This is a list of political parties in the United Kingdom, by their historic representation in elected bodies.

British House of Commons

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation MPs Notes
Alba Party 2021 2021 N/A N/A 2 (2021) Kenny MacAskill; Neale Hanvey Split from the Scottish National Party
All-for-Ireland League 1909 1909 1918 1918 8 (1910)
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1970 1973 Present N/A 1 (1973) Stephen Farry; Naomi Long; Stratton Mills
Anti H-Block 1981 1981 1982 1982 1 (1981) Bobby Sands; Owen Carron Merged into Sinn Féin
Anti-Waste League 1921 1921 1922 1922 2 (1921) James Malcolm Monteith Erskine; Murray Sueter
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice 2005 2010 2011 2011 1 (2010) Peter Law, Dai Davies
British Socialist Party 1911 1920 1920 1920 1 (1920) Cecil L'Estrange Malone Merged into the Communist Party of Great Britain
Change UK 2019 2019 2019 2019 11 (2019) List Split from the Labour and Conservative Parties in February 2019, dissolved December 2019
Coalition Labour 1918 1918 1922 1922
Common Wealth Party 1942 1942 1946 1993 5 (1945) List
Communist Party of Great Britain 1920 1920 1950 1991 2 (1945) Willie Gallacher; Cecil L'Estrange Malone; Walton Newbold; Phil Piratin; Shapurji Saklatvala
Conservative Party 1835 1835 Present N/A 473 (1931) List
Co-operative Party 1917 1918 Present N/A 38 (2017) List Affiliated with the Labour Party since 1927
Democratic Labour 1972 1972 1974 1979 1 (1972) Dick Taverne
Democratic Party 1969 1969 1970 1971 1 (1969) Desmond Donnelly
Democratic Unionist Party 1971 1971 Present N/A 10 (2017) List Formed from the Protestant Unionist Party
Empire Free Trade Crusade 1929 1930 1931 1930s 1 (1930) Ernest Taylor Joint candidate with the United Empire Party
English National Party 1960s 1976 1976 1980 1 (1976) John Stonehouse
Federation of Labour 1944 1945 1949 1949 1 (1945) Jack Beattie Merged into the Irish Labour Party
Green Party of England and Wales 1973 1992 Present N/A 1 (1992) Cynog Dafis; Caroline Lucas Dafis was a joint candidate with Plaid Cymru
Crofters Party 1880s 1885 1895 1890s 4 (1885) Gavin Brown Clark; Charles Fraser-Mackintosh; Roderick MacDonald; Donald Horne Macfarlane
Independent Irish Party 1852 1852 1858 1858 40 (1852) Split from the Liberal Party
Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern 2000 2001 2010 N/A 1 (2001) Richard Taylor
Independent Liberals 1931 1931 1935 1935 5 (1931) David Lloyd George; Gwilym Lloyd George; Megan Lloyd George; Frank Owen; Goronwy Owen Not a separate party per se; its members were official Liberal Party candidates who rejected the National Government.
Independent Labour Party 1893 1893 1947 1975 Affiliated with the Labour Party from 1900 until 1931
Independent Parliamentary Group 1920 1920 1921 1921
Irish Confederate Party 1847 1847 1848 1848 2 (1847) Thomas Chisholm Anstey; William Smith O'Brien
Irish Labour Party 1912 1949 1955 N/A 1 (1949) Jack Beattie
Labour Independent Group 1949 1949 1950 1950 5 (1949) Lester Hutchinson; John Platts-Mills; Denis Nowell Pritt; Leslie Solley; Konni Zilliacus
Labour Party 1906 1906 Present N/A 418 (1997) List Formed from the Labour Representation Committee
Labour Representation Committee 1900 1900 1906 1906 29 (1906) List Became the Labour Party
Liberal Democrats 1988 1988 Present N/A 62 (2005) List Merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party
Liberal Party 1859 1859 1988 1988 397 (1906) List Merged into the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Unionist Party 1886 1886 1912 1912 77 (1886) List Split from the Liberal Party; merged into the Conservative Party
Mebyon Kernow 1951 1964 1970 N/A 2 (1964) Peter Bessell, John Pardoe, David Mudd multi party membership
National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers 1916 1918 1921 1921 1 (1918) Robert Hewitt Barker Semi-official candidate, sponsored by local branch of organisation
National Democratic and Labour Party 1918 1918 1922 1923 9 (1918)
National Party 1917 1917 1921 1921 8 (1917)
Nationalist Party (Ireland) 1870 1870 1955 1977 86 (1885) List
