Characteristics of the main parties in Great Britain. UK political parties: the big three

Great Britain is essentially an extremely conservative country, the political system operating there is very specific, political culture very different from other countries. That is why the largest opposition party is the Conservative Party of Great Britain. The origins of its origins are in the nineteenth century, and its activity most clearly manifested itself in 1997, when the party received its current name - “Tory”.

Peculiarities

Since its founding, the Conservative Party of Great Britain has defended the interests of the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie, both financial and industrial, which gradually emerged from the tutelage of the Liberal Party. Conservatives even had the opportunity from time to time to form a government on their own, this party was so popular. During for long years The Conservative Party of Great Britain also experienced triumphs. There were also turning points when their age-old political opponents, the liberal party, triumphed. For example, when she left public politics, the conservatives had a very bad time. They lost their hard-won positions in the government and almost all the support of the electorate.

Margaret Thatcher

This is the most charismatic leader of the Conservative Party of Great Britain; it is not for nothing that she was awarded the title of “Iron Lady”. At the time of her departure, a period of decline began, the party’s ratings were steadily declining, the apparatus was difficult to reform, and leaders changed frequently and unsuccessfully. It was indeed almost impossible to find anyone equal in the power of Margaret Thatcher's political thought. The Conservative Party was in decline.

A new life came for her when she became the leader, who changed not only the party members, who became somewhat younger, but even the symbols. The greenery of the tree - the main symbol - signifies a new direction that respects the ecology of the United Kingdom. Blue and green are the official colors chosen by the Conservative Party of Great Britain.

Program

The main slogan is diversity and equality. The 2010 elections determined the program in its current form. The share of female participation is increasing, and not only ethnic but also other minorities are represented. The election of a new Muslim mayor of London most clearly characterizes this activity.

Reform has not been forgotten either. economic system In Great Britain, the struggle is for budget redistribution, social financing programs are being cut, and a course has been taken for the rationality of all budget spending. Residents of the country are gradually getting used to this kind of division of power, so the protest movement is very weakly expressed; basically, the population agrees with these political foundations.

Traditions

Great Britain, however, is traditionally popular among the wealthy and aristocrats; its ranks are formed from members of the highest military, the clergy, and very wealthy deputies and officials. It is the conservatives who dictate the external differences between the British and the rest of humanity - strict upbringing and even a little mannerism.

Not important for conservatives membership fee, issues of composition and its formation are entirely decided by the leader of a separate community, who has the right not to obey even the annual party conference. Independence traditionally distinguishes social movement conservatives from other party formations. Parliamentary elections determine the course of the country for five years and the composition of the government. There are two main political parties in the country; liberals and conservatives fight for power with varying degrees of success.

Story

Reforms in Parliament in 1832 gave impetus to the emergence of small local organizations, who called themselves Tories and Conservatives because they did not like the reforms at all. Then, in 1867, they united as the National Union. The first significant Conservative leader was Benjamin Disraeli, to whom the Tories entrusted the party in 1846, and later became a good prime minister (1868 and 1874-1880). The Conservative Party of Great Britain, whose program previously suited only the aristocratic elite, gradually changed. Since the 1870s, it has attracted most of the electorate of its opponents. Liberals and conservatives were already actively opposed in the struggle for power.

Most of the twentieth century was spent under the rule of the Conservative Party, which did not give power to either Labor or the Liberals for more than one term. For almost thirty years since 1915, the Conservatives formed the government themselves (only 1924 and 1929 were exceptions) or formed a coalition with Labor to form a national government. The full name of the party sounds like some kind of association: the conservative and unionist party. The post-war period was also marked more than once by conservative rule. Only defeat parliamentary elections 1997, 2001 and 2005 forced them to go into opposition.

Achievements

Reducing funding for certain social programs and the state's influence on economic processes, responsibility in spending public funds, advocating for traditional family values ​​and encouraging the initiatives of private entrepreneurs - all this, being the main points of the party program, made the Conservatives the most popular among the electorate. Their stay in power helped the country achieve good results in increasing the rate of economic growth, reducing inflationary processes, and increasing the income of private business. A number of state-owned companies have been privatized.

Since 2005, when Cameron ruled the party, the country's successes have been even greater, the field of activity has expanded and the influence of the Conservatives has increased in all spheres of public life and politics. After the 2010 elections, the UK Parliament entrusted three hundred and six seats to the Conservative Party, for which about eleven million voters voted. At the same time, Cameron created a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party to form a government. In 2015, the Conservatives still had a majority - three hundred and two parliamentary seats.

New plans

Some of the Conservatives' new promises in the latest UK parliamentary elections are being heavily criticized. For example, the referendum that the party intends to hold on the country's exit from the European Union, as well as the modernization of the nuclear safety system. At the same time, there are other important issues on the agenda that time dictates: the budget deficit, which requires reduction, taxes that have increased at the top and base levels, housing affordability, provision for pensioners, and much more.

Here, too, traditions have triumphed since the development of the party doctrine by Chamberlain, who put forward the idea of ​​a customs union, introduced protectionism, which forced the country to leave its place as a monopolist in world industry, and intensified competition (especially with Germany). Attempts to pacify the Nazi aggression in those days led to the outbreak of World War II. What will happen this time is not yet very clear, but the whole world is slightly alarmed after the latest statements by the Conservatives, not only Great Britain. In 1940, the Conservatives found and nominated Churchill, who headed the government and helped defeat Nazism. Is there a figure of similar magnitude to be found today? We can only hope for this. Especially when you consider that Churchill also made irreparable mistakes a little later.

