List of political parties in the United Kingdom

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (February 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This article is part of a series on
Politics of the United Kingdom
show Constitution Parliamentary sovereignty Rule of law Other constitutional principles
show The Crown The Monarch (List) Elizabeth II Heir Apparent Charles, Prince of Wales Royal family Succession Prerogative Counsellors of State
show Executive Privy Council Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Council) HM Government Prime Minister (List) Boris Johnson (C) First Secretary of State Dominic Raab (C) Cabinet (List) Departments Ministers Agencies
show Legislature UK Parliament Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Parliament) House of Lords Lord Speaker The Lord McFall of Alcluith House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer (L) Act of Parliament 58th Parliament Opposition List of MPs
show Judiciary Elizabeth II (Queen-on-the-Bench) Supreme Court President The Lord Reed Deputy President The Lord Hodge Justices of the Supreme Court UK England and Wales Scotland NI
show Elections & Referendums UK Parliament Constituencies (2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) Political parties Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 Scottish Parliament Constituencies and Electoral Regions Senedd Constituencies and Electoral Regions UK General Elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832–33 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan–Feb) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 Next European Parliament Elections (1979–2019) 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Scottish Parliament Elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 Next Senedd Elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 UK Referendums 1975 2011 2016
show Devolution Joint Ministerial Committee Legislative consent motions  England Governance of England English votes for English laws Greater London Authority 1998 Referendum Greater London Authority Act 1999 (2007 Act) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Mayoral cabinet London Assembly London Plan Combined authorities Metro mayors Cornwall Council Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Act 1998 (2006 Act) First Minister Paul Givan deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill Executive Assembly Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly Law of Northern Ireland  Scotland 1997 Referendum Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act, 2016 Act) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Government Scottish Parliament Act of the Scottish Parliament Scottish statutory instrument Scots law  Wales 1997 Referendum (2011 Referendum on law-making powers) Government of Wales Act 1998 (2006 Act, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017) First Minister Mark Drakeford Government Senedd Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2011) Act of Senedd Cymru Welsh law
show Administration England History Subdivisions: Regions Ceremonial counties (list) Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Metropolitan county Non-metropolitan county Greater London Unitary authorities (list) Districts (list) Metropolitan Borough Non-metropolitan District London Borough Civil parishes (list) Historic counties Northern Ireland History Subdivisions: Counties Districts Scotland History Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms Council areas Community council areas Civil parishes Shires of Scotland Wales History Preserved counties Principal areas Communities (list) Historic counties
show Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey ( Guernsey  Alderney  Sark)  Bailiwick of Jersey  Isle of Man British Islands Common Travel Area
show Overseas Territories  Akrotiri and Dhekelia  Anguilla  Bermuda  British Antarctic Territory  British Indian Ocean Territory  British Virgin Islands  Cayman Islands  Falkland Islands  Gibraltar  Montserrat  Pitcairn Islands  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( Saint Helena  Ascension Island  Tristan da Cunha)  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands  Turks and Caicos Islands British Overseas Territories citizen Visa requirements Visa policies British Overseas Territories Act 2002 Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute Gibraltar sovereignty dispute Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
show Foreign relations Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign policy (History) Diplomatic missions of / in the United Kingdom UK Passport British National (Overseas) Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Trade agreements Australia Belgium Canada China Hong Kong Cyprus France Germany India Kenya Malaysia Malta Netherlands New Zealand Russia Singapore Spain South Africa Pakistan Portugal United States Ireland Politics of Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement UK–Ireland border Brexit and the Irish border British–Irish Council European Union (History) Brexit Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union UK–EU withdrawal agreement The Commonwealth Member states of the Commonwealth United Kingdom and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 NATO G20 G7
United Kingdom portal Other countries
v t

The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties^[1] lists the details of political parties registered to fight elections in the United Kingdom, including their registered name. Under current electoral law, including the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998, the Electoral Administration Act 2006, and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, only registered party names can be used on ballot papers by those wishing to fight elections. Candidates who do not belong to a registered party can use "independent" or no label at all. As of 2 August 2019, the Electoral Commission showed the number of registered political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as 408.^[2]

Before the middle of the 19th century, politics in the United Kingdom was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense but somewhat loose alliances of interests and individuals. The Whigs included many of the leading aristocratic dynasties committed to the Protestant succession, and later drew support from elements of the emerging industrial interests and wealthy merchants, while the Tories were associated with the landed gentry, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.