National Labour 1931 1931 1945 1945 14 (1931) List
National Liberal Party 1931 1931 1968 1968 55 (1950) List Affiliated with the Conservative Party from 1947
National Socialist Party 1916 1918 1919 1919 3 (1918) Dan Irving; Jack Jones; Will Thorne Affiliated with the Labour Party
New Party 1930 1930 1931 1932 6 (1931) Oliver Baldwin; W. J. Brown; Robert Forgan; Cynthia Mosley; Oswald Mosley; John Strachey Baldwin and Brown held membership for a single day
Nordic League 1935 1935 1939 1939 1 (1935) Archibald Maule Ramsay
Northern Ireland Labour Party 1924 1943 1943 1987 1 (1943) Jack Beattie
Plaid Cymru 1925 1966 Present N/A 4 (1992) List
Protestant Unionist Party 1966 1970 1971 1971 1 (1970) Ian Paisley Became the Democratic Unionist Party
Referendum Party 1994 1997 1997 1997 1 (1997) George Gardiner
Republican Labour Party 1964 1966 1970 1973 1 (1970) Gerry Fitt
Reclaim Party 2020 2023 2023 N/A 1 (2023) Andrew Bridgen
Reform League 1865 1865 1869 1869 6 (1865) George Howell (trade unionist), Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet, of Brayton, Peter Alfred Taylor, Samuel Morley (MP), Charles Bradlaugh, John Bright
Respect Party 2004 2005 2015 2016 1 (2005) George Galloway
Scottish Labour Party (1888) 1888 1888 1892 1893 1 (1888) Robert Cunninghame-Graham Merged into the Independent Labour Party
Scottish Labour Party (1976) 1976 1976 1979 1979 2 (1976) John Robertson; Jim Sillars Split from the Labour Party
Scottish National Party 1934 1945 Present N/A 56 (2015) List
Scottish Prohibition Party 1901 1922 1931 1935 1 (1922) Edwin Scrymgeour
Sinn Féin 1905 1917 Present N/A 73 (1918) List Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats
Social Democratic Party 1981 1981 1988 1988 29 (1982) List Merged into the Liberal Democrats
Social Democratic Party (1988) 1988 1988 1990 1990 29 (1982) Rosie Barnes, John Cartwright, David Owen Formed by Social Democratic Party members who did not join the Liberal Democrats
Social Democratic and Labour Party 1970 1970 Present N/A 4 (1992) List
UK Unionist Party 1995 1995 2001 2008 1 (1995) Robert McCartney
Ulster Popular Unionist Party 1980 1980 1995 1995 1 (1980) James Kilfedder
Ulster Unionist Labour Association 1918 1918 1922 N/A 3 (1918) Thomas Henry Burn; Thompson Donald; Samuel McGuffin Linked with the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party 1905 1905 2017 N/A 20 (1918) List At times affiliated to the Conservative Party
United Empire Party 1920s 1930 1931 1930s 1 (1930) Ernest Taylor Joint candidate with the Empire Free Trade Crusade
United Ulster Unionist Party 1975 1975 1982 1982 1 (1975) John Dunlop Split from the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
UK Independence Party 1993 2008 2017 N/A 2 (2014) Douglas Carswell; Mark Reckless
Unity 1960s 1969 1974 1977 2 (1970) Bernadette Devlin; Frank McManus
Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party 1973 1973 1978 1978 3 (1974) Robert Bradford; William Craig; John Dunlop Split from and later merged into the Ulster Unionist Party
Repeal Association 1830 1832 1847 1848 42 (1832) Also Known as the Irish Repeal Party
Home Rule League 1873 1874 1880 1882 59 (1874) Became the Irish Parliamentary Party
Liberal–Labour 1870 1874 1918 1918
Independent Conservative 1911 1911 N/A N/A
Independent Nationalist 1880 1880 1955 N/A N/A Not a Political Party but a Description for Irish Nationalist who are not affiliated with a Political Party same meaning as the Description used in the Northern Ireland Assembly today
Chartist 1838 1847 1852 1857 1 (1847)
Birkenhead Social Justice 2019 2019 2019 2019 1 (2019)
The Independents (UK) 2019 2019 2019 2019 5 (2019) Gavin Shuker, John Woodcock, Luciana Berger, Angela Smith, Heidi Allen
Scottish Socialist Party (1932) 1932 1932 1940 1940 2 (1932) Neil Maclean, Thomas Johnston
Ministerialist 1768 1768 1774 1774 225 (1766) Lord North
Northite 1774 1774 1784 1784 396 (1780)
Rockingham Whigs 1765 1768 1784 1784 254 (1780) William Dowdeswell, Henry Seymour Conway
Grenville Whigs 1740 1765 1774 1774 41 (1768) George Grenville
Bedford Whigs 1751 1751 1774 1783 23 (1751)
Radicals 1750 1768 1857 1859 15 (1852)

