Culture - UK Political System

How the Government is chosen

British politics is a democratic system. General elections are held every four years, the elections are to decide which of the three main political parties will be allowed to form a government and run the country. The three main parties are the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives who are sometimes called the Tories.

The system of British politics relies on upon there being organised political groups called parties; each party presents its policies to the public before a general election. The public then decide by voting who they want to govern the country for the next four years.

The party which wins most votes at a General Election, will become the Government. The leader of the winning party will become the Prime Minister and the other members of the party will become his Government.

The party that has the 2nd largest amount of votes will become the official opposition to the Government. With its own leader and ‘shadow government’. The shadow government questions and debates the governments policies. They highlight the bad ideas, plans and choices that the government make. The government and shadow government sit opposite each other in the house of commons.

The shadow government will make the Government look as bad as possible. So when the next general election comes more of the public will vote for them!

The Parties

Labour is currently in Government in the UK. They won the most votes in the last general election. The leader of the labour party is Gordon Brown, he is the Prime Minister. Labour uses the colour red. Labour has generally been for ‘the working person’. Centre / left wing on the political spectrum. Also called a social democratic party.

The Conservatives are currently the ‘shadow government’ in the UK. They are sometimes called the Tories. They won the 2nd largest amount of votes in the last general election. The leader of the Conservative party is called David Cameron. The Conservatives’ colour is blue. Traditionally the Conservatives have been for the upper classes. Sometimes called ‘right-wing’.

The third main party in UK politics is called the Liberal Democrats. The leader of this party is Sir Menzies Campbell. They use the colour yellow. They have not been directed at a particular class of person but have many policies that involve having more power at local levels.

There are many other political parties in the UK, but these are the three largest, with the most followers.