World leaders

In March 1946, the same Churchill, a comrade-in-arms and ally of the USSR in the great war, made a speech in the American Fulton, where he proposed the unification of all capitalist forces for an anti-Soviet bloc. For some time, the conservatives even lost power. But in 1951 they returned and stayed in power for thirteen years. In 1955, Churchill was replaced by Eden, a comrade-in-arms and long-time friend. However, he failed the Suez crisis and was forced to leave in 1957.

Then the Conservatives brought Macmillan and Douglas-Home to the leadership, but they did not succeed in public policy, but in 1970 E. Heath, head of the party since 1965, independently formed the British government. He succeeded in a lot: joining the common market, pan-European consolidation. For this, by the way, he was severely criticized within the party, and the party itself received deep divisions among its members: the British do not like either change or consolidation. And so, after Heath’s resignation, the “iron” Margaret Thatcher became the leader of the party, who not only revived the party’s work, but also significantly stimulated the development of the British economy.

Defeat

After Churchill, she was the strongest leader among all her predecessors. That’s when the privatization of entire branches of state industry began, trade unions were almost completely suppressed, and the Conservatives won the elections confidently and by a huge margin. In 1990, Major in her place could not govern the country as successfully, so in 1992 the conservatives began to lose their popularity. In 1997, the election defeat was crushing, when Labor took 418 seats in parliament, and the Conservatives only 165.

The programs of the Conservative Party had to undergo significant changes, which is what happened. The leadership has become younger again, the program has become similar to the liberal one. This continued until 2005, when Cameron became the leader, but the time for independence had not yet come: actions took place in a coalition with the liberals.

Factions

Conservatives are one nation. The basis of conservatism is social cohesion with common institutions that maintain harmony among interest groups and classes. This concept did not include different races and religions until recent times. Purely their own people, citizens of their own country, with deep roots, passing on traditions from generation to generation. Now this unity has become significantly stronger, since among conservatives there are quite a lot of supporters of the European Union and the presence of Great Britain in it.

But there are no less conservatives among opponents this provision of things. Thus, the first group of members of the Conservative Party was formed - "One Nation" with well-known politicians Tapsel, Clark, Rifkind and others. Radical politics and any erosion of their own national identity are not at all close to them. And time requires tolerance! As well as the political preferences of the USA and the rest of Europe, which are tolerated according to various reasons simply necessary.

Free market wing

This faction is followers of Margaret Thatcher, conservatives with a liberal slant. For a long time they dominated the ranks of party members - immediately after the election of Thatcher in 1975, consistently reducing the role of the state in economic development, reducing the scale of its participation in all industries, thereby ending its existence as a social one.

Society was becoming classless, this was the main goal of the political movement, the so-called Thatcherism. Among the figures in this wing there are also many Eurosceptics who are against the rules of intervention in the free market, because they see this as a threat to British sovereignty. Reagan greatly valued Thatcher's contributions to world politics. The United States is very much in favor of someone who developed his fundamental principles in the United States.

Traditionalists

These groups within the conservative party can easily be classified as the most right-wing: faith, family, flag - these are the main social institutions that adherents of traditionalism have taken over. Anglicanism, state, family. This legacy resists any transfer of power outside the country, even if it is the European Union.

Also, supporters of this movement are against increased immigration, against abortion and for traditional family values, including they advocate compulsory marriage, for which some tax breaks are even offered. They work least in the economic sphere and more often try to solve social, moral and cultural problems.

Party system and main political parties in Great Britain

It is believed that the first political parties (proto-parties) arose in this country in the second half of the 18th century. Great Britain is a state with developed manifestations of political and ideological pluralism, although there is no extensive codified legislation on parties.

The country has established a two-party political system based on competition and interaction between the bourgeois conservative and center-left Labor parties. There are about 10 parties operating at the national level, but the “tone” is set by Conservatives and Labour. After 1945, the government was formed exclusively by representatives of these parties. The main institutional factor supporting two-partyism is the majoritarian electoral system of a simple majority, which creates a situation in which the winner receives all the advantages, which puts other parties at a disadvantage.

Important place in public political life takes Labor Party(from English labor- workers) is a left-of-center, social democratic organization with a rich history.

This party was founded in 1900 by English trade unions and in 1906 adopted its modern name. One of the tasks set during its creation—representation and protection of wage earners in parliament and other government bodies—was accomplished back in the 1920s. XX century Since then, Labor has won elections and formed government on numerous occasions. In the 90s XX century the party, trying to expand its social base, abandoned a number of unpopular and odious slogans - nationalization of key sectors of the economy, opposition to the military-political alliance with America, etc. Nowadays, Labor protects the interests of not only workers, but also small entrepreneurs and employees, i.e. are gradually turning into a popular political organization, pushing apart social barriers and stereotypes. The ideological and theoretical basis of the party is the ideology of democratic socialism.

The largest trade union center, the British Trade Union Congress, still holds a strong position in the party leadership.

Organizationally, the Labor Party is a kind of federation, consisting of both collective members (members of trade unions and various societies) and individuals who are members of this organization on the basis of individual membership. The latter represent a minority in the overall party composition.

The decisive role in the formation and implementation of party policy belongs to the Labor faction in the House of Commons of the British Parliament. The working body of the party is the national executive committee, elected at the annual autumn party conference. However, real power is concentrated in the hands of the party leader, who, if elected, becomes the head of government, as happened, for example, in 1997, 2001 and 2005. After 18 years of Conservative rule, the Labor Party came to power in 1997, winning a majority in parliament. In the May 2005 elections to the House of Commons, the Labor Party, having won a landslide victory, gave Prime Minister T. Blair the opportunity to become the head of the British government for the third time (since 2007, G. Brown has been Prime Minister). However, in recent years, due to the difficult socio-economic situation and corruption scandals, the authority of Labor has decreased significantly.