By the mid 19th century, the Tories had evolved into the Conservative Party, and the Whigs had evolved into the Liberal Party. The concept of right and left came originally from France, where the supporters of a monarchy (constitutional or absolute) sat on the right wing of the National Assembly, and republicans on the left. In the late 19th century, the Liberal Party began to lean towards the left. Liberal Unionists split off from the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and moved closer to the Conservatives over time.

The Liberals and Conservatives dominated the political scene until the 1920s, when the Liberal Party declined in popularity and suffered a long stream of resignations. It was replaced as the main anti-Tory opposition party by the newly emerging Labour Party, which represented an alliance between the labour movement, organised trades unions and various socialist societies.

Since then, the Conservative and Labour parties have dominated British politics, and have alternated in government ever since. However, the UK is not quite a two-party system as other parties have significant support. The Liberal Democrats were the third largest party until the 2015 general election when they were overtaken by the Scottish National Party in terms of seats and UK political party membership, and by the UK Independence Party in terms of votes.

The UK's first-past-the-post electoral system leaves small parties disadvantaged on a UK-wide scale. It can, however, allow parties with concentrations of supporters in the constituent countries to flourish. In the 2015 election, there was widespread controversy^[3][4][5] when the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Green Party of England and Wales received 4.9 million votes^[6] (12.6% of the total vote for UKIP and 3.8% for the Greens) yet only gained one seat each in the House of Commons. After that election, UKIP, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party of England and Wales, together with its Scottish and Northern Ireland affiliated parties, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, delivered a petition signed by 477,000^[7] people to Downing Street demanding electoral reform.

Scottish Parliament debating chamber

Since 1997, proportional representation-based voting systems have been adopted for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), the Northern Ireland Assembly, the London Assembly and (until Brexit in 2020) the UK's seats in the European Parliament. In these bodies, other parties have had success.

Traditionally political parties have been private organisations with no official recognition by the state. The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 changed that by creating a register of parties.

Membership of political parties has been in decline in the UK since the 1950s, falling by over 65% from 1983 (4% of the electorate) to 2005 (1.3%).^[8]

House of Commons Parliamentary parties[]

