The Presidentialization of Party Politics in the UK

Abstract

Although constitutional reforms undertaken since 1997 have created new substate legislative and executive bodies (most notably in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) the UK remains a unitary state, with ultimate political authority and sovereignty continuing to reside in the parliament of the UK at Westminster. This chapter concentrates on the two main relevant parties of UK government in the postwar period, the Conservative Party (CP) and the Labour Party (LP). Given that the Liberal Democrats (LDP) are now a junior partner in the UK coalition government, brief coverage of this party is also offered. Between 1945 and 2010 the Conservatives governed alone for 35 years. Labour governed for the other 30 years, although for a short period (1977–78) they had the support of the small Liberal Party in a parliamentary pact. Until the formation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition in 2010, at Westminster this was “the only formal deal done between parties” (Norton, 2011, p. 243). The chapter also concentrates on the period from 1990 onwards, and provides a useful starting point, namely the removal from office of Britain’s longest-serving prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. The declining hold of the two-party system is highlighted. Through a (necessarily brief) historical overview of their origins and development, the second section outlines the genetic features of the Conservative and Labour Parties.