The Development Of Unipted Kingdom Independence Party And Its Impact On Traditional Party Politics

There is no doubt that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) has become a very important political strength in the current British political circle, which has brought great pressure to the traditional mainstreamparties, such as the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Obviously, the Liberal Democrats Party declined in the competition with the UKIP. Whether or not the rise of the UKIP would change Britain’s political landscape? What effect the new rising party will bring to British traditional party politics? This paper starts with the historical evolution and the reason why the UKIP has risen rapidly and emphatically analyzes its impact on British traditional party politics.This paper is divided into four parts. The first part introduces briefly the historical development of the UKIP. According to the position and function in the British party politics, the history of UKIP can be divided into three stages:the UKIP experiences slow development from1993to2003. At that time, the influence of UKIP was limited and confronted with many problems in face of it. From2004to2013it witnessed an upward trend, in which the UKIP became stronger. It won a considerable number of seats in the European Parliament. A breakthrough came out in the year of2014. In this year, the UKIP became the largest party in the European Parliament of England and even defeated the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. From then on, the UKIP has become a powerful force, which has caused great pressure on traditional parties.The second part will focus on the four reasons for the UKIP to rise. Firstly, the trend of Euroscepticism among British people provided the conditions for the development of the UKIP. Secondly, the UK experienced a slump in its economic performance, which spurred the public’s resentment. As a way to let out their dissatisfaction, they voted to the UKIP. What is more, the general rise of the European far right parties provided a favorable external environment for the development of the UKIP. Finally, the effective strategic choice of the party helped itself become stronger. The achievement which the UKIP got was partly based on its clear self-position and policies it had. The third part of this paper mainly introduces the political, economic and social policies of the UKIP.The rise of the UKIP has partly affected the traditional two-party system in Britain. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the paper concludes that the rise of the independence party is likely to change Britain’s political landscape, but it is still unable to shake the traditional British political system. After solving some problems, the UKIP will achieve greater development.