London Assembly

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation AMs Notes
Brexit Alliance 2018 2018 2021 2021 2 (2018) Peter Whittle, David Kurten
British National Party 1982 2008 2010 N/A 1 (2008) Richard Barnbrook Was expelled from party in first term
Conservative and Unionist Party 1835 2000 N/A N/A 11 (2008)
London Green Party 1990 2000 N/A N/A 3 (2000)
Heritage Party 2020 2020 2021 N/A 1 (2020) David Kurten
Labour and Co-Operative Party 1909 2000 N/A N/A 12 (2012)
Liberal Democrats 1988 2000 N/A N/A 5 (2004)
One London 2005 2005 2008 2008 2 (2005) Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme-Cross
UK Independence Party 1993 2004 2020 N/A 2 (2004) Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme-Cross, Peter Whittle, David Kurten
Veritas 2005 2005 2005 2015 2 (2005) Damian Hockney, Peter Hulme-Cross Briefly before Forming One London

British House of Lords

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation Members Notes
British People's Party 1939 1939 1953 1954 3 (1943) Gerard Wallop, 9th Earl of Portsmouth, Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford, Ronald Nall-Cain, 2nd Baron Brocket
British Fascists 1923 1923 1934 1934 1 (1923) Leopold Ernest Stratford George Canning, 4th Baron Garvagh
British Union of Fascists 1932 1940 1932 1940 7 (1936) Patrick Boyle, David Freeman-Mitford, Josslyn Hay, Edward Russell, Hastings Russell, Harold Harmsworth, Edward Frederick Langley Russell
Communist Party of Great Britain 1920 1962 1991 1991 1 (1962) Wogan Philipps
Conservative Party 1835 1835 Present N/A
Green Party of England and Wales 1973 1980s Present N/A 1 (1999) George MacLeod; Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley; Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb[1][2]
Labour Party 1906 1924 Present N/A
Liberal Democrats 1988 1988 Present N/A Merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party
Liberal Party 1859 1859 1988 1988 Merged into the Liberal Democrats
National Party 1917 1917 1921 1921 3 (1917) Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill, Sir Richard Cooper, 2nd Baronet, Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft
Nordic League 1935 1935 1939 1939 2 (1935) Arthur Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington, Ronald Nall-Cain, 2nd Baron Brocket
Social Democratic Party 1981 1981 1988 1988 Merged into the Liberal Democrats
Social Democratic Party (1988) 1988 1988 1990 1990 17 (1988) Continuation of the Social Democratic Party
United Kingdom Independence Party 1993 1990s 2019 N/A 2 (2007) Richard Norton, 8th Baron Grantley; Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch; David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke
Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes 1863 1863 1865 1865 1 (1863) John Townshend, 5th Marquess Townshend