Labour's main rival is conservatives(unofficial name - Tory). They took organizational form in 1867, although some elements of the party structure and ideology had existed since the end of the 18th century. This respectable and influential party in the last century was in power more often and for a longer period than any other: it is enough to name the names of popular Tory politicians B. Disraeli, W. Churchill and M. Thatcher. Initially, the Conservative Party expressed the interests of large landowners and the clergy, and subsequently - wide circles of the colonial banking and large industrial bourgeoisie. She preaches traditional right-wing conservative ideals and values, but taking into account “British specifics”. Conservatives have strong positions in parliament, regional authorities and municipalities. Enormous power in the party is held by its leader, who, if the party wins the parliamentary elections, becomes prime minister. He is not obliged to obey the decisions of the annual party conferences. The faction has a great influence on party policy Conservative Party in the House of Commons.

The third largest political party in Britain is Party of Social Liberal Democrats, originating from the Whigs (late 18th century). According to the results of the 2005 parliamentary elections, it had 62 seats in the 625-seat parliament.

In addition, there are the Social Democratic Party, which broke away from the Labor Party, and the small and uninfluential Communist and Socialist Workers Parties. Since the 80s XX century There is an intensification of regional political (as well as cultural and educational) organizations - Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, widely using popular slogans of national revival. As a rule, their influence is limited to the territory of a specific region.

13.4. UK Parliament: internal organization, powers

The oldest parliament in the world is the English Parliament, the creation of which dates back to the 13th century, when, at the request of the rebel feudal lords, the Magna Carta was signed by King John the Landless in 1215. She entrusted the monarch with the responsibility to create a General Council of the Kingdom to establish taxes. Therefore, the British Parliament is called the father of all parliaments. In Great Britain, the concept of “parliament” as a proper name began to be used to designate a national representative institution.

The English parliament gained significance as a state forum already in the 13th century, becoming a classic example of a representative body. Later, in the XVI-XVII centuries. it acts as an estate-representative body under the monarch. However, only after the bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. Parliament acquires real and multifaceted significance. It should be taken into account that the system of parliamentarism in the West arose as a negation of the absolutism of state power in the person of the monarch, the all-powerful first person in the state.

The uniqueness of the British Parliament lies in the preservation of various archaic features, which are reflected in many aspects of its organization and activities. When they talk about parliament as the supreme legislative body of the country, they mean not only both houses of parliament, but also the queen, who is an integral institution (part) of parliament.

When analyzing the place of parliament in the UK power system, it should be taken into account that it was based on two fundamental principles - parliamentary supremacy and parliamentary (responsible) government.

The British Parliament is an example of a bicameral representative body, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. At the same time, the British monarch is considered an integral part of parliament.

Key Feature parliament also lies in the fact that one of its chambers is House of Lords- formed by inheritance, in other words, on a non-elective basis. Membership in it is conditional on receiving a title of nobility, which gives the right to be a member. For a long time it was the largest upper house among European countries. Members of the House of Lords were in the late 90s. XX century more than 1,200 peers of parliament, titled nobility, whose names are inscribed in the “golden book” of the English nobility.

Constitutional reform, which began in 1999 on the initiative of the Labor government, defines the most important direction reform of the English parliament and, above all, the procedure for the formation and legal status of the upper chamber. Back in 1997, Labor promised to remove hereditary peers from the chamber, and after coming to power they began implementing election initiatives aimed generally at democratizing the status of the chamber.

At the first stage of the constitutional reform, which should be carried out within 10 years, on the basis of Art. 1 of the House of Lords Act 1999, the status of hereditary peers was eliminated and the number of broadswords was halved (to 665 members): only 92 hereditary peers retained their seats (10% of their total number) and about 573 life peers, including bishops. Moreover, 92 hereditary peers received the hereditary right to sit and vote during the transition period of the reform through a secret vote of their colleagues in the chamber, and 10 hereditary peers agreed to the government’s ultimatum: to change the title of hereditary peer to the title of life peer. The right *ia participation in the activities of the chamber was reserved for the lords, whose title was assigned by the monarch in recognition of their personal merits and at the proposal of the government. The remaining lords have the right to stand for election, including in the lower house - the House of Commons.

In the second stage of reform, by 2011, Labor plans to abolish the House of Lords. It is expected that it will be replaced by a new upper house (its name has not yet been decided), consisting of 600 deputies. 120 of them will be elected in general elections according to party lists, another 120 will be appointed by a special independent commission. The rest (360 deputies) will be appointed by the leaders of political parties in proportion to the results of the elections to the House of Commons. According to the reform, the upper house must have at least 30% men and 30% women. The House will still have veto rights over decisions of the House of Commons.

Disputes about possible models of the upper house in the expert community have not subsided even after the 2005 elections. Most British experts and many politicians are inclined to believe that in the near future it would be better to limit ourselves to introducing a moderate element of electing the upper house.

There are currently four types of membership in the House of Lords:

Lords Spiritual (Archbishops of York and Canterbury and Bishops of the Church of England);

Law Lords (former and current senior judicial ranks appointed to the chamber to provide qualified assistance in resolving court cases);

Hereditary peers;

Life peers (having received the title and seat in the House for distinguished services to the Crown), they do not have the right to pass on their title by inheritance. The first two categories of chamber members are not considered peers.

