Minority parties

Question 1

what is the importance of smaller parties

Answer 1

-may divert votes away from the main parties-SNP decimated Labour support in Scotland winning 56/59 seats in 2015 UKIPs high levels support took traditional WC voters from Labour=lowest share of vote 2015 from 1987 UKIP had almost 4 mill votes

when a constituency is marginal between large parties small parties may split the vote one way or another Brexit party did not campaign in marginal conservative held seats in the 2019 election allowing leave supporters to vote for Conservative party

small parties may affect the polices of large parties if they present a electoral threat=UKIP success at the 2014 European parliamentary elections lead to Conservative manifesto of an in or out ref on EU membership -brexit party pop at 2019 european election had similar effect with Conservatives taking a hard brexit stance

Question 2

why smaller parties are insignificant

Answer 2

support base might be limited to particular region and their electoral impact might be limited to one election UKIPs vote collapsed in 2017

FPTP electoral system not kind to parties whose vote is wide but shallow rather than concentrated UKIP won 13 vote in 2015 but only gained a single seat

policies of smaller parties are often subsumed by the larger parties leaving them with limited appeal. Labour party supported bringing forward the date for net zero carbon emissions in its 2019 manifesto damping support for Green party