Main political parties

The main parties in the UK are the Conservative party (right wing), the Labour party (left wing) and the Liberal Democrats (centre).

The Conservative party

The Conservative party goes back to the Tories, or Royalists, who originated in King Charles' reign. The Tories were the party that supported Church and King; the other main party at the time were the Whigs, who were a group eager for political reform. The Tory party gave way to its successor, the Conservative party, in around 1830. The Conservative party believes in free enterprise and the importance of a capitalist economy, with private ownership preferred to state control, it stands for hierarchical authority and minimal government interference in the economy.

Conservative party policy, since the election of David Cameron as leader, has increasingly focused on 'social' and 'quality of life' issues such as the environment, government services and schools. Cameron has frequently called the UK a "broken society” and aims to overcome the critical situations in economy as well as in social life by economic growth and innovation, creation a fairer and more balanced economy, where they are not so dependent on a narrow range of economic sectors, and where new businesses and economic opportunities are more evenly shared between regions and industries. The Conservative party believes that Britain must always be an active member of the global community, promoting its national interests while standing up for the values of freedom, fairness and responsibility.

The Labour party

In 1899, the Trades Union Congress summoned a special conference of trades unions and socialist bodies to make plans to represent labour in parliament. The proposal for such a meeting had come from Thomas Steels, a member of the Independent Labour Party which had formed in 1893. The conference met in February 1900 in London and has always been looked on as the foundation of the Labour party. However, the name 'the Labour party' was not adopted until 1906. The Labour party believe that private ownership and enterprise should be allowed to flourish, but not at the expense of their traditional support of the public services. This is the party for the weaker people in society and for more government involvement in the economy; more concerned to provide full social services that to keep income tax low.