Politics in the UK - The Basics
The United Kingdom has a number of different levels of government and therefore has several sorts of elections. The largest election, and what some would argue is the most important, is the general election. This is the process which determines not only the selection of the British Prime Minister but the ruling party which will guide the direction of the nation over the next few years. National and regional parliament and assembly elections are also of this level of importance and also happen every few years. Other elections include selection of members for the European Parliament, elections for local mayoral positions and other local elections. At present the British government is looking at electoral reform with a particular focus on the 'First Past the Post' (the plurality voting system) election process. This process means that the candidate with the highest number of votes automatically wins; if they pass the 50% mark it can safely be assumed that they have been elected to the position.
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Within the United Kingdom there are two 'main' political parties who compete with each other for overall power of the Parliament and thus the organization and administration of the nation. One of these two parties is the Labour Party which since it's beginnings in the early months of 1900 has proven to be a formidable opponent for the other dominant political group, the Conservative Party (sometimes referred to as the 'Tory' party). Although the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and the British National Party do win seats, none of these smaller parties have yet to prove any real threat to either the Labour or Conservative political organizations.