties and therefore voters choose based on which party they think is going to be the most effective in government. Leadership and competence are key to this. This essay will accept the view that valence factors are the most important factors determining voting behaviour in UK elections.

student contributor Nora investigates whether the Conservative Party is more united than divided

The media no longer has a decisive impact on the outcome of elections. The impact of the media has declined through the decreased use of broadcast and print media with voters instead influenced more by the policies and leadership of politicians as well as their own demographics.

The Labour Party is a broad church party but faces a number of internal challenges that divide it between left and right on the economy and other positions that make it difficult for the party to unite. 

Whilst it may seem like on the economy, the most important aspect of Thatcherism, that the conservatives have moved away from her ideals, in reality, this is only a temporary situation. It is clear that the party still remains wedded to her principles and in the years ahead, it is likely to move back into a pro-austerity, fiscally conservative party. 

This essay will compare the influence of corporations and pressure groups within government policy, examining successful pressure groups and corporations as well as those that fall short. Ultimately, this essay will conclude that it is clear that apart from a few influential pressure groups, corporations have a much greater influence on government policy.

Pressure groups, in general, and think tanks and lobbyists, in particular, remain to have a big impact on government policy. Insider groups, however, have more influence than outsider groups. Think tanks and lobby firms, being types of insider groups, have a lot of influence, but, in recent years, their influence has diminished.

While politics at all levels in the UK are dominated by the main three parties, small parties have been a persistent challengers to those parties and have consistently offered the voter a choice beyond the mainstream. This essay will argue that although minor parties are disproportionately under-represented, they have been increasingly popular in recent years and thus, are of growing significance in British Politics.

Modern conservative leaders such as David Cameron recently tried to redefine the Conservative party as a compassionate party due to Thatcherism’s brutal emphasis on “self-reliance”. Overall, the Conservative Party has started to move away from this Thatcherism politically, economically and socially.

The election of Corbyn as labour leader only accentuated these differences, as he strongly believes in the importance of benefits and taxing the rich to achieve more equal wealth distribution in the UK. This evidently disagrees with May’s policies, such as tax cuts and even their decisions on the national living wage can be seen to differ. Therefore, it is clear the parties currently hugely differ over policies and ideas.

The state of the current Westminster electoral system has been argued to have created a democratic deficit. It is undeniable that the current system is in need of significant and dire reform, in order to dramatically improve upon the state of UK democracy.