Party		Date of foundation	Political position	Ideology	Leader		House of Commons	House of Lords	Scottish Parliament	Senedd	Northern Ireland Assembly	London Assembly	Local Government	Membership	UK vote share % (2019 general election)
	Conservative and Unionist Party	1834 (1678 as Tory Party)	Centre-right	Conservatism Economic liberalism British unionism		Boris Johnson	364 / 650	258 / 824 [Note 1]	31 / 129	16 / 60	N/A	9 / 25	7,044 / 19,698 [9]	191,000[10]	43.6
	Labour Party Co-operative Party	1900 1917 (Co-operative)	Centre-left	Social democracy Democratic socialism		Keir Starmer	198 / 650 [Note 2][Note 3]	173 / 824 [Note 4] [Note 5]	22 / 129 [Note 6]	30 / 60 [Note 7]	N/A	11 / 25	6,026 / 19,698 [9]	496,000[11]	32.2
	Scottish National Party	1934	Centre-left	Scottish nationalism Scottish independence Social democracy Regionalism Pro-Europeanism Catch-all party		Nicola Sturgeon	45 / 650	N/A	64 / 129	N/A	N/A	N/A	407 / 19,698 [9]	125,482[12]	3.9
	Liberal Democrats	1988 (1859 as Liberal Party) (1678 as Whig Party)	Centre to centre-left	Liberalism Social liberalism Pro-Europeanism		Ed Davey	12 / 650	86 / 824 [Note 8]	4 / 129	1 / 60	N/A	2 / 25	2,467 / 19,698 [9]	120,845[13]	11.5
	Democratic Unionist Party	1971	Centre-right to right-wing	British unionism British nationalism National Conservatism Social conservatism Right-wing populism Hard Euroscepticism		Jeffrey Donaldson	8 / 650	5 / 824 [Note 9]	N/A	N/A	27 / 90	N/A	122 / 19,698	Not published	0.8
	Sinn Féin	1905 (original); 1970 (current)	Centre-left to left-wing	Irish republicanism Democratic socialism Left-wing nationalism		Mary Lou McDonald	7 / 650 [Note 10]	N/A	N/A	N/A	26 / 90	N/A	104 / 19,698	Not published	0.6
	Plaid Cymru	1925	Centre-left to left-wing	Welsh nationalism Welsh independence Democratic socialism Social democracy Regionalism Civic nationalism Environmentalism		Adam Price	3 / 650	1 / 824 [Note 11]	N/A	13 / 60	N/A	N/A	194 / 19,698 [9]	11,500[14]	0.5
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	1970	Centre-left	Social democracy Irish nationalism		Colum Eastwood	2 / 650	N/A	N/A	N/A	12 / 90	N/A	55 / 19,698	Not published	0.4
	Alba Party	2021	Centre-left	Scottish nationalism Scottish independence		Alex Salmond	2 / 650	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	11 / 19,698 [9]	4,000–4,100[15]	Before party creation
	Green Party of England and Wales	1990	Left-wing	Green politics Progressivism Pro-Europeanism		Siân Berry & Jonathan Bartley (job share)	1 / 650	2 / 824 [Note 12]	N/A	N/A	N/A	3 / 25	453 / 19,698 [9]	50,000	2.7
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	1970	Centre to centre-left	Liberalism Nonsectarianism Pro-Europeanism		Naomi Long	1 / 650	N/A	N/A	N/A	7 / 90	N/A	53 / 19,698	Not published	0.4

Parties without representation in the House of Commons, but with representation in other UK legislatures[]

There are a number of political parties in the United Kingdom that do not have representation in the House of Commons, but have elected representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament These are:

Party		Date of foundation	Political position	Ideology	Leader		House of Commons	House of Lords	Scottish Parliament	Senedd	Northern Ireland Assembly	London Assembly	Local Government	Membership	UK vote share % (2019 general election)
	Ulster Unionist Party	1905	Centre-right	British unionism Conservatism		Doug Beattie	N/A	2 / 824 [Note 13]	N/A	N/A	10 / 90	N/A	72 / 19,698	Not published	0.3
	Scottish Greens	1990	Centre-left to left-wing	Green politics Scottish independence Scottish republicanism Pro-Europeanism		Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater (job share)	N/A	N/A	8 / 129	N/A	N/A	N/A	18 / 19,698 [9]	6,412[16]	0.1
	Green Party Northern Ireland	1983	Centre-left	Green politics Nonsectarianism Pro-Europeanism		Clare Bailey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2 / 90	N/A	8 / 19,698 [17]	406[18] (May 2015)	Did not contest
	Traditional Unionist Voice	2007	Right-wing	British unionism National conservatism Social conservatism Euroscepticism		Jim Allister	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1 / 90	N/A	6 / 19,698	Not published	0.0
	People Before Profit	2005	Left-wing	Socialism Trotskyism Anti-capitalism Irish reunification		Eamonn McCann[Note 14]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1 / 90	N/A	5 / 19,698	Not published	0.0

Party descriptions[]

Local government[]

Principal authorities[]

Civil parishes and community councils[]

No elected UK representation[]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This is a table of notable minor parties. Many parties are registered with the Electoral Commission but do not qualify for this list as they have not received significant independent coverage. Parties active across Ireland may have representation in the Republic of Ireland but not Northern Ireland.

