British party politics from 1945 to 1970 could be simply and more or less accurately summarised as

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British party politics from 1945 to 1970 could be simply and more or less accurately summarised as "a two party system built on the class divide".  How would you describe party politics in the UK today?

Since the 1970s, and the decline to the two party system, party politics in the UK has emerged as a multi-party society with an ever increasing sense on global politics.  However, despite the 'new' system of a multi-party political system, there have been episodes of one party dominance in government.

Political parties pre-1970 were mainly built upon the class divide that existed in Britain.  Over time, the class divisions (for example working class, middle class, and upper class) began to erode as the times changed, due to more employment, and a greater spread of wealth among the population.  During Thatcher’s term in office at Number 10, the class divisions that were prominent in the United Kingdom began to break down, with the working class becoming (almost) nonexistent due to the explosion of employment and ‘white collar’ work.  These days, it is the North-South Divide that tends to show divisions in politics and not class.  Although, some elements of class can still be seen in politics and within the electorate.  Over the last half of the twentieth century, the Conservative Party had a large proportion of the electorate in the south of Britain, with the Labour Party doing the same in the north of Britain.  This therefore leads some to wonder how can a party call itself a national party if it only attracts voters from certain regions of the country - this then mirrors the class divide.  Nonetheless, these divisions were not so evident during the Conservative victory of 1979 and, more recently, the Labour landslide victory in 1997.  Regardless of this, there is an increasing amount of voter apathy amongst today's electorate - which was more prominent in the General Election of 2001.

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During the Conservative’s victory in 1979 and the Labour landslide victory in 1997, people went against their previous convictions and followed the winner mainly due to the pledges made in the parties manifesto.

Up until the 1970s, the electorate held a sense of loyalty and feeling with one of the main parties (Conservative or Labour).  Today, this exists to a degree, but it is not as dominant as it once was.  In twenty first century Britain, the electorate has become a lot more wary of politicians and of political parties objectives, which leads to voter apathy.

In the last few ...

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