Northern Ireland Assembly

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation MLAs Notes
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1973 1998 Present N/A 17 (2022) John Alderdice; Kellie Armstrong; Eileen Bell; John Blair; Paula Bradshaw; Patrick Brown; Seamus Close; Judith Cochrane; Stewart Dickson; Danny Donnelly; Sorcha Eastwood; Connie Egan; Stephen Farry; David Ford; Máire Hendron; David Honeyford; Anna Lo; Naomi Long; Trevor Lunn; Chris Lyttle; Kieran McCarthy; Peter McReynolds; Nick Mathison; Nuala McAllister; Andrew Muir; Seán Neeson; Kate Nicholl; Patricia O'Lynn; Eóin Tennyson
Anti-Partition League 1945 1953 1958 1958 2 (1953) Eddie McAteer, Malachy Conlon
Commonwealth Labour Party 1942 1945 1947 1947 Harry Midgley Only MP and Founder Defected to the Ulster Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party 1971 1998 Present N/A 38 (2011)
Green Party in Northern Ireland 1983 2007 2022 N/A 2 (2016) Steven Agnew; Clare Bailey; Brian Wilson; Rachel Woods
Labour coalition 1996 1998 1998 1998 2 (1996) Malachi Curran, Hugh Casey
Irish Labour Party 1912 1951 1963 N/A 1 (1951)
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 1918 1921 1973 1977 11 (1929)
NI21 2013 2013 2016 2016 2 (2013) Basil McCrea, John McCallister Split from the Ulster Unionist Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party 1924 1925 1975 1987 4 (1958)
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition 1996 1996 2003 2006 2 (1996) Monica McWilliams, Pearl Sagar
Northern Ireland Unionist Party 1999 1999 2003 2008 4 (1999) Norman Boyd; Roger Hutchinson; Patrick Roche; Cedric Wilson Split from the UK Unionist Party
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition 1996 1998 2003 2006 2 (1998) Monica McWilliams; Jane Morrice
People Before Profit Alliance 2005 2016 Present N/A 2 (2016) Gerry Carroll; Eamonn McCann
Progressive Unionist Party 1979 1998 2010 N/A 2 (1998) Billy Hutchinson; Dawn Purvis; David Ervine
Sinn Féin 1905 1921 Present N/A 29 (2011)
Social Democratic and Labour Party 1970 1998 Present N/A 24 (1998)
Socialist Republican Party 1944 1944 1950 1950 1 (1944) Harry Diamond
Traditional Unionist Voice 2007 2011 Present N/A 1 (2011) Jim Allister
UK Unionist Party 1995 1998 2007 2008 5 (1998) Norman Boyd; Roger Hutchinson; Robert McCartney; Patrick Roche; Cedric Wilson
Ulster Democratic Party 1981 1996 1998 2001 2 (1996) John White, Gary McMichael
Ulster Popular Unionist Party 1980 1982 1986 1993 1 (1992) James Kilfedder
United Unionist Assembly Party 1998 1998 2003 N/A 3 (1998) Fraser Agnew; Boyd Douglas; Denis Watson
Ulster Unionist Party 1905 1921 Present N/A 28 (1998)
Unbought Tenants' Association 1913? 1925 1929 ? 1 (1925) George Henderson
Fianna Fáil 1933 2011 2011 N/A 1 (2007) Gerry McHugh Believed that "Fianna Fáil was the right party to bring about change in Northern Ireland".

Scottish Parliament

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation MSPs Notes
Alba Party 2021 2023 N/A N/A 1 (2023) Ash Regan
Save Stobhill Hospital 2001 2003 2007 N/A 1 (2003) Jean Turner
MSP for Falkirk West 1999 1999 2007 N/A 1 (1999) Dennis Canavan
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 1965 1999 Present N/A 31 (2016)
Scottish Green Party 1990 1999 Present N/A 8 (2021)
Scottish Labour Party 1909 1999 Present N/A 56 (1999)
Scottish Liberal Democrats 1988 1999 Present N/A 17 (1999)
Scottish National Party 1934 1999 Present N/A 69 (2011)
Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party 2003 2003 2007 N/A 1 (2003) John Swinburne
Scottish Socialist Party 1998 1999 2007 N/A 6 (2003)
Solidarity 2006 2006 2007 N/A 2 (2006) Rosemary Byrne; Tommy Sheridan Split from the Scottish Socialist Party
RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance 2015 2015 2016 N/A 1 (2016) Jean Urquhart Split from the Scottish National Party
Reform Scotland 2021 2021 2021 N/A 1 (2021) Michelle Ballantyne Split from the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Scottish Peoples' Alliance 2003 2003 2003 2010 2 (2003) Lyndsay McIntosh, Keith Harding Briefly defected after being ranked down in the list, lost their seats.