It is noteworthy that despite such an expanded composition of the chamber, the quorum is only three people, and generally about 100 people (law lords and life lords) take part in its work. For a long time, the work of the House of Lords was headed by the Lord Chancellor, who was appointed to the post by the Prime Minister. The Lord Chancellor was simultaneously a member of the cabinet (minister), the speaker of the upper house of parliament and the chief justice, who single-handedly appoints judges. Such a combination of key functions in the hands of one person government controlled and the exercise of judicial power was a clear anachronism and could not contribute to strengthening the status of independence of the judiciary. Continuing the process of reforming the upper house of parliament, in 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair took new initiatives to abolish the post of Lord Chancellor, an institution Supreme Court, designed to take over the functions of the Lord Justices, and the creation of an independent commission for the appointment of judges.

As a result of the reform, since 2004, the head of the House of Lords holds this position on an intra-chamber elective basis and is not part of the government. Traditionally, the leader of the House of Lords takes part in debates and votes, but does not decide procedural issues, as does speaker House of Commons These powers are exercised by the chamber independently with the coordination of the leader of the chamber, who is the leader of its largest party faction. The Chamber has only non-specialized committees. Also during the reform, the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs was created, which was supposed to take on most of the powers of the Lord Chancellor, including in the judicial sphere.

In outline competence of the House of Lords includes the following powers: a) legislative, b) control, c) judicial. The first group of powers ensures the participation of the chamber in the legislative process (consideration in accordance with the procedure of introduced bills - bills, the exception here is special requirement to the adoption of financial bills, which are introduced only in the House of Commons; introducing amendments to bills adopted by the lower house, etc.). The second group of powers mainly consists of soft control over the work of the government. The judicial powers of the chamber are significant and are determined by the fact that it is the highest court of appeal.

In general, the powers and general status of the House of Lords, despite the constitutional changes, do not change. It must maintain its “subordinate” position, but become more legitimate. At the same time, the effectiveness of its work, especially in the field of examination of bills adopted by the House of Commons, should increase significantly.

Lower House - House of Commons - the only elected central government body. Only members of this chamber can be called members of parliament.

The size of the chamber for the 2005 parliamentary elections was reduced from 659 to 646 members elected by universal, equal secret and direct voting for a period of five years. This reduction in the size of the House of Commons is due to the consolidation of electoral districts in Scotland. The Select Boundaries Commission reduced the number of constituencies from 72 to 59 in connection with the Scotland Act, which spelled out the creation of its own Scottish Parliament and the elimination of the abnormal imbalance of Scottish representatives in the British Parliament. As a result of the new division of constituencies, the number of voters living in one electoral district was close to the British average of 68 thousand voters per constituency.

The House of Commons is headed by speaker. This responsible position has existed since 1377. The House of Commons can be dissolved by the monarch. Traditionally, the Queen's formal consent to the dissolution of Parliament marks the start of the election campaign. According to British law, parliamentary elections must take place 17 working days after the dissolution of the previous parliament. While parliament is dissolved, politicians can campaign for elections but are not allowed to enter the Palace of Westminster, where parliament is located.

Any British subject (as well as citizens of Ireland and the Commonwealth 1 living in the country) who has reached 21 years of age and meets the qualifications established by law can be elected to the House, including the incompatibility qualification: a ban on being members of parliament for persons holding certain public positions (professional paid judges, civil servants, military personnel, etc.). The electoral deposit is 500 pounds. Art., it is not returned if the candidate received less than 5% of the votes.

Elections to the House of Commons are held according to the majority system. There is no requirement that a candidate receive a minimum percentage of votes.

In the last parliamentary elections to the lower house (May 5, 2005), Labor won again, receiving an overwhelming majority of parliamentary seats - 356, the Conservatives won 197 seats, increasing the size of their parliamentary faction by 33 deputies compared to the previous elections in 2001, and the Liberals Democrats, compared to 2001, increased their representation in the House of Commons from 52 to 62 deputies. The remaining parties in the British Parliament are currently represented by 31 MPs. Let us note that, according to British tradition, a party is recognized as ruling if it remains in power for two full parliamentary terms - at least eight years. And in the 20th century. Labor has never managed to maintain its status as the ruling party.

To the most important powers of the chamber include: adoption of laws, budget, consideration of financial bills, parliamentary control over government activities. Only this chamber can express no confidence in the latter.

In Great Britain, as in other Western European countries, the independence of deputies proclaimed by the constitution is significantly limited by strict factional discipline aimed at maintaining unity and solidarity. In the House of Commons, debates take place mainly between individuals occupying leadership positions in the Conservative and Labor parties; the role of ordinary parliamentarians in this process, as political scientists have aptly noted, is reduced only to “support groups encouraging the leaders.”

In general, the UK can be confidently described as a country with a stable and significant role for parliament, largely due to the continuity of parliamentary development comparable only to the United States.

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Legislature belongs to the monarch (queen) and parliament, consisting of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords. Officially, the head of state is the Queen. In fact, power is concentrated in the hands of the cabinet of ministers formed by the ruling party.

Great Britain is the center of the Commonwealth of Nations - a political and economic union, which, along with Great Britain, includes sovereign states that were part of the British Empire before gaining independence, as well as the dependent territories of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the weakening of its economic positions and political influence in the post-war years, Great Britain remains one of the leading imperialist powers in the world and maintains strong economic and military-political positions in the system of world capitalism. Participating in the main aggressive military-political blocs (NATO, SEATO, CENTO), possessing great industrial and military potential, as well as developed international relations, Great Britain is directly or indirectly involved in solving most major foreign policy problems. 1.1 1973 Great Britain became a member of the EEC. The British ruling circles count on the fact that membership in the EEC will not only increase Britain's role in Europe, but will also provide an opportunity to solve the country's serious socio-economic problems.

COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN (CPB)- founded on the founding congress of 31.VII-I.VIII 1920, in London as a result of the unification of the left groups of the British Socialist Party, the Socialist Labor Party, the Socialist Federation of Workers, the Socialist Association of South Wales, Irish socialists and other smaller left-wing socialist groups. In 1920 she joined the Comintern.
From the beginning of its founding, the party fought to strengthen its ranks, against right and left revisionists, for the creation of a united workers' front, and against the anti-worker policies of the Labor elite.
During the Second World War, British communists sought to intensify the country's participation in the war against fascism and open a second front in Europe.
The CPV enjoys a certain influence in the trade unions, has influence in the cooperative and women's movements, in the organization of war veterans, and manages the activities of the British Peace Committee.
The XXX Congress of the CPV (November 1967) adopted a new party program “Britain's Path to Socialism” (a revised version of the program adopted at the XXII Congress in 1952 and subject to significant changes at the XXV Extraordinary Party Congress on 11 1957).
The CPV focuses its attention on achieving unity of action of the left, progressive forces of the country, strengthening its influence in trade unions, organizing the strike movement, mass protests of workers against anti-union legislation and the freeze policy wages, against the yenstvo of ENGLAND in the Common Market, for a democratic solution to the Ulster crisis.
The focus of the XXXIII Congress of the CPV (November 1973) was on the issues of further unity of the country's left forces in the struggle against the anti-people policies of the conservative Heath government, for the consolidation of peace and European security, and the expansion of the party's ties with the masses.
CPV delegations participated in the international meetings of communist and workers' parties in 1957, 1960 and 1969.
Since 1950, the CPV has not had its representatives in the House of Commons of the English Parliament. In the early parliamentary elections (1974), communist candidates ran in 44 electoral districts and received about 35 thousand votes.
The CPV is built on the principle of democratic centralism, and in organizational terms - on the territorial production principle. Factory, university and territorial primary organizations are united by city and district committees. The highest body of the party is the congress (convened once every 2 years), in the intervals between congresses - the Executive Committee, which elects the Political Committee. The number of the party is 30 thousand people.
Secretary General CPV - D. Gollan, Chairman of the Executive Committee - A. Swan.
The central printed organ of the CPV is the weekly magazine “Komment” (“Commentary”). The party also publishes the daily newspaper Morning Star, the monthly theoretical magazine Marxism Today, and the monthly socio-political magazine Labor Monthly.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN(official name “National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations”) - was organizationally formed in 1867 on the basis of political groupings of the English landed aristocracy (Tory). Unites in its ranks representatives of the ruling classes, senior officers, bureaucrats, part of the bourgeois intelligentsia and expresses the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie and large landowners.
The domestic policy of the Conservatives is aimed at strict capitalist rationalization through a further attack on the vital interests of the working people.
In foreign policy activities, conservatives constantly emphasize their commitment to maintaining and strengthening the military power of NATO and a close military-political alliance with the United States. However, Great Britain's membership in the EEC is beginning to affect Anglo-American relations, primarily in the trade, economic and financial fields.
In the parliamentary elections of 1970, the conservative party won 330 seats (an absolute majority) and formed a government. In February 1974, in an atmosphere of further deepening of the crisis of British capitalism, growing economic difficulties, inflation, continuous rise in prices and deterioration of the situation of workers, the Conservatives, using the general miners' strike as a pretext, held early parliamentary elections. Having received 296 seats, they lost their absolute majority and were forced to cede power to the Labor Party, going into opposition.
The Conservative Party does not have a clearly defined program and charter. It consists of 630 local associations, each covering a constituency area. Membership in the party is not formalized. The party includes about 3 million people. The party's financial resources come from donations from representatives of large industrial and financial capital.
The highest bodies of the party are formally the annual conference, the Central Council and the Executive Committee. However, they have no real power and serve only as a link between the party leader and the party masses.
The leader of the party is E. Heath, the chairman of the Central Council is Lord Carrington.
The Conservatives publish a weekly newspaper, the News Letter. They are supported by a large number of major English newspapers and magazines.
LABOR PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN- founded in 1900 under the name Committee of Workers' Representation, which united individual trade union organizations and social democratic groups. The main task of the committee was to seek the election of deputies to parliament from its member organizations. In 1906 the committee was officially renamed the Labor Party.
From the moment the party was born, it was led by social reformist figures who sought to ensure “class peace” in the country through compromises between workers and capitalists. Lenin’s characterization of the class essence of the Labor Party, as a thoroughly bourgeois party, remains valid today.
Over the years, the Labor Party has become the largest political party in England and one of the leading parties of the Socialist International.
The Labor Party was in power 4 times (from January to November 1924, from May 1929 to August 1931, from June 1945 to October 1951 and from October 1964 to June 1970). At the parliamentary elections of 1974, the party received 301 seats and formed.
