How far do you agree with the view that the UK is a two-party system?
A two-party system is where two main parties dominate the political system and in the UK
these two parties are Labour and the Conservatives and a 2.5 system is where 2 parties
dominate with a third having a significant impact. We can use the evidence of the elections
of Westminster, the elections to devolved bodies and political discussion to judge what type
of system we have in the UK. I believe that the UK is not a two-party system with the
elections to Westminster and the devolved elections showing a multi and 2.5 party system
however the political discussion shows a defined two-party system.
I think that the UK is 2.5 party system when we look at the UK House of Common’s
elections. We can see this when we look at the 2010 elections with the liberal democrats
winning 23% of the vote and only being 4% behind Labour in the vote share. This shows a
2.5 system as nearly as many people voted for Labour as they did for the liberal democrats
meaning Labour and the conservatives did not dominate the elections making it not a two-
party system. The liberal democrats also formed a coalition with the conservatives in 2010-
2015 meaning they shared the executive power. This is important as it shows that not only
did they win a significant vote share but they also got into power and ran the country along
with the conservatives meaning a third party had a significant impact which we also see in
2017 where they need the DUP in order to gain a majority. The SNP in the 2015 election also
won 56 seats which took votes and seats mostly away from Labour. This shows a third party
taking a significant number of seats but also directly worsening the result of Labour meaning
they didn’t dominate. Finally, the vote share of Labour and the Conservatives has been stuck
under 68% from 2005 till 2015 showing another party taking an important chunk of the
vote. However, despite these 2.5 system aspects there are a number of reasons why we
might consider the Westminster elections to show a two-party system. We can see this with
Labour and Conservatives taking more than 85% of seats in Parliament since 1997. This
shows a two-party system as we can see two parties dominate in their share of the seats
and so in their running of the country by being able to support and reject bills. Also, in 2017
and 2019 they had 82% and 76% of the vote which is the highest since pre-1997. This shows
a big majority of people voting for just 2 parties in the most recent elections which shows a
two-party system. Overall, in recent years the UK party system seems to have been a 2.5
system because the liberal democrats were in coalition from 2010-2015 and the
conservatives also had to rely on the DUP to gain a majority from 2017-2019. However, the
2019 elections indicates perhaps the return of a two party system.
I believe that the elections to devolved bodies shows a multi-party and a 2.5 party system.
We can see this when looking at the elections in Scotland where in 2003 there was a labour
and lib dem coalition but then a SNP majority or minority. This shows a 2.5 party system as
there are always more than 2 parties dominating. In Wales Labour have been in power since
1999 through coalitions and majorities with the liberal democrats and Plaid Cymru being in
power during those coalitions. This suggests a multi-party system as there have been 3
different parties been in power through coalitions in the last 20 years. Finally, in Northern
Ireland there has been 4 parties sharing significant proportions of the vote and seats with no
party since before 2003 winning over 30% of the vote. This shows a multi-party system as
there is 3 or more parties dominating the political system. However, despite these multi-
party aspects there are a some of reasons to why we might consider the devolved elections
A two-party system is where two main parties dominate the political system and in the UK
these two parties are Labour and the Conservatives and a 2.5 system is where 2 parties
dominate with a third having a significant impact. We can use the evidence of the elections
of Westminster, the elections to devolved bodies and political discussion to judge what type
of system we have in the UK. I believe that the UK is not a two-party system with the
elections to Westminster and the devolved elections showing a multi and 2.5 party system
however the political discussion shows a defined two-party system.
I think that the UK is 2.5 party system when we look at the UK House of Common’s
elections. We can see this when we look at the 2010 elections with the liberal democrats
winning 23% of the vote and only being 4% behind Labour in the vote share. This shows a
2.5 system as nearly as many people voted for Labour as they did for the liberal democrats
meaning Labour and the conservatives did not dominate the elections making it not a two-
party system. The liberal democrats also formed a coalition with the conservatives in 2010-
2015 meaning they shared the executive power. This is important as it shows that not only
did they win a significant vote share but they also got into power and ran the country along
with the conservatives meaning a third party had a significant impact which we also see in
2017 where they need the DUP in order to gain a majority. The SNP in the 2015 election also
won 56 seats which took votes and seats mostly away from Labour. This shows a third party
taking a significant number of seats but also directly worsening the result of Labour meaning
they didn’t dominate. Finally, the vote share of Labour and the Conservatives has been stuck
under 68% from 2005 till 2015 showing another party taking an important chunk of the
vote. However, despite these 2.5 system aspects there are a number of reasons why we
might consider the Westminster elections to show a two-party system. We can see this with
Labour and Conservatives taking more than 85% of seats in Parliament since 1997. This
shows a two-party system as we can see two parties dominate in their share of the seats
and so in their running of the country by being able to support and reject bills. Also, in 2017
and 2019 they had 82% and 76% of the vote which is the highest since pre-1997. This shows
a big majority of people voting for just 2 parties in the most recent elections which shows a
two-party system. Overall, in recent years the UK party system seems to have been a 2.5
system because the liberal democrats were in coalition from 2010-2015 and the
conservatives also had to rely on the DUP to gain a majority from 2017-2019. However, the
2019 elections indicates perhaps the return of a two party system.
I believe that the elections to devolved bodies shows a multi-party and a 2.5 party system.
We can see this when looking at the elections in Scotland where in 2003 there was a labour
and lib dem coalition but then a SNP majority or minority. This shows a 2.5 party system as
there are always more than 2 parties dominating. In Wales Labour have been in power since
1999 through coalitions and majorities with the liberal democrats and Plaid Cymru being in
power during those coalitions. This suggests a multi-party system as there have been 3
different parties been in power through coalitions in the last 20 years. Finally, in Northern
Ireland there has been 4 parties sharing significant proportions of the vote and seats with no
party since before 2003 winning over 30% of the vote. This shows a multi-party system as
there is 3 or more parties dominating the political system. However, despite these multi-
party aspects there are a some of reasons to why we might consider the devolved elections
