British Politics: The Basics

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The DUP is an Irish political party that is the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly in terms of seats (27 out of 90). It shares assembly leadership with Sinn Fein. Founded in 1971, the party is unionist, loyalist, and socially conservative, opposing things such as abortion and same-sex marriage. It also supports Brexit. The party’s ideology is a mix of traditional liberalism and social democracy. It favors a market-based economy, supported by a strong welfare state. It also supports civil liberties, LGBT rights, European integration, and a shift to proportional representation voting. the twentieth century, the Tories seemed to be the ‘natural party of government’, in that they were in office two-thirds of the time, to Labour’s one-third. Churchill more or less accepted Labour’s changes in the 1950s but when the economy began to decline in the 1960s the Conservatives urged a return to a more ‘free market’ economy. Edward Heath, Prime Minister 1970–74, did not really deliver such an outcome but he did succeed in negotiating the UK’s entry into the European Community, a historic and still controversial decision. By the end of the decade, Margaret Thatcher had become leader and after 1979 she pursued a robust policy of making the British economy competitive again. This entailed allowing traditional and inefficient industries to go bankrupt, confronting and subduing the trade unions and imposing her formidable personality upon her party. By 1990, it had had enough and John Major took over, until his political capital was exhausted as the 1997 election approached.

DEVOLUTION These major decentralising reforms were made in response to the growth of nationalist movements in Wales and Scotland. IRELAND

What are the different political parties and how are their members elected?

is a year that has had a long influence over British politics. The Conservative Party had been in power since 1979 and had changed the country utterly since then, but had become mired in scandal in the early 1990s. Blair’s Labour party were seen as a fresh start – younger, more relaxed, and perhaps more representative of the country as a whole. The Royal Family were facing growing unpopularity given the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, where the country was mostly on Diana’s side. Diana’s death represented the clash of these cultures, between the modern let-it-all-out approach to grief, and the traditional stiff-upper-lip approach taken by the Royal Family. The Queen does an excellent job of giving an impression of this pivotal year. 6. The Ghost– Robert Harris Harris makes it very clear that Lang is to be understood as Tony Blair throughout. Judiciary power, which is the power to prosecute those who break the law, is kept independent of the legislature and the executive. The highest court in the UK is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. What are the different political parties and how are their members elected? General elections in the UK take place every five years, although the British government can call an early election if they get a two-thirds majority vote on doing so in the House of Commons.

In How Britain Really Works, Stig Abell aims to delve into the core of British society and provide an answer to the question: “How did we arrive at this point?” The UK, a country filled with contradictions, is a global power weary of foreign intervention, a society that is ageing while experiencing declining health, and a nation reliant on immigration despite voting for Brexit.The Labour Party is the current Official Opposition party in the UK with 198 seats in parliament. It has had five periods in power since 1923, the most recent being 1997–2010. The party was founded in 1900 out of a coalition between trade unionists and socialists. THE HANOVERIAN DYNASTY As Queen Anne had no heir, a great-grandson of William I was invited – a second imported monarch – to rule Britain, in addition to his native Hanover. While he preferred his homeland to these damp shores and never really learnt the language, his dynasty dominated the century, with his son and grandson becoming George II and George III, respectively. George I was happy to leave governing to his ministers, all of whom were Members of Parliament. While most of the books, films and TV series on this list are specifically about politics, Good-Bye to All That is not; instead, it’s here by way of setting the scene. Written in 1929, it’s Robert Graves’ account of his experiences during the First World War. All countries have their traditional ‘ruling classes’, whatever they may be, but Graves’ book provides an insight into the way this system worked in Britain, and the particular set of values that these classes held. Blue plaque commemorating Graves’ birthplace in Wimbledon. What have you read or seen that has helped you understand British politics? Let us know in the comments! The UK has three separate legal systems: one for England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland. However, judges in some of the highest level courts such as the Supreme Court have UK-wide jurisdiction.

The SDLP is an Irish Republican party in Northern Ireland advocating Irish nationalism, social democracy, and pro-European politics. It was founded in 1970 and currently holds two seats in Westminster and 12 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The party leader is Colum Eastwood. Alliance Party The Conservative Party (currently led by Boris Johnson). The Conservatives are “right wing,” or conservative. They typically believe that business shouldn’t be regulated and that we should all look after ourselves.Executive power – the power to implement and enforce laws – is controlled by the British government, which works on behalf of the Queen, as well as the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive. Commonly referred to as the Lib Dems, the Liberal Democrats were founded in 1988 out of a merger between the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party – two parties that had been in an alliance since 1981. The party has historically been similar in ideology to conservative parties in many other countries. Since the late 1970s, it has favored small government and liberal free-market economic policies. Traditionally socially conservative, in recent years it has become more socially liberal in certain areas such as LGBT rights, legalizing same-sex marriage in 2014. There are some tensions within the party between socially liberal and socially conservative elements. Additionally, there are ongoing divisions over Europe and Brexit.