‘Third’ and Fringe Parties

This chapter considers some of the varieties of the minor party from the origins of the modern party system in the mid-nineteenth century. It considers the wider effects which can sometimes be traced to even the also-rans among them and concludes by evaluating the issues raised by the extensive historical literatures devoted to Britain’s far-left and far-right parties. The histories of both may be regarded as instances of relative party failure, but both have occasioned much fruitful debate as to how far this demonstrated their alien and extrinsic political character and how far, conversely, these were movements anchored in British political culture. It argues that the Communist Party of Great Britain, in particular, encapsulates the paradox of the minor party phenomenon. Like the other parties considered, it offers both the confirmation of a sort of two-party electoral hegemony and a reminder of its limitations in everything except elections.