4.The Liberal and Other Minor Parties

The Liberal Party is the third largest party in Britain since 1922.Although many people support the Liberals they have few members in Parliament.In 1970，for instance，the Liberal Party won 7.5percent of the votes，but it only returned 6members of Parliament.In order to utilize the not inconsiderable popular support，which the Party still enjoys，the Liberals formed the alliance with the Social Democratic Party in 1981.The position of the Party was strengthened.In 1983，there were 17Liberal members of Parliament.The Liberal Party has traditionally found most of its support in the Celtic fringe（parts being on borders of，England whose population is of Celtic origin），but more recently in some urban areas.

The Social Democratic Party（SDP）is a new party which was formed in March 1981by four former Labour Cabinet ministers.They were later joined by 12other Labour MPs and one Conservative.The party has gained considerable popular support，largely from voters who are disillusioned with the two major parties.The party has both a leader and president.The leader is elected by its MPs and heads its parliamentary party.The president is elected by postal ballot of the entire membership and leads the party through the Council for Social Democracy.The representation of the SDP in the House of Commons is small（six members in 1983election）but it works towards government in alliance with the Liberal Party.

In 1988the Liberals and Social Democrats merged to create what came to be called the Liberal Democrats.Over two-thirds of the members，and all the serving MPs，of the Liberal Party joined this party.Though the merger process was traumatic and the new party suffored a few years of extremely poor poll result，it gradually found much greater electoral success than the Liberal Party had done in the post-war era.In the 2005general election，the Liberal Demoorats elected 62MPs to the House of Commons.In the 2010 general election，the Conservative Party won more seats than any other，but not enough to form a majority government.After several days of negotiation，the Liberal Democrats agreed to join the Conservatives as part of a coalition government.

The British Communist Party was founded in 1920，and it changed its name into the“Democratic Left”in 1991after the collapse of the Soviet Union，while a minority of the party determined to stick with the old name.Although the party had two members elected to the House of Commons in 1920sand another two in the 1940s，it never came close to being a serious political force in the UK.Its original aims were to achieve unity among left-wing progressive forces against the threat of world war and to combat the power of the commercial monopolies.Its views and policies were expressed in the daily newspaper Morning Star，as well as in a small number of specifically political journals such as Marxism Today and Comment.

Ulster Unionist Party is a political party which has been active in Northern Ireland for very many years.Most of its supporters are Protestants who wish Ulster to remain part of the UK.After 1920，when Ulster and the Republic of Ireland were separated，the Unionists were the ruling party in Northern Ireland Parliament until direct rule in 1972.The party was well represented among the Northern Ireland MPs in the House of Commons.

There are some other minor parties in the UK，but most of them are very weak and many have no representative in the House of Commons.