With the political opinion polls showing that a hung parliament is a near certainty after the election, the UK’s minor parties are enjoying unprecedented attention from the media and voters alike. Each of the parties is making the most of the limelight, touting policies designed to lure voters away from the Conservatives and/or Labour.
Whilst the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the DUP are presenting themselves as equidistant from both of the two main parties, most of the other minor parties are primarily targeting Labour-leaning voters. In the case of the SDLP, the party already has a relationship with Labour so it would realistically be expected to provide its support for Ed Miliband. Such is the ideological outlook of their potential pools of voters that the SNP, Plaid and Greens have all ruled out doing any post-election deal with the Conservatives. In doing so they appear to have learnt a lesson from the Liberal Democrats - they know that their constituents don’t want to vote for a broadly left-wing party only for them to assist a right-wing party to enter into government.
However, in addition to maximising their vote, minor parties have a second, often contradictory, objective to pursue: to maximise their influence in the subsequent parliament, allowing them to deliver as many policies for their voters as possible. By ruling out a deal with the Conservatives the SNP, Plaid and Greens have shown their cards - albeit cards that many suspected they held anyway. In 2010 the Liberal Democrats began to negotiate with a Labour team mid-way through their discussions with the Conservatives in order to secure further concessions from the latter. The left-leaning minor parties will enjoy no such advantage after May 7th.
.jpg)
Indeed, by ruling out the possibility of supporting a Conservative government these parties have significantly strengthened Ed Miliband’s hand. Miliband may choose to concede certain policies after the election, but he could now find it easier to deny the left-wing minor parties everything they want and effectively dare them to bring down a Labour government and let a Conservative government in ‘through the back door’. The decision by the Greens, SNP and Plaid to act as a bloc may in fact make it easier for Miliband to force them into submission on votes of confidence.
While their voters may reward the left-wing parties’ intentions in this election, those same parties may find they cannot deliver enough to satisfy their voters in the next election.