A Fractured Polity? British Politics after the 2024 Election
Sir John Curtis is a well know political researcher and commentator, with a particular interest in electoral behaviour. He is an especially familiar figure during UK general elections. In this lecture he will assess the prospects for the two-party system, which has long presided in the UK Parliament, in the wake of the 2024 election. He will assess the short-term and the longer-term forces that help explain why both the Conservatives and Labour won so few votes. He will also assess why third parties were able to buck an electoral system that is meant to limit their representation.
Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow 223rd Annual Lecture Series
Date: Wednesday 11 December 2024
Time: 19:30 - 21:00
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Building LT 201
Category: Public lectures
Speaker: Professor Sir John Curtice, University of Strathclyde
Website: www.royalphil.org/
Sir John Curtice is Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Fellow, Scottish Centre for Social Research and ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’. He is particularly interested in electoral behaviour, and in researching political and social attitudes. He is a regular media commentator on British and Scottish politics.
The UK has long had a two-party system in which seats and votes have been dominated by the Conservatives and Labour. However, for the first time, as many as five parties fought most of the seats in Great Britain in 2024. More third-party MPs were elected than at any election since 1923. Meanwhile, the share of the vote won by the Conservatives and Labour combined fell to its lowest level since 1922, the first election at which Labour emerged as the principal challengers to the Conservatives. What does this tell us and where does it leave us?