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Draft:Political groups of the UK Parliament

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This page is about political parliamentary groups in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For non-political cross-party technical groups, see All-party parliamentary group.
Flyer advertising an event by the Socialist Campaign Group of left-wing Labour MPs at the 2018 Labour Party Conference

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, informal political groups of ideologically-aligned members of Parliament (MPs) and peers, commonly known as factions or tendencies, have existed since the 19th century. Mainly operating in the House of Commons, these groups are intra-party ginger groups, caucuses or alliances where members organise together to pressure or influence their party's leadership or policy platform to advance their political goals.

Political groups were an integral part of parliamentary politics in the United Kingdom until the late 20th century. Groups organised in internal elections, standing

Political scientists categorise these political groups into two main groupings, factions and tendencies.



Definition and typology

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Political groups have existed within the parties of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and particularly the House of Commons since at least the 19th century.[1][2] These groups, which are commonly known as factions or tendencies,[3][4] are ginger groups, caucuses or alliances made up of members of Parliament (MPs) and peers with shared goals or beliefs who work together in their party to pressure or influence the party leadership, or to influence the party's policy platform, in order to advance their political goals.[3][5][6] Groups may take the form of regional groups, subject groups or research groups, and are united by an ideological or political goal. They are not formally recognised by Parliament and are not to be confused with all-party parliamentary groups, which are non-partisan with members from several parties.[7] Examples of political groups are the Socialist Campaign Group, which promotes left-wing democratic socialism in the Labour Party, and Labour Friends of Israel, which promotes support for Israel in Labour, while an example of an all-party parliamentary group is the Parliamentary Black Caucus, which works on a non-partisan, cross-party basis to promote the black community in Parliament.[8][9]

Political scientists draw upon the work of the political scientist Richard Rose (pictured), who first defined factions and tendencies in 1964

Political scientists further distinguish between factions and tendencies based on the work of the political scientist Richard Rose, who first defined the two types of group in 1964.[10][4] He defined factions as organised and sustained intra-party groups of MPs, united under a strong, disciplined and cohesive organisational structure, which aim to further a wide range of ideologically influenced policies in their party through "consciously organised political activity".[4][11][10] Rose defined tendencies as intra-party ginger groups or alliances which, unlike factions, are loosely organised, have a largely amorphous membership, and tend to focus on a single issue.[11][4] Although united around an ideological or political position, tendencies do not have the discipline, organisation and collective cohesion of a faction.[10]

Britain's two-party system has perpetuated this system of political groups, as the two dominant Labour and Conservative parties have traditionally acted as "broad churches" with a wide range of opinions and beliefs to widen their appeal under the first-past-the-post electoral system. As a result, the two parties have contained ideologically diverse memberships, which has led to common disagreements between their members, who may organise in factions and tendencies to compete for power in the party to further their political goals.[7]

History

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Historically, political parties in the United Kingdom were decentralised, with no formal leader or party platform. Politicians and voters usually aligned themselves with smaller factions within a party rather than the party as a whole.[12] A formalisation of political parties occurred in the 1800s, with the Whigs turning into the Liberal Party and the Tories turning into the Conservative Party, the two main parties in Britain's two-party system until the 20th century.[13] In the 19th century, both parties would experience rebellions by intra-party factions, such as the Peelites who split from the Conservatives in 1846 and the Liberal Unionists who split from the Liberals in 1886.[14] Factionalism also emerged in Ireland, which was ruled by Britain at the time, with the Irish nationalist Young Ireland group breaking away from the Irish nationalist Repeal Association.[15]

Going into the 20th century, factionalism continued to encourage splits within British parties. The expansion of voting rights and the emergence of socialist parties encouraged further intra-party infighting between groups.[14] The Labour Party, which superseded the Liberal Party in Britain's two-party system in the 1920s, was split from its formative years on its interpretation of socialism and its commitment to nationalisation between two main tendencies, the more radical Labour left which included Marxists, communists and progressives who supported a controlled economy on the Soviet model and the more moderate Labour right which included trade unionists and social democrats who supported gradual reforms to capitalism with a somewhat limited role for state intervention.[16] In the 1930s, the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties remained split along factional lines, with the Conservatives divided between factions which opposed state intervention and supported free-market economics and factions which supported a mixed economy with welfare.[16] The Liberals, meanwhile, split over the adoption of a social democratic platform.[16]

List of current groups

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Below is a list of notable current political groups of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the 2024 general election. Groups are listed by party and also include their number of members out of the wider parliamentary party in brackets if known. As of 2025, the largest group is the Tribune Group of soft left Labour MPs.

Labour Party

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Conservative Party

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The groups active in the Parliamentary Conservative Party since the 2024 general election are as follows:[17]

References

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  1. ^ Baggott, Rob (1995). Pressure Groups Today. Manchester University Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-7190-3579-1. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Breaking the Political Mould: a new 18th-century political party". The History of Parliament. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b Watts, Duncan (2012). British Government and Politics: A Comparative Guide. Edinburgh University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-7486-4455-1. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Rose, Richard (1964). "Parties, Factions and Tendencies in Britain". Political Studies. 12 (1): 33–46. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1964.tb00609.x. ISSN 0032-3217. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  5. ^ Wilson, Christopher (2003). Understanding A/S Level Government Politics. Manchester University Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-7190-6081-6. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  6. ^ Ghosh, Sunanda (1991). Parliament and Information Flow: A Study of the Lok Sabha. Uppal Publishing House. p. 64. ISBN 978-81-85024-98-1. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b Davis, David (1989). The BBC Viewer's Guide to Parliament. BBC Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-563-20800-6. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  8. ^ Heppell, Tim; Roe-Crines, Andrew; Jeffery, David (31 May 2021). "Selecting Starmer: The Nomination Preferences of Labour Parliamentarians in the 2020 Labour Party Leadership Election". Journal of Representative Democracy. 58. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  9. ^ Belton, Brian (2007). Black Routes: Legacy of African Diaspora. Hansib Pub. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-870518-92-5. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Bale, Tim (28 October 2020). "Northern Research Group: faction or tendency?". UK in a Changing Europe. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  11. ^ a b Bale, Tim (30 March 2023). "Rebels with a cause: Backbench groups in the parliamentary Conservative Party". Hansard Society. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Breaking the Political Mould: a new 18th-century political party". The History of Parliament. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  13. ^ Kłos, Jan (2023). Truth and Responsibility: A Personalist Reading of Newman. BRILL. p. 49. ISBN 978-90-04-68281-8. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  14. ^ a b Ceron, Andrea (2019). Leaders, Factions and the Game of Intra-Party Politics. Routledge. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1-351-37770-6. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  15. ^ Kinealy, Christine (2013). Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland: The Kindness of Strangers. A&C Black. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-4411-1758-8. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Cox, Andrew (2002). Adversary Politics and Land: The Conflict Over Land and Property Policy in Post-War Britain. Cambridge University Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-521-52641-8. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  17. ^ Jeffery, David (17 July 2024). "Who's left? The composition of the new parliamentary Conservative Party". UK in a Changing Europe. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
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