government, although it does not have a majority in parliament.
One of the main directions of the internal political strategy of the Labor leadership after the 1970 elections is the course it took to strengthen the alliance with the trade unions, the desire to attract the sympathy of numerous categories of the working class to the side of the party. The Labor leadership, forced to reckon with a certain shift to the left in the country's labor movement and in the party, with the increased role of trade unions, is trying to develop a more realistic and effective socio-economic strategy.
The party leaders, having come to power, confirmed their election promises to seek a “fundamental revision” of the conditions for England’s accession to the EEC, some increase in Old Age pensions, government subsidies to curb the rise in food prices, but also at the same time increase direct and indirect taxation.
Labour's election promise to carry out a radical redistribution of wealth in favor of working people was not seriously reflected in the budget of the new government.
As a result of a certain shift to the left within the Labor Party, the position of its leadership on a number of foreign policy issues is more moderate and mainstream than the position of the Conservatives.
Labour's election manifesto (1974) criticized Conservative policies as negative, ignoring changes on the European continent and throughout the world. The party leadership remains firmly a supporter of NATO. Labor has rejected the terms of the Conservatives' deal with the racist regime in Southern Rhodesia and advocates ending cooperation with the Portuguese colonialists.
The leadership of the Labor Party advocates the development of comprehensive relations with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. In June 1973, the official delegation of the Executive Committee of the Labor Party, led by its chairman W. Simpson, came to the Soviet Union.
There are 6,310 thousand people in the ranks of the Labor Party. Party membership is both collective and individual. As a collective member, it includes 67 trade unions (5,559 thousand people) and 6 socialist and cooperative organizations (cooperative society, Fabian society, Jewish socialist workers' party, socialist association of educators, socialist medical association and society of labor lawyers - in total 25.5 thousand people). The number of individual members, who are the most active part of the party, is about 700 thousand people. The party is built on an administrative-territorial principle.
Supreme body The party is formally an annual conference. However, its decisions are only advisory in nature for management. The specific policy of the party is determined by its Executive Committee and the Parliamentary Committee (the so-called “shadow cabinet” formed by the parliamentary faction). The central figure in the party is its leader, who automatically takes the post of prime minister if the party wins the parliamentary elections.
Party leadership: leader - G. Wilson; Chairman - J. Callaghan; General Secretary - R. Hayward.
The party has its own weekly newspaper, Labor Weekly. Labour's position is supported by such mass-circulation newspapers as the Daily Mirror, the Sun and the Sunday Mirror, as well as the weeklies New Statesman and Tribune.
LIBERAL PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN, which was the successor to the Whig party, was formed in 1832 as a spokesman for the interests of the English commercial and industrial bourgeoisie. It received its final organizational form in 1877, when the National Liberal Association was created.
Social basis The parties are made up of the bourgeois intelligentsia, bureaucrats, and small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
Before the First World War, the Liberal Party was, along with the Conservatives, the second largest party in the two-party system of the English bourgeoisie and repeatedly formed the government. The beginning of the era of imperialism and the loss of Great Britain's industrial monopoly was marked by the transition of most of the English bourgeoisie to the Conservative camp and the beginning of the decline of the Liberal Party.
The liberals won their last major election victory in 1906. During this period, one of the most skilled liberal leaders in social demagogy, D. Lloyd George, emerged. The aggravation of the class struggle in England at the beginning of the 20th century and the subsequent split among liberals gradually led to the fact that the party almost completely lost its influence and currently does not play any noticeable role in the political life of the country.
In the parliamentary elections (1970), the party won 6 seats (compared to 12 in 1966). IN Lately the popularity of liberals in the country has increased somewhat. In early parliamentary elections (1974), the party won 14 seats (compared to 6 seats in 1970). Over 6 million voters (19.3%) voted for the liberals. However, the increased role of liberals in the country lies not in the “revival” of the liberal party, but in the dissatisfaction of voters with the policies of the two main parties.
“Eurocentric” tendencies are most clearly manifested in the political program of the liberal party. She strongly advocated England's early entry into the " Common Market", establishing closer ties with Europe in the economic, political and military fields.
Recently, liberal leaders have been actively criticizing the internal and foreign policy government, without, however, putting forward its own proposals and remaining, as a rule, on the traditional positions of right-wing liberalism.
The party is built on an administrative-territorial principle. The highest body of the liberal party is the annual party conference, the party council, the Executive Committee, the so-called Party Committee, which deals with the activities of the parliamentary faction. There are about 200 thousand people in the ranks of the liberal party. Party leader - J. Thorpe; chairman - E. Wheeler.
J. Thorpe visited the Soviet Union in 1972 at the invitation of the Soviet-English section of the USSR Parliamentary Group.
The official organ of the party is the weekly Liberal News. In Great Britain there are also a number of parties that do not play a significant role in the political life of the country:
Cooperative Party - has about 15 thousand individual members, 370 cooperative societies, with a membership of 11.5 million people. Chairman - L. Parkinson.
Welsh Nationalist Party - unites 40 thousand members. President - G. Evank.

