The UK Multi-Party System After the 2024 General Election

Both the AQA and Pearson Edexcel A level Politics courses require students to assess the extent to which the UK has become a multi-party system (defined as a party system where more than two parties compete meaningfully for representation and power). Although many political commentators have argued that prior to 2024, the UK was essentially a multi-party system because of developments such as the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government (2010-15), last year’s general election significantly strengthened this trend away from the traditional two-party system based on Conservative-Labour dominance. Several key features of the 2024 general election results, discussed below, illustrate the increasingly multi-party character of UK politics.

Declining Conservative-Labour Dominance

In 2024, the combined Conservative-Labour vote share was 57.4 per cent, the lowest total since the 1922 general election. Thus, over 4 out of 10 voters (42.6 per cent) did not opt for one of the two major parties. Furthermore, only 48 per cent of the constituency contests (306 out of 650 seats) placed the Tories and Labour as the top two parties. In the 2019 general election, the corresponding figure was 73 per cent (462 out of 650 seats).

Record Third/Minor Party Representation

A record number of 117 third party candidates (neither Conservative nor Labour) were returned at the 2024 general election. This was the first time since 1923 that the total of third party MPs had reached three figures. In addition, 27.1 per cent of the votes cast in the 2024 general election were for candidates who did not represent any of the five well-known major and minor parties (Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, SNP and Plaid Cymru), eclipsing the previous record of 19.5 per cent set in 2015. For all other general elections over the last 100 years this vote share never exceeded 10 per cent and, prior to 1997, was always under 4 per cent. The growing fragmentation of the UK party system in the last general election was driven by what Professor Rob Ford has called the ‘choice effect’ based on (1) a record number of candidates (4,397) standing in 2024 and (2) the growing political reach of Reform UK and the Greens based on distinctive ideological appeals. Every constituency in the UK in the 2024 general election fielded at least five different candidates (and over half offered seven or more) giving greater local choice to voters than in the previous record year of 2010. In 2024, for the first time, both the Greens and the radical right (in the form of Reform UK) fielded candidates in the overwhelming majority of UK mainland constituencies. Their increased electoral presence, coupled with clear policy platforms and social profiles, gave the Greens and the radical right (Reform UK) their best-ever vote shares (see table below).

1. Winning on a smaller vote share

Almost inevitably, when more parties compete in constituency contests, votes are spread more widely among candidates so that the winner’s vote share is reduced. This provides another clear indicator of the further fragmentation of the party system at the last general election. In 2024, 554 out of 650 MPs (85 per cent) were elected on less than 50 per cent of the constituency vote (compared with 229 MPs in 2019) and 266 MPs (41 per cent) won their seats on less than 40 per cent. In addition, 99 MPs secured victory on 35 per cent or less of the local vote whereas, in 2019, only one MP fell into this category. Moreover, across the UK, in 2024, the average vote share for third- and fourth-placed parties increased to 15 and 8 per cent respectively and, for the first time, four parties secured vote shares over 10 per cent.

A multi-party system under First Past the Post (FPTP)

The impact of the ‘choice effect’ and multi-party pressure in the 2024 general election was offset by the FPTP electoral system which favours two-party competition. Thus, although the combined Labour-Conservative vote share was reduced to 57.4 per cent, over 4 in every 5 seats (82 per cent) in the Commons went to these two parties at the last election. Furthermore, Reform UK and the Greens were disadvantaged by FPTP since they secured vote shares of 14 and 7 per cent respectively but received only 1 per cent of the seats each (5 and 4 seats respectively). Having said this, there are signs that greater party choice will impose heavier strains on the current electoral system since (1) millions of voters are now opting for parties other than Labour and the Conservatives and this will increase public frustration with FPTP which penalizes third parties (2) both the Greens and Reform UK have the organizational capacity, ideological profile and support to contest most constituencies at future general elections, thus entrenching multi-party politics as a permanent feature (3) candidates securing victories on smaller constituency vote shares may undermine FPTP’s perceived key advantage that it delivers strong and stable one-party government. Indeed, the ‘choice effect’ and multi-party pressure so evident at the 2024 general election are likely to increase popular demands for electoral reform.