Guides

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland describes itself as a non-sectarian party which advocates co-operation between nationalist and unionist communities. Advancing in the polls in recent years, the Alliance Party is now the third largest political party in Northern Ireland.Read More

The Conservative Party is the governing party in the British House of Commons. Sitting on the centre right of the political spectrum, the Conservatives are the oldest party still represented in Parliament. With every decade older that a voter becomes, their chance of voting Conservative is said to increase by around 9%.Read More

The Democratic Unionist Party is now the leading unionist party, and the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The DUP was founded in 1971 by the Reverend Ian Paisley, a preacher at the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. It is currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson.Read More

The Green Party is a left of centre political party with a specific focus on environmentalism. In the 2019 General Election, the Green Party polled 2.7% of the popular vote. However at 48,500, the Green Party's membership is a quarter of that of the Conservatives and half that of the Lib Dems.Read More

The Labour Party has been in power for just over a third of the period since the War. In 2019, the Labour Party had 485,000 members, making it by far Britain's largest political party. In terms of voting behaviour, the party currently polls better as a voter's level of formal education rises.Read More

The Liberal Democrats are a centre-left, pro-European, political party, colloquially referred to as the Lib Dems. Recently on an electoral roller coaster, the Lib Dem vote share declined from 23% in 2010 to 8% in 2015, and 11% in 2019. Lib Dems receive their highest support from 30-39-year-olds.Read More

Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) is a Welsh Nationalist party that sits on the left of the political spectrum. The party is far less of an electoral force than its Scottish counterpart, polling around 10% of the Welsh vote in recent General Elections.Read More

The Scottish National Party (SNP), is a pro Scottish independence party that sits on the left of the political spectrum. It is currently by far the largest party in Scotland and has been in government in the Scottish Parliament continuously since 2007.Read More

Sinn Féin is a left-wing Irish Republican Party. In English, its name is translated as ‘(We) Ourselves’. It is the only political party that is active both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.Read More

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is a Northern Irish political party that was formed in the early 1970s at the height of the 'Troubles'. The SDLP sits on the left of the political spectrum, and is affiliated to the Labour party.Read More

The UUP is regarded as the more moderate force within Ulster Unionism. Its current leader, Doug Beattie, is an ex soldier who once  guarded Adolf Hitler's Deputy, Rudolph Hess, in Spandau Prison. His predecessor as UUP leader, Steve Aiken, had previously been a nuclear submarine commander.Read More