Title: 
Headings: 
Philip Lynch
The two-party system
The number of parties
Types of party system
Two-and-a-half party system
Dominant party system
Multiparty system
Party systems
National party systems
Scotland and Wales
Northern Ireland
Regional party systems
Local party systems
Europe
Conclusions
References and further reading
Exam focus

Content: The two parties were closely matched in the popular vote, had nationwide support, and held office for equivalent periods. The two-party system was under-pinned by a number of factors. The simple plurality electoral system favoured the Conservatives and Labour at the expense of smaller parties. There was strong party alignment: most electors voted for the party that represented the interests of their social class — the working class for Labour and the middle class for the Con- servatives — and most felt a positive attachment to ‘their’ party. Additionally, party competition was conducted in the centre ground, where most voters were located, in an era of ideological consensus. Periods of flux in the British party system are not unusual. In the interwar years, for example, Labour overtook the Liberals, and coalition governments held office. A more complex picture has also been apparent since 1970. Class voting has declined, fewer voters feel a very strong attachment to a party and new issues have emerged — substate nationalism, European integration and immigration — that do not fit the traditional left–right pattern of party competition.