Three main forces

The Labor Party is the ruling party of the United Kingdom and has been in power since 1997. The leader (since 2007) is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (59 years old).

The Labor Party was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century with the active participation of representatives of the left-wing labor movement (“labour” translated from English means “labor”, “labor force”). For many years, Labor occupied the left of the UK political spectrum. Trade unions still continue to play a prominent role in the party.

Against the backdrop of a sharp decline in popularity among voters, a younger generation of Labor leaders led by Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown developed the ideology of “New Labour” in the mid-1990s. The party abandoned socialist ideas and became center-left, starting the fight for voters of the English middle class. This immediately affected the growth of the party’s ratings, and in 1997, Labor received a record number of seats in history (418) and an absolute majority (179 seats) in the House of Commons.

Labor advocates preserving the necessary role of the state in the economy, eliminating social inequality and supporting social programs in the fields of education, health care and the fight against unemployment, the presence of immigration limited by economic needs, the protection of minority rights and active European integration.

Labor has traditionally been popular with voters in the industrial areas of northern and north-west England, London, as well as Scotland and Wales.

The main slogan of the party for the upcoming elections is the phrase “Future fair for all”.

Labor currently has 27-33% of the vote in opinion polls.

The Conservative Party, also known politically and colloquially as the Tories (after the name of the ancient party from which modern Conservatives grew). Since 1997 - the largest opposition party in the United Kingdom. The leader (since 2005) is the head of the “shadow” cabinet, David Cameron (43 years old).

After the departure of the most charismatic Conservative leader of the twentieth century, the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, from big politics, the Conservatives experienced a difficult period in their history: low ratings, frequent changes of leaders in search of a bright personality and attempts to reform the party program.

The main points of the Conservative program are the reduction of excessive funding for social programs and the role of the state in the economy, more responsible spending of public funds, encouragement of private entrepreneurial initiative, protection of traditional family values, and the adoption of a law requiring a referendum on any decision on the transfer of power from the UK to the European Union.

The Conservatives have traditionally been popular with voters in wealthy rural areas in central, southern and south-east England, as well as in affluent areas of London.

The party's main slogan for the upcoming elections is the phrase "Time For Change".

Currently, the Conservatives are gaining 35-41% of the vote in opinion polls.

The Liberal Democrats are the third largest and most influential political party in Great Britain. The name is often shortened to Lib Dems. Leader (since 2007) - Nick Clegg (43 years old).

The Liberal Democratic Party was formed in 1988 as a result of the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties. In the British political spectrum, the Libdems occupy the most centrist position, with a slight tilt to the left. Party leader Nick Clegg is more center-right than most of his fellow party leaders.

In addition, the party’s program has a strong environmental and pro-European component; they advocate the election of the House of Lords; in economics - for less government intervention. The Libdems gained respect because, unlike Labor and the Conservatives, they did not support Britain's participation in the Iraq campaign.

Currently, the Liberal Democrats are gaining 18-21% of the vote in opinion polls. They are most actively supported by residents of south-west England, Cornwall, rural areas of Scotland and Wales, as well as the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently improved their electoral performance since 1997, and many commentators see them playing a key role if neither of the two leading parties wins an absolute majority and a hung parliament emerges.

In their election slogan, the Liberal Democrats combined the main messages of the Labor and Conservative parties - “Change that works for you: building a fairer Britain”.

National parties

In Scotland and Wales, the positions of local national parties are traditionally strong - the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Welsh Plaid Cymru.

The SNP is the first largest faction in the Scottish Parliament and forms a minority government. Plaid Cymru is the second largest faction in the Welsh Assembly and forms a coalition government with Labour.

The main points of the programs of both parties are to achieve independence for Scotland and Wales, and as we move towards this goal, to achieve maximum autonomy within the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In the national parliament, the position of the SNP and Plaid Cymru is much weaker. In the 2005 elections, Scottish nationalists received 1.5% of the vote and 6 seats in the House of Commons, while Welsh nationalists gained 0.6%, winning 3 parliamentary constituencies.

A separate party system exists in Northern Ireland, where there are currently four main parties. Two of them - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) - advocate keeping Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and defend the interests of the Protestant majority of Ulster. The other two - the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) and Sinn Fein - defend the interests of the Republicans and advocate the unification of Ireland.

The two extremes of the Northern Irish political spectrum, the DUP and Sinn Fein, are currently forming a coalition government in Ulster.

According to the 2005 election results, the DUP received 0.9% of the total vote in the United Kingdom and 9 seats, the UUP - 0.5% and 1 seat (the UUP currently has a cooperation pact with the British Conservative Party), the SDLP - 0.5% and 3 seats, Sinn Fein - 0.6% and 5 seats.

Sinn Fein MPs have boycotted their parliamentary duties in London for years because their work in Parliament requires them to take an oath of allegiance to the British monarch, which goes against their political beliefs.

The voices of small parliamentary factions become important in free voting, when the ruling party cannot force its members to vote in a united front and there may not be enough votes to pass a government bill.

Political marginals

The micro-parties Respect and Health Concern each have one seat in parliament. The Respect Party was formed in 2004, and its only representative in Parliament is the exiled far-left MP George Galloway. He became famous for his indefatigable criticism of the British campaign in Iraq, participation in the reality show Big Brother, legal battles with the British media, defense of socialist ideals and support of extremist movements. The Health Concern party was formed in Kidderminster and initially campaigned for the restoration of the abolished emergency department at the local hospital, but then expanded its agenda.

Three influential political forces in Great Britain, which already have mandates in local authorities authorities and in the European Parliament (elections to it are held according to a proportional system).

This is the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), whose main goal is the country's exit from the European Union. In 2005, the party received 2.2% of the vote nationwide, but did not win a single constituency.

This is the Green Party, which promotes environmental protection issues, advocates the localization of the economy and the legalization of soft drugs, while taking a moderate Eurosceptic position. In the 2005 elections, the party gained 1.0% of the British vote, but did not receive seats in parliament.

This is the far-right British National Party (BNP), which advocates a ban on immigration to the UK, the restoration of corporal punishment and the partial restoration of the death penalty for particularly serious crimes - pedophilia, terrorism and murder. It was only in 2010 that the party allowed representatives of races and ethnicities other than white Britons to join its ranks. The BNP currently has one MP in the London Assembly and two in the European Parliament, but does not yet have MPs in the British Parliament. In the last parliamentary elections, she received 0.7% of the votes.

In 2005, a total of about 60 parties took part in the elections, whose deputies received more than 500 votes. Among them there were very exotic ones, for example, “Alliance for the Legalization of Cannabis”, “Let’s Make Politicians History”, “Scottish Pensioners Party”. In addition, well-known political and social movements that are not very popular in Britain were represented in various constituencies - socialists, communists, Christian democrats and others.

