The two main political parties in Great Britain. Conservative Party of Great Britain: ideology, leaders

21.07.2019

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on April 6 that the next general parliamentary elections in the country will be held on May 6 this year.

Traditionally, representatives of several dozen parties are allowed to participate in elections (there were about 60 at the last election in 2005), but only ten parties are currently represented in the House of Commons, which now consists of 646 deputies.

This is due to the single-mandate election system, when the winner in a particular electoral district is the candidate who receives a simple majority of votes. It is more difficult for small parties to claim victory in certain constituencies, despite the fact that they sometimes gain a significant share of the vote.

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 under active participation representatives of the left-wing labor movement (“labour” translated from English means “labor”, “ work force"). During for long years Labor occupied the left of the British 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.

On everyone's parliamentary elections in 2005, Labor won a share of 35.3% of the vote and 356 seats (an absolute majority) in parliament. Tony Blair became the first Labor leader to lead the party to three electoral victories in a row. However, in 2005 Labor won by a noticeably smaller margin than in 1997 or 2001. The reason for this was electoral fatigue from one party being in power, negative public attitudes towards British participation in the Iraq War, voter disappointment in Labour's policies and problems within the party itself.

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

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

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

Conservative Party(Conservative Party), also known in political and colloquial use as the “Tory” (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 leaving big politics The most charismatic Conservative leader of the twentieth century - the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives went through 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.

In the 2005 election, the Conservatives won 32.3% of the popular vote and 192 seats in the House of Commons, once again becoming Her Majesty's official opposition. Under the leadership of David Cameron, the party rebranded itself, making green Tree, as a symbol of the party's commitment to environmental issues, previously the preserve of left-wing parties. Cameron rejuvenated the Conservative shadow cabinet, moving the party to the center of the political spectrum and starting to fight for new groups of voters.

The Conservatives, following other parties in forming their lists of candidates for the 2010 elections, relied on equality and diversity, especially on increasing the proportion of women, representatives of ethnic and other minorities.

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.

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

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

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.

The Liberal Democrats suffer most from the lack of a proportional electoral system in the UK. Thus, in the 2005 parliamentary elections they received 22.1% of the votes, but only 62 seats in the House of Commons (less than 10% of the total number of mandates). That is why the “libdems” are actively promoting the idea of a transition to proportional electoral system instead of the current majority system.

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 attribute them key role in the event that none of the two leading parties obtains an absolute majority and a situation of a “hung parliament” arises.

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 are Social Democratic workers' party(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), which main task puts 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 Green Party(Green Party), which promotes protection issues environment, 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 banning immigration to the UK, restoring corporal punishment and partial recovery death penalty for especially 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 British Parliament It has no deputies yet. On last elections she won 0.7% of the vote in parliament.

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.

UK political parties.

Modern multi-party system Great Britain was the result of the industrial revolution, which took place in the 18th and early 19th centuries. and which led to the emergence of new classes and access to political arena new political forces. However, the main opposing parties in parliamentary elections since 1924 have been Conservative and Labor, which suggests that there is currently a two-party system in Great Britain.

The Conservative Party, which is still often called the Tory Party, has 3 million members. The word “Tory” itself means “Irish robber”, “thief” - this is how the English colonialists called the Irish partisans who fought against English oppression. Later, the Conservatives began to call themselves Tories. This is the main party of the big bourgeoisie and the landed aristocracy; it does not have a permanent official program. On the eve of the general elections, the party issues election manifesto, which outlines the main aspects of the internal and foreign policy, which the Conservatives intend to adhere to if they come to power. Famous party leaders were J. Chamberlain, W. Churchill, G. Macmillan, M. Thatcher.

The Conservative Party was initially in favor of maintaining a strong royal power: it represents those who are supporters of private capital. Tories resisted ideas French Revolution, Parliamentary reform and development of the trade union movement: were supporters colonial policy and Labor opponents on the issue of nationalization of gas, electricity, coal and railways.

The Labor Party, founded in 1900, is predominantly working-class in composition, but its leaders have usually been right-wing reformists or centrists. It has more than 7 million members, incl. 600 thousand are individual, and the rest are collective members, mainly trade unions, which provide it with significant financial support. Like the Conservative Party, the Labor Party does not have a long-term political program that would define its ultimate goals and means of achieving them. Instead, the party from time to time outlines the most important current political issues, which Labor intends to address if it wins the next general election to Parliament. However, it should be noted that there is always a huge gap between election promises political parties and their real implementation. Famous leaders Labor Party K. Attlee, G. Wilson, J. Callaghan, N. Klinnock.

