IL. The political parties In the United Kingdom politics is controlled by political parties. Thats to say its politics is party pol itics. The pol itical party system, dating from the 17th century, is an essential element in the working constitution There are a number of political parties in the United Kingdom and, theoretically they are granted equal treatment by the law. But in practice, politics in Britain is based on the two-party system. We know nationwide general elections are held every five years for voters to elect Members of Parliament. The majority party forms His or Her Majesty's Government, and the second party is officially recognized as His or Her Majesty's Own Loyal Opposition. The opposition leader is paid a salary fron public funds for that role. Since the end of World War I (1914-1918),the Conservative Party and the labor party have been dominant Or we can say, a two-party system has existed in the United Kingdom since the late 17th century, though it is occasionally threatened by a third party. The Conservative Party and the Labor Party are the dominant parties of the modern era (In the early 20th century, Labor displaced the Liberals as one of the two dominant Small parties are usually called minor parties. Minor parties in the early 1990s included the Scottish Nationalist. Welsh Nationalist. Ulster Unionist. Social Democratic, Communist, and Green parties. The Liberal Party, which provided governments periodically for decades, lost electoral support and merged with dissidents from Labor and the Conservatives to form the l iberal democrat Party. In the general election of 1992, minor parties won 44 seats from the total of 651 in the House of commons British parties developed in the 17th century. By 1679 there were two groups Tories and Whigs. In 1660. Charles I's son became the english king known as Charles Il. But political struggles and religious dispute were still tense. In his old age Charles Il, fearing that his young son would be unable to control the situation, made arrangements for James, his brother(the Duke of York), to succeed him, some people opposed the kings plan on the ground that James was pro-Catholicism. These opponents, who favored Protestant ism, were derisively(4I])called the "Whigs, a nickname once given to the rebel Scottish drovers(家畜贩子) The Tories represented the interests of the smaller landed gentry and tradesmen--forefathers of the middle class, while the Whigs represented the interests of the landed aristocracy and big merchants of the towns The whigs wanted Parliament to have more power than the Crown, and played an important part in the Glorious Revolution"of 1688-1689. They were in power from 1714 to 1760. The Tories became the party of the Anglican Church and of country landowners, while the4 II. The Political Parties In the United Kingdom politics is controlled by political parties. That’s to say its politics is party politics. The political party system, dating from the 17th century, is an essential element in the working constitution. There are a number of political parties in the United Kingdom and, theoretically, they are granted equal treatment by the law. But in practice, politics in Britain is based on the two-party system. We know nationwide general elections are held every five years for voters to elect Members of Parliament. The majority party forms His or Her Majesty’s Government, and the second party is officially recognized as His or Her Majesty’s Own Loyal Opposition. The opposition leader is paid a salary from public funds for that role. Since the end of World War I (1914-1918), the Conservative Party and the Labor Party have been dominant. Or we can say, a two-party system has existed in the United Kingdom since the late 17th century, though it is occasionally threatened by a third party. The Conservative Party and the Labor Party are the dominant parties of the modern era. (In the early 20th century, Labor displaced the Liberals as one of the two dominant parties.) Small parties are usually called minor parties. Minor parties in the early 1990s included the Scottish Nationalist, Welsh Nationalist, Ulster Unionist, Social Democratic, Communist, and Green parties. The Liberal Party, which provided governments periodically for decades, lost electoral support and merged with dissidents from Labor and the Conservatives to form the Liberal Democrat Party. In the general election of 1992, minor parties won 44 seats from the total of 651 in the House of Commons. British parties developed in the 17th century. By 1679 there were two groups: Tories and Whigs. In 1660, Charles I’s son became the English king known as Charles II. But political struggles and religious dispute were still tense. In his old age, Charles II, fearing that his young son would be unable to control the situation, made arrangements for James, his brother (the Duke of York), to succeed him, some people opposed the king’s plan on the ground that James was pro-Catholicism. These opponents, who favored Protestantism, were derisively (嘲笑的) called the “Whigs,” a nickname once given to the rebel Scottish drovers (家畜贩子). The Tories represented the interests of the smaller landed gentry and tradesmen—forefathers of the middle class, while the Whigs represented the interests of the landed aristocracy and big merchants of the towns. The Whigs wanted Parliament to have more power than the Crown, and played an important part in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688-1689. They were in power from 1714 to 1760. The Tories became the party of the Anglican Church and of country landowners, while the