Welsh Parliament (formerly: National Assembly of Wales)

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation AMs/MSs Notes
John Marek Independent Party/Forward Wales 2003 2003 2007 2003 (John Marek Independent Party)/2010 (Forward Wales) 1 (2003) John Marek
Plaid Cymru 1925 1999 Present N/A 17 (1999)
United Kingdom Independence Party 1993 2016 2021 2021 7 (2016)
Wales Labour Party 1947 1999 Present N/A 30 (2003)
Welsh Conservative Party 1921 1999 Present N/A 13 (2009)
Welsh Liberal Democrats 1988 1999 Present N/A 6 (1999)
Propel 2020 2021 2021 N/A 1 (2020) Neil McEvoy Spilt from the Plaid Cyrmu; the party gained four councillors a month after the party's formation
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice 2005 2010 2011 1 (2010) Peter Law, Dai Davies
Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party 2015 2020 2021 N/A 2 (2020) Gareth Bennett; Mark Reckless Prior to Bennett's joining the party, the party's got its first councillor, who defected from the Welsh Conservative Party, a month earlier. Later that year, Reckless, the former leader, of the Brexit Party of Wales, joined the party,
Independent Alliance for Reform 2020 2020 2021 2021 3 (2020) Caroline Jones, David Rowlands, Mandy Jones
Brexit Party 2018 2018 2020 N/A 4 (2020) Caroline Jones, David Rowlands, Mandy Jones, Mark Reckless

European Parliament

Party Founded First represented Last represented Dissolved Maximum representation MEPs Notes
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1970 2019 2020 N/A 1 (2019) Naomi Long
British Democratic Party 2013 2013 2014 N/A 1 (2013) Andrew Brons
British National Party 1982 2009 2014 N/A 2 (2009) Andrew Brons; Nick Griffin
Brexit Party 2019 2019 2020 N/A 23 (2019) List
Change UK – The Independent Group 2019 2019 2019 N/A 1 (2019) List
Conservative Party 1835 1979 2020 N/A 60 (1979)
Democratic Unionist Party 1971 1979 2020 N/A 1 (1979) Jim Allister; Diane Dodds; Ian Paisley
Green Party of England and Wales 1973 1999 2020 N/A 3 (2014) Jean Lambert; Caroline Lucas; Keith Taylor; Molly Scott Cato
Independent Labour Network 1999 1999 1999 2003 1 (1999) Ken Coates Split from the Labour Party
Labour Party 1906 1979 2020 N/A 62 (1994)
Liberal Democrats 1988 1994 2020 N/A 12 (2004)
Libertarian Party 2007 2018 2019 N/A 1 (2019) Bill Etheridge The briefly got first representative in October 2018, but soon their representative later joined the Brexit Party in February 2019.
Plaid Cymru 1925 1999 2020 N/A 2 (1999) Jillian Evans; Eurig Wyn
Pro-Euro Conservative Party 1999 1999 1999 2001 2 (1999) Brendan Donnelly; John Stevens Split from the Conservative Party
Scottish National Party 1934 1979 2020 N/A 2 (1994) Winifred Ewing; Ian Hudghton; Allan Macartney; Neil MacCormick; Alyn Smith
Scottish Socialist Party 1998 1998 1999 N/A 1 (1998) Hugh Kerr
Sinn Féin 1905 2004 2020 N/A 1 (2004) Bairbre de Brún; Martina Anderson Also had an MEP elected in the Republic of Ireland
Social Democratic and Labour Party 1970 1979 2004 N/A 1 (1979) John Hume
Social Democratic Party 1981 1984 1984 1988 1 (1984) Michael Gallagher
Social Democratic Party (1990-present) 1990 2018 2019 N/A 1 (2018) Patrick O'Flynn This is the second continuation and current incarnation of the original Social Democratic Party
Thurrock Independents 2018 2018 2019 N/A 1 (2018) Tim Aker
Traditional Unionist Voice 2007 2007 2009 N/A 1 (2007) Jim Allister
United Kingdom Independence Party 1993 1999 2019 N/A 24 (2014)
Ulster Unionist Party 1905 1979 2019 N/A 1 (1979) Jim Nicholson; John Taylor
Veritas 2005 2005 2005 2015 1 (2005) Robert Kilroy-Silk Split from the United Kingdom Independence Party; merged into the English Democrats

See also

References

  1. ^ "Introductions" Democracy Live (House of Lords; published by the BBC), 5 November 2013; "Introduction: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – in the House of Lords at 2:38 pm on 5th November 2013." They Work For You 5 November 2013
  2. ^ Vowles, Neil. "Baroness of Moulsecoomb gives first speech in House of Lords". The Argus. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
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