Before the First World War, the Liberal Party (or Whig Party) was second only to the Conservatives in political and social influence over the British people. The Liberal Party is over 300 years old. Conservatives called liberals whigs (whig - a Scottish preacher who could read moralized sermons for 4-5 hours). In the middle of the 19th century. The Liberal Party represented the interests of merchants and industrialists. The slogan of that time was “For civil and religious freedom.” The first administration in 1868–1874. William Gladstone led, and for a long time the Liberals had a majority in Parliament. In the second half of the 19th century. many workers saw the Liberal Party as an alternative to the Conservative Party and its policies. But, having suffered a number of difficult situations in the parliamentary elections in the 20s of our century, the Liberal Party was no longer able to restore its former influence on the masses. Currently, the party, as a rule, owns few seats in Parliament.

IN last years several seats in the House of Commons of the British Parliament were also held by the Scottish National Party, the Welsh Nationalist Party, Communist Party UK, Social Democratic Party (founded in 1981. Most of it merged with the Liberal Party, forming a party called Social Democratic liberal democrats: the other part of it existed only for a few years.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on April 6 that the next general parliamentary elections in the country will be held on May 6 this year.

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” in 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.

In the 2005 general parliamentary elections, Labor won a share of 35.3% of the vote and 356 seats (an absolute majority) in parliament. Tony Blair became the first Labor leader to lead the party to three electoral victories in a row. However, in 2005 Labor won by a noticeably smaller margin than in 1997 or 2001. The reason for this was electoral fatigue from one party being in power, negative public attitudes towards British participation in the Iraq War, voter disappointment in Labour's policies and problems within the party itself.

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

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

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

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.

In the 2005 election, the Conservatives won 32.3% of the popular vote and 192 seats in the House of Commons, once again becoming Her Majesty's official opposition. Under the leadership of David Cameron, the party rebranded itself with a green tree as its symbol, as a symbol of the party's commitment to environmental issues, previously the preserve of left-wing parties. Cameron rejuvenated the Conservative shadow cabinet, moving the party to the center of the political spectrum and starting to fight for new groups of voters.

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.

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

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

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 Democrats suffer most from the lack of a proportional electoral system in the UK. Thus, in the 2005 parliamentary elections they received 22.1% of the votes, but only 62 seats in the House of Commons (less than 10% of the total number of mandates). That is why the “libdems” are actively promoting the idea of moving to a proportional electoral system to replace the current majoritarian one.

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.

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.

Political marginals

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

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.

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

Great Britain is essentially an extremely conservative country. politic system, operating there, is very specific, political culture very different from other countries. That is why the largest of opposition parties- 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. Over the years, the Conservative Party in Great Britain has experienced its triumphs. There were also turning points when their eternal political opponents triumphed - liberal party. 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 and external differences The English differ from the rest of humanity - strict manners and even a little mannerism.

For conservatives, membership fees are not important; issues of composition and its formation are entirely decided by the leader of an individual community, who has the right not to obey even the annual party conference. Independence traditionally distinguishes the conservative social movement 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

The reforms in the Parliament of 1832 gave rise to small local organizations who called themselves Tories and Conservatives, since they were so unhappy with the reforms. 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 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. Post-war period was also noted more than once by the Conservative government. Only defeat in the parliamentary elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005 forced them to go into opposition.

Achievements

Reducing funding for certain social programs and government 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. Whole line state-owned companies were 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 areas 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, a referendum that a party intends to hold on the country's exit from European Union, as well as 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 customs union, introduced protectionism, which forced the country to leave its position as a monopolist in global 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 one’s own national identity they are not at all close. 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 fellow party members - immediately after the election of Thatcher in 1975, consistently reducing the role of the state in economic development, reducing the scope of its participation in all industries, thereby ending its existence as a social one.

Society was becoming classless, this was the main task political movement, 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 at hand with its own fundamental principles developed precisely 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 ones social institutions, which traditionalists took for ramen. 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.

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

However, during the beginning election campaign The Conservative Party has asked journalists to no longer refer to it as "Tory" - at least when the party is mentioned for the first time in 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 property on major industrial enterprises and full employment policies.

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 consequences for Labor in the elections. 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 main role V political life Scotland and Wales.

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 course of the political process in modern Britain is an interesting subject for 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 context of globalization and world integration processes. Keynesianism revealed its weaknesses; the process of interaction between the state and civil society. 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 influence of liberal thought was experienced by the New Right and New Labor movements, which are interesting objects 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 her policy came under strong influence concepts of social justice, equality of opportunity, mutual responsibility. By 1997, in a tense political confrontation with conservatives, myths about “free market capitalism” are 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. new stage in the socio-political life of the country, developed over almost two decades; The defeat of the Conservatives in the general elections in 1997 allows us to examine the Thatcher-Major period of government in its entirety, to highlight the main substantive features, points of continuity and differences in their policies.

Influenced by events both national and global, 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 carry out benchmarking 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 change in its world position are developing under the decisive influence 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 yet studied.