The main political parties are:

Labour Party: The ruling party. Founded in 1900, formerly known as the Labor Representative Committee, it was renamed as its current name in 1906. Leader Tony? Tony Blair. The Party came to power at 1945- 195 1, 1964- 1970, 1974- 1979. 1997 was elected to power. In recent years, the Labour Party has been more inclined to the interests of the middle class and alienated from the trade unions. After Blair was elected as the leader of the Labor Party, he put forward the slogan of "New Labor Party, New Britain" politically, canceled the provisions on public ownership in party constitution, and advocated reducing government intervention, strictly controlling public expenditure, maintaining stable macroeconomic growth and establishing a modern welfare system economically. Advocating active participation in international cooperation, taking a positive attitude towards European integration and maintaining special relations with the United States. At present, there are 388,000 people in party member, which is the largest party in Britain.

Conservative Party: The main opposition party. Formerly known as the Tory Party founded in 1679, it was renamed in 1833. Leader william haig. The party was in power for four consecutive times from 1979 to 1997, and became the dominant political party in Britain in the 20th century, with the longest ruling time and the most general election victories. 1997 the general election in may suffered an unprecedented fiasco. The supporters of the Conservative Party generally come from the business and wealthy classes and advocate a free market economy. By strictly controlling the money supply and reducing public expenditure, Tonghua inflation will be suppressed. Advocate restricting trade union rights and strengthening "law" and "order". It holds that Britain is a part of Europe, opposes federal Europe, emphasizes the maintenance of British sovereignty, and proposes to establish an "Atlantic body" to strengthen Anglo-American relations. Emphasize that NATO continues to be the cornerstone of British security and defense. There are 335,000 students in party member.

Liberal Democrats: the third largest party. 1March 1988 was composed of the majority of the former Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party who supported the merger with the Liberal Party. Leader Charles? Charles kennedy (1999) was elected in August. It advocates continuing to maintain the cooperative relationship with the Labor Party, pushing the Labor Party to implement the proportional representation system in local elections and lower house elections, and adopting a more "progressive" policy than the Labor Party on issues such as public services, social justice and environmental protection. There are about 65438+ 10,000 people in party member.

Other political parties in Britain include Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and some political parties in Northern Ireland, such as Ulster United Party and democratic unionist party. Social Democratic Party, Labour Party, Sinn Fein Party, etc.