According to public opinion polls, small parties can count on a combined 9-17% of the vote in the upcoming elections.

The Conservatives became a mass party in the 1970s. Comes from the one that appeared in the 17th century. Tory party. The party's traditional platform is "a constant interest in public order and social harmony."

As the party of the City of London (the financial center of Britain) and big business, the Conservatives vigorously support the development of private enterprise.

However, during the beginning of the election campaign, the Conservative Party asked journalists to no longer call it “Tory” - at least at the first mention of the party in the text. Observers state that in conditions when Tony Blair successfully “appropriated” almost all the previous ideas and slogans of the conservatives, opponents on the right simply had nothing to oppose their competitors.

A shift even further to the right, so that differences from Labor are visible to the naked eye, in the conditions of present-day Britain would entail inevitable accusations of fascism. All that remains is to repair the image.

The Labor Party, by its origin, is the child of the trade union movement and socialist circles and societies of the intelligentsia. Won a parliamentary majority for the first time in 1945. The Labor government of 1945 - 1951 proposed a welfare state program, public ownership of major industrial enterprises and a policy of full employment.

Labor called itself the party of the organized working class until the 1990s. Most of the major trade unions are affiliated with the party, and their dues provide its main income. While in government, Labor always took a constructive reformist position; being in opposition, it was torn by contradictions between the social democratic right and socialist left factions.

In 1981, a significant group of prominent parliamentarians and party members left the party to form the short-lived Social Democratic Party, which had negative electoral consequences for Labour. After this, the party leaders suppressed the left faction.

The Liberal Party was one of the two main parties during the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward (second half of the 19th - early 20th), but it split during the First World War.

Labor gradually replaced the Liberals as the second party in the 1920s and 1930s, but the Liberals began to return to the political scene in the 1960s. Allied with the Social Democrats in the 1980s, they twice won about a quarter of the popular vote, but failed to win any significant number of seats in the House of Commons (23 in 1983, and 22 in 1987).

The two parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democratic Party.

There are other parties.

The Scottish National Party and the Welsh National Party have played a major role in the political life of Scotland and Wales since 1970.

Political life in Northern Ireland is dominated by two main Protestant parties - the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. The Northern Irish Catholic vote is divided between the Liberal Democrats, Labor and the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein.

The progress of the political process in modern Britain is an interesting object to study.

In the last third of the 20th century, the center of the political struggle in Great Britain was the attitude of the country's leading political forces to the search for ways out of economic and sociocultural crisis phenomena in the conditions of globalization and world integration processes. Keynesianism revealed its weaknesses; the process of interaction between the state and civil society got out of control. Against this background, within the framework of the neoliberal wave, different interpretations of methods for developing a free market and revising the functions of the state arise. The New Right and New Labor movements were influenced by liberal thought and are interesting subjects for research.

Right-wing forces began to energetically promote the revival of “liberal England” and call for the creation of conditions for the “spontaneous development” of society. Representatives of the right wing of the Conservative Party are returning to many classical liberal tenets. It is important to analyze the factors that explain why this party began to actively preach the ideas of the free market and retained this role for a relatively long time.

The growing influence of the concepts of neoliberalism also affected the positions of the British Labor Party (LPP). Over time, its program became increasingly saturated with modern liberal ideas compatible with social democratic views. Ideas about “market”, “liberal” socialism arise. As the party abandoned a number of outdated elements of its ideology, it adopted progressive elements from the baggage of liberal thought. LPV was getting rid of its reputation as a party of corporate interests and extremely high taxes. At the same time, new trends in its politics were strongly influenced by the concepts of social justice, equality of opportunity, and mutual responsibility. By 1997, in the context of a heated political confrontation with conservatives, myths about “free market capitalism” were being debunked.

In this regard, questions about the relationship between modern conservative, liberal and social democratic thought arise in a new way. It is also important to consider the processes that made it possible for Labour's rise to power in the 1997 general election, and to identify what lessons can be learned from this for centre-left parties around the world.

The phenomenon of the rise of the neoliberal wave in Western and partly Russian political science literature has received significant attention. However, further study requires questions of how and why in the 1970s and 80s. The neoconservative movement in Great Britain developed widely, what were its forms and ideological basis. In this context, it is important to analyze the trends that have emerged in British society as a whole. “Thatcherism” as neoconservatism in power, having opened since the late 1970s. a new stage in the socio-political life of the country, which has developed over almost two decades; The defeat of the Conservatives in the general elections in 1997 allows us to examine the Thatcher-Major period in its entirety, highlighting the main substantive features, points of continuity and differences in their policies.

Influenced by events both national and global scale, profound changes are taking place in the Labor Party. Having experienced the impact of “Thatcherism” that had strengthened in power, modernizing its political program, it became an important source of development of new social reform ideas. The “New Labourism” movement is emerging, whose leaders criticize the version of the market model imposed on the country by the “Thatcherites”, and claim to perceive the best of the ideological baggage of social-democratic and liberal thought. It is important to study the stages of formation and priority problems of “new laborism”, to study the path of its ideological quest, the relationship with other socio-political movements. It is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of the content and nature of modern political processes in Great Britain, at the center of which was the political struggle between the Conservative and Labor parties.

The contradictions in the politics of modern Great Britain and the changes in its world position are developing under the decisive influence of global changes. These changes are common to developed capitalist countries. At the same time, they have a specific character, due to all the new and modern history Great Britain.

In short, speaking about the United Kingdom, we are revealing a vast topic for research, which requires an integrated, careful approach, as if it were not already studied.