Evaluate the view that minor parties have little impact on British politics

A minority party is a political party whose electoral strength plays a smaller role than the mainstream parties in a country’s politics and elections. Smaller political parties have been a long-standing feature of the British political landscape at both national and local levels. The 350 political parties, and other political organisations add a richness and depth to politics that has an impact on democracy and representation beyond the limited success they achieve at the ballot box, both locally and nationally. The limitations of minority parties comes in many forms, FPTP being the most important but also English Votes For English Laws (EVEL) prevents them partially to have an impact and an inability sometimes to get their policy initiatives into the mainstream. While politics at all levels in the UK are dominated by the main three parties, small parties have been a persistent challenger 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.

It is clear that minority parties can be influential in British politics due to the clarity of their position on single issues. As many minority political parties are single-issue parties, their focus on a specific political agenda means voters may support such parties because they consider the core-issue of that party of vital importance and are less concerned that other policy aspects are not fully developed. UKIP is an example of such a minority party with its focus on anti-EU policies, it is undoubtedly one of the most eurosceptic parties in Britain and can be considered as one of the major manifestations of the UK’s challenge to Europeanisation. Their growing influence over the British populous was evident through their historic victory in the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections by winning a large number of UK seats. Those 24 seats made UKIP the biggest UK party in the European Parliament, this makes it a challenge to the main political parties and to the British political system as a whole. Also UKIP secured 3.9 million votes in the 2015 general election, although it only achieved one seat. UKIPs success at the European level demonstrates that minor parties have the ability to influence voters with their clear and direct manifesto, unlike the majority parties who have a much more obscure agendas. UKIPs increasing popularity over the years strengthened the party as a fundamental catalyst for the 2015 EU Referendum and the ‘victory’ of Brexit, thus proving that minor party ideology has permeated the agenda of the mainstream parties who are conscious of their electoral successes.

Despite the previous argument, it is obvious that minority parties have little impact on British Politics because they are disproportionately under-represented by the FPTP electoral system. The FPTP electoral system creates a two-party system designed to create a strong majority in government, thus does not favour minority parties. Minority parties with extreme views, that is, parties likely to damage the democratic system and create further division, are overlooked by the system. Therefore, under FPTP, there is reduced competition between the two main parties in order to suppress political radicalism, amongst other reasons. The disproportionate nature of the FPTP system was demonstrated in the 2015 General Election, as UKIPs 3.8 million votes and similarly, The Green Party’s 1.1 million votes were translated into only one MP in Parliament each. Therefore, the existence and activities of small parties outside of the main three and outside Westminster does not allow alternative opportunities for citizen engagement and participation. This is significant as it has exposed the limitations of the FPTP system, it illustrates that the two-party system does not effectively represent minority parties at Westminster and subsequently, a clear and fair variation of public opinion. Thus, it is evident that although minority parties are popular amongst the British electorate they do not have a large impact due to the FPTP electoral system as they are unable to gain real traction in Parliament and so cannot make drastic changes.

Contrastingly, minor parties are incredibly important and effective in representing the views and opinions of the electorate from the devolved nations. As the minority government in Scottish Parliament, the SNP has support from 45% of the Scottish population. This demonstrates SNP as an important minority party at a devolved level in in British politics. In 2014, the Independence Referendum drummed up passionate nationalist sentiment, whilst the motion to seceded was defeated, that feeling has not gone away. These nationalist views are reflected through the popularity of the minor party SNP. Nicola Sturgeon’s strategy on independence has no doubt energised SNP support and increased the turnout of their voters. Therefore, in the 2015 General Election there was a great success for SNP, which won 48 of the 59 seats in Scotland at Westminster, marking them the third party. The party now controls four-fifths of the Scottish seats, a much higher proportion than Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won across the UK. The SNP surge creates a major headache for the UK prime minister. It is reminiscent of 1987, when Margaret Thatcher won big across the UK but lost more than half the Conservative seats in Scotland – the ‘doomsday scenario’ as it came to be known. That year the Conservative number of seats fell from 21 to 10 in Scotland; this time it’s down from 13 to six. The SNPs landslide victory places the minor party firmly in the centre of Westminster, where the Scottish population can be equally recognised. Thus, it shows that minority parties can gain influence over governments overtime through the weakness of main parties who do not win an outright majority. Minor parties can greatly influence British politics either as part of an official coalition or through voting agreements. Therefore, demonstrating that minor parties do not need to have equal amount of support as main parties to be able to rally substantial support. They are increasingly considered a direct threat to major political parties and subsequently, are able to significantly impact British politics from the UK Parliament.