Defunct parties[]

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: this section appears to have no current order. Please place the parties in alphabetical order for easier navigation. Please help if you can. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Historical parties[]

• Campaign for Social Democracy (1973–1974).
• Liberal Unionist Party (1886–1912).
• National Democratic and Labour Party (1918–1923).
• National Liberal Party (1922–1923).
• National Liberal Party (1931–1968).
• New Party (1931) (1931–1932).
• Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1931–1951, 1965–1978).
• Women's Party (1917–1919).
• Anti Common Market and Free Trade Party (1967–1988).
• Social Democratic Federation (1884–1911).
• Independent Labour Party (1893–1975).
• Socialist Labour Party (1903–1980).
• British Socialist Party (1911–1920).
• Revolutionary Socialist Party (1912–1941).
• National Socialist Party (1916–1919).
• Communist Party of Great Britain (1920–1991).
• United Socialist Movement (1934–1965).
• Common Wealth Party (1942–1945).
• Revolutionary Communist Party (1944–1950).
• Revolutionary Workers' Party (1962–1990s).
• Committee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity (1963–c.1972).
• International Marxist Group (1968–1982). (Organised the electoral coalition Socialist Unity.)
• Working People's Party of England (1968–1986).
• British Fascisti (1920s–1930s).
• British Union of Fascists (1930s).
• British People's Party (1940s).
• Union Movement (1948–1973).
• National Labour Party (1957–1960).
• British National Party (1960–1967).
• National Democratic Party (1960s–1970s).
• British Movement (1968–1983).
• National Independence Party (1970s)
• United Country Party (1970s).
• National Party (1975–1977).
• Constitutional Movement (1979–1984).
• British Democratic Party (1979–1982).
• Flag Group (1980s).
• Official National Front (1986–1989).
• Vectis National Party (1970s) – Isle of Wight regionalist party.
• Crofters Party.
• Fife Socialist League (1950s–1960s).
• Highland Land League (1909–1920s).
• National Party of Scotland (1928–1934).
• Orkney and Shetland Movement.
• Progressives (Scotland) (1920s–1970s).
• Labour Party of Scotland (1973).
• Scottish Labour Party (1888–1893).
• Scottish Labour Party (1976–1981).
• Scottish Militant Labour (1990s).
• Scottish Party (1932–1934).
• Scottish Prohibition Party (1901–1935).
• Scottish Socialist Alliance.
• Scottish Socialist Federation.
• Scottish Voice.
• Scottish Workers' Representation Committee (1899–1909).
• Scottish Workers Republican Party.
• Unionist Party (Scotland) (1912–1965).
• Workers Party of Scotland.
• Communist Party of South Wales and the West of England.
• All-for-Ireland Party (1910–1918).
• British Ulster Dominion Party.
• Irish Independence Party.
• Irish Parliamentary Party.
• Irish Unionist Alliance.
• Labour Party of Northern Ireland.
• Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland).
• Ulster Liberal Party.
• Ulster Labour Unionists.

See also[]

• Timeline of political parties in the United Kingdom
• List of political parties in the United Kingdom by representation
• List of political parties in the United Kingdom opposed to austerity
• Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom
• List of political parties by country
• Politics of the United Kingdom
• Political party affiliation in the United Kingdom
• Elections in the United Kingdom
• List of political parties in Northern Ireland
• List of political parties in Scotland
• List of political parties in Wales
• List of political parties in the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency)
• List of political parties in Gibraltar (a British overseas territory)
• Index of UK party meta attributes

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• "List of all parties standing at the 2005 election". Archived from the original on 9 March 2006.
• "List of parties that stood candidates in the 2001 general elections". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006.
• Electoral Commission: Database of Registers, includes Register of Political Parties
• Links to UK political websites from the BBC
• NSD: European Election Database – UK descriptions of main parties