Photo: Heather Stanley (flickr)
Richard Wood discusses the fundamental shifts in the nature of British party politics and the rise of alternative contenders.
One could easily be forgiven if they made the mistake of thinking that UKIP won the 2013 county council elections and took control of every council with overwhelming majorities. The media attention on Nigel Farage and his purple revolutionaries has been tremendously high, resulting in more than needed airtime for the party.
Although UKIP made a ‘breakthrough’, as they finished with a total of 147 councillors from almost zero, they did not end up in control of any councils and did not make significant gains in the north. Due to all the UKIP hype, one political force has suffered in terms of public attention – the Greens.
Natalie Bennett’s party made a modest net gain of five councillors, but has been somewhat marginalised by the media. Compared with Farage’s total of 147 it does not look like much, but the party gained seats in places outside its heartland of Brighton, such as in Bristol, Essex and the West Midlands.
The Green Party (of England and Wales, as Scotland has a separate Green Party which supports Scottish independence) has made progressive gains over the last few years. In the 2009 European parliament elections the party, lead by Caroline Lucas at the time, won almost 10% of the vote share, gaining over a million votes.
A year after this result, which was once again overshadowed by UKIP’s successes as they came second in the elections to the Conservatives, the party made history. 2010 was the year when Gordon Brown’s Labour fell from power, Nigel Farage was in a plane crash and lost when standing against the House speaker John Bercow, and significantly the Greens won their first MP – Caroline Lucas.
In contrast to UKIP, although the far right party is a force to be reckoned with, the Greens are one up on them in Westminster. Unlike UKIP, they have an MP. Nigel Farage has confirmed he will stand in 2015 for a seat, however he has not thought about where. The Greens plan to put forward more candidates than before and win more MPs.
What the 2013 county council elections have shown us is that the British people are not afraid of change. Whether that be disaffected Labour supporters moving towards the Greens, or grumbling traditional Tories moving towards UKIP, the outcome is the same – a change in the political landscape. The old party system is breaking up.
Natalie Bennett has recently stated that “What we’re seeing is a break-up of the traditional two – or three- party system in Britain”. This further reiterates the point that the old power game of ping-pong between the largest parties is drawing to an ultimate close.
Commentators say we are moving towards a four party system with UKIP being the third force in British politics. But there are not just four parties. The left and right are fragmenting into different factions. Change is happening right now. It is clear that the first-past-the-post system for English and Welsh councils, as well as for Westminster, is becoming unsustainable. With the rise of the Greens and UKIP, more people are wanting more change. Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde pointed out that 2013 was the first election where the projected national vote share (PNS) for the main three parties was below 30% each. Something is happening in British politics. That is a tremendous change, and it is manifested by not just UKIP, but the Greens and other small parties too. For example, the SNP’s recent success in Scotland.
British political ground is shifting, and it’s not just UKIP making the change.
By Richard Wood.
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