Despite this, the issue of devolution has demonstrated that although Scotland has gained more devolution, the inability for Scottish parties to be heard in Parliament leaves millions of the UK electorate voiceless. This is because governments in devolved nations do not hold equal weight in Westminster. Such as the SNP, who has formed a minority government in Scottish Parliament, but they are only considered a minor party in UK Parliament. Thus, it is evident that Scottish minority parties may have impact in the devolved nations but not enough in UK parliament. This was demonstrated in the 2015 EU Referendum, Scotland voted in favour of the UK staying the EU by 62% to 38%- with all 32 council ares backing Remain. Although Scotland had delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU, the UK left the EU. As Scotland’s vote in the EU Referendum was sidelined and ignored by the Westminster establishment, it demonstrates that the position on minors parties from the devalued nations are constantly undermined. As Westminster still retains control of ‘reserved powers’ such as defence, foreign policy and constitutional matters, Scotland want to gain full independence by becoming ‘detached’ from Westminster and the British governing system. Also the Cameron government passed the English Votes for English Laws legislation which restricts the ability of devolved parties to amend bills as they go through parliament. EVEL was designed to resolve the West Lothian Question, although it still gives Scottish and Welsh parties the right to vote on the final version of the bill. Therefore, it is clear that despite minority parties ability to form governments in their devolved nations, it is incredibly difficult to have an impact in the UK Parliament. Thus, it is clear that in devolved nations, minor parties may have political significance in their devolved powers yet they have relatively little impact on British politics.

Finally, smaller parties can act to galvanise political opinion and activity that may be focused on a more precise set of political objectives than those of the big three. Small political parties serve to fill a gap in political representation; a gap which occurs because the mainstream, major national parties increasingly appear to fail to adequately represent the diverse range of views and interests that make up the political dynamic at national, regional and local levels. This can be said for the minor political party the Green Party, who have been able to spark an interest, particularly in the younger demographic, on the issue of climate change. Environmental concerns are becoming a priority for the electorate, with millions of young people across the world protesting this year demanding climate action. The increase in awareness of climate change has been reflected in the growing support for the Green Party. In the 2019 European Parliament election, the Green Party won 12% of the vote in the European elected and electing 7 MEPs. The number of people voting Green increased by 40% from 2017. This illustrates a growing recognition in the single-issue political agenda of the Green Party, which has been disregarded by major parties.

Smaller parties may, over time, radically transform attitudes towards particular issues, thereby forcing the main parties to policy-poach. While the Greens remain a small party on the national stage it is possible to say of the main three parties that they are all green now. Thus, relevance, for UK small parties is related more to policy-poaching than having actual political position. This can be seen through the adoption of green policies throughout the major political parties such as the 2019 Conservative manifesto promise of reaching the net zero emissions by 2050. It is evident that the Green Party has helped push green issues towards the top of the political agenda and forced the major parties to address them. Therefore, it is clear that minor parties do not need coalitions or majorities to make a change in Parliament but through major parties policy-poaching can bring their agenda into the UK Parliament.

In conclusion, although there are numerous obstacles for minor political parties, the most detrimental is the FPTP electoral system. Despite this, their ability to not only to provide the voter with alternatives at election time, but to influence the behaviour of the established parties as well as increase awareness and popularity for particular causes. Minor parties do not need to rely on coalitions to be influential in Westminster, as smaller parties produce new ways for political accountability as they are able to focus on issues ignored by the main parties. Thus, minor parties play a significant role in British politics as they can encourage the realignment of issues as the main parties adapt their policy agenda to the newly emerging issues.

Sibel Kaya