A brief history of more than 250 parties who have contested parliamentary elections since 1832, along with details of contact information and electoral performance.
An up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to the development and organization of political parties in Britian and their role in British political life. For each of the three major British parties, Fisher provides details of the organization, internal elections, funding, ideology, groups and factions, details of the backgrounds of their Mps and candidates and an account of their recent history. Similar details are also provided for other parties in the British political system, no tably nationalist parties. These details are set in context with an overview of the development of the British party system and an analysis of the role parties play in contemporary British politics." Looks at the make-up of party membership and party electoral performance. An appendix details British and European election results. British PoliticsA Harvester Wheatsheaf Book.
The study of British politics has been reinvigorated in recent years as a generation of new scholars seeks to build-upon a distinct disciplinary heritage while also exploring new empirical territory and finds much support and encouragement from previous generations in forging new grounds in relation to theory and methods. It is in this context that The Oxford Handbook of British Politics has been conceived. The central ambition of the Handbook is not just to illustrate both the breadth and depth of scholarship that is to be found within the field. It also seeks to demonstrate the vibrancy and critical self-reflection that has cultivated a much sharper and engaging, and notably less insular, approach to the terrain it seeks to explore and understand. In this emphasis on critical engagement, disciplinary evolution, and a commitment to shaping rather than re-stating the discipline The Oxford Handbook of British Politics is consciously distinctive. In showcasing the diversity now found in the analysis of British politics, the Handbook is built upon three foundations. The first principle that underpins the volume is a broad understanding of 'the political'. It covers a much broader range of topics, themes and issues than would commonly be found within a book on British politics. This emphasis on an inclusive approach also characterises the second principle that has shaped this collection - namely, diversity in relation to commissioned authors. The final principle focuses on the distinctiveness of the study of British politics. Each chapter seeks to reflect on what is distinctive- both in terms of the empirical nature of the issue of concern, and the theories and methods that have been deployed to unravel the nature and causes of the debate. The result is a unique volume that: draws-upon the intellectual strengths of the study of British politics; reflects the innate diversity and inclusiveness of the discipline; isolates certain distinctive issues and then reflects on their broader international relevance; and finally looks to the future by pointing towards emerging or overlooked areas of research.
The history of British political parties tells of change and continuity. But, how and why? This textbook continues to provide the best introduction currently available on the British political party system, explaining the history, structure, actors and policies of both the main political parties and the minor parties. Substantially revised and updated, this fourth edition contains new material on the: political party system in post-devolution Scotland and Wales media and political parties emergence of minor parties onto the British political landscape replacement of party ideology with political pragmatism. Stephen Ingle argues that in order to meet formidable national and international challenges the British party system is once more in need of fundamental change, to a less confrontational style of politics. The British Party System is the ideal book for students of British politics wanting a topical and accessible text on political parties in the UK.
The second edition of this popular textbook provides a systematic and comprehensive introduction to UK party politics, combining chapters on each of the main parties (Conservative, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party) with an assessment of post-devolution Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Clark analyses the extraordinary recent developments in UK politics, including Brexit, the 2015 and 2016 Labour leadership contests, and the surprise 2017 general election, exploring how these events have impacted the political parties, the people of the UK and the UK's position in the world. The book also covers the rise of minority parties such as UKIP, the influence of the media and party campaigning, organisation and funding. Written in an accessible style, this new edition is an essential companion for students taking modules on British Political Parties, Party Politics or British Politics more generally, as well as functioning as a useful background text for modules in Comparative Political Parties. It is an ideal introduction for all readers new to the topic. New to this Edition: - A new chapter on the Scottish National Party takes account of their rise, their role as a governing party in Scotland, and becoming the third largest party at Westminster. - Up-to-date coverage of all the latest developments affecting UK political parties including the Scottish referendum, the 2015 and 2017 general elections, the 2016 devolved elections and Brexit. - Extended coverage of the rise and fall of UKIP.
Demonstrates how British political parties have begun to use comprehensive political marketing in order to gain electoral success. They conduct focus groups and opinion polls in an attempt to elicit what voters want from them and then try to adjust their behaviors accordingly...
This accessible, rigorously researched and highly revealing book lifts the lid on political party membership. It represents the first in-depth study of six of the UK's biggest parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats, UK Independence Party and the Greens – carried out simultaneously, thereby providing invaluable new insights into members' social characteristics, attitudes, activities and campaigning, reasons for joining and leaving, and views on how their parties should be run and who should represent them. In short, at a time of great pressure on, and change across parties, this book helps us discover not only what members want out of their parties but what parties want out of their members. This text is essential reading for those interested in political parties, party membership, elections and campaigning, representation, and political participation, be they scholars and students of British and comparative politics, or politicians, journalists and party members – in short, anyone who cares about the future of representative democracy.
Women and British Party Politics examines the characteristics of women’s participation at the mass and elite level in contemporary British politics; as voters, party members and elected representatives respectively. It explores what this means for ideas about, and the practice of, descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation. The main focus is on the feminization of British party politics - the integration of women into formal political institutions and the integration of women’s concerns and perspectives into political debate and policy - in the post-1997 period. Not only specifically designed to bring together cutting-edge conceptual developments in the sub-discipline of gender and politics, with robust British empirical research, this book also presents reflections on how best to study gender and politics. The empirical findings which are presented through the extensive use of case studies derive from a range of research projects which were undertaken over a period of ten years, and which make use of a variety of research methods and techniques. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in British Politics, Feminism and European Studies; and will provide the reader with an overview of the complex relationship between sex, gender and politics in a conceptually sophisticated fashion.
This book explores and reconstructs how the principal parliamentary parties in Britain confronted and responded to events that unfolded during the Falklands War in the spring of 1982. The author begins by situating the Falklands Crisis within the wider context of the breakup of the British Empire and discusses the fluid political situation in Parliament at the time. Following this, the book examines in detail each of the parties – the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the SDP-Liberal Alliance – and their actions during the crisis. The chapters focus on each party in turn and follow a chronological narrative to reconcile the evolution of the diplomatic and military picture with the internal political one.
This comprehensive textbook outlines and illuminates the main theories of political parties and party systems. Applying these theoretical approaches to British party politics, Moshe Maor covers all the key subjects of study including: * classification of party definitions * party systems change * party institutionalization * cohesion and dissent * intraparty conflicts and ligislative bargaining * multiparty electoral competition Maor's study highlights the importance of the intraparty arena and actors in understanding the shape and behaviour of political parties, providing essential reading to students of party systems and of British politics.