The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and convention, operates as a unitary parliamentary democracy. A hereditary monarch, currently King Charles III, serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, currently Sir Keir Starmer since 2024, serves as the head of the elected government.
The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right-wing of the political spectrum. Following defeat by Labour in the 2024 general election, it is currently the second largest political party by the number of votes cast and number of seats in the House of Commons, followed by the Liberal Democrats. As the second largest party, it has the formal parliamentary role of the Official Opposition. It encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatives. There have been twenty Conservative prime ministers. The party traditionally holds the annual Conservative Party Conference during party conference season, at which senior Conservative figures promote party policy.
The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179-seat majority and a total of 419 seats.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule. The two parties formed the ten-year-long coalition Unionist Government 1895–1905 but kept separate political funds and their own party organisations until a complete merger between the Liberal Unionist and the Conservative parties was agreed to in May 1912.
SNP Students is the student wing of the Scottish National Party (SNP), representing students in Scottish higher education. It was formed in 1961 when various student organisations supportive of Scottish independence and the SNP in particular decided to join forces into a new constituent body.
The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 28 February 1974. The Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained 14 seats but was seventeen short of an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost 28 seats. That resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1929. Heath sought a coalition with the Liberals, but the two parties failed to come to an agreement and so Wilson became prime minister for a second time, his first with a minority government. Wilson called another early election in September, which was held in October and resulted in a Labour majority. The February election was also the first general election to be held with the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Communities (EC), which was widely known as the "Common Market".
Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger.
Young Liberals is the youth and student organisation of the British Liberal Democrats. Membership is automatic for members of the Liberal Democrats aged under 30. It organises a number of Fringe events at the Liberal Democrat Conference, which is held twice each year.
The Young Conservatives (YC) is the youth wing of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged 25 and under. The organisation shares the same values and policies as its parent political party with branches being an integrated part of local associations. College and university branches are not included, but run independently.
Unionism in Scotland is a political movement which favours the continuation of the political union between Scotland and the other countries of the United Kingdom, and hence is opposed to Scottish independence. Scotland is one of four countries of the United Kingdom which has its own devolved government and Scottish Parliament, as well as representation in the UK Parliament. There are many strands of political Unionism in Scotland, some of which have ties to Unionism and Loyalism in Northern Ireland. The two main political parties in the UK — the Conservatives and Labour — both support Scotland remaining part of the UK.
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and comprises 206 of Scotland's 1,226 local councillors.
Conservative Future Scotland (CFS) was the youth wing of the Scottish Conservative Party.
The Young Unionists, formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council (UYUC), is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance in Britain. It was originally launched for the 2010 general election.
Andrew Campbell Bowie is a Scottish Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine since 2017. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks from 2023 to 2024. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland since November 2024. He served as Shadow Veterans Minister and Shadow Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero from July to November 2024.
Stephen Charles Kerr is a Scottish Conservative & Unionist politician, currently serving as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland Region since 2021. From 2021 to 2022, Kerr served as the Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. Prior to his election to Holyrood, Kerr was the Member of Parliament for Stirling from 2017 to 2019.
Student wings of political parties in Scotland are university affiliated organisations of Scottish political parties, and therefore often mirror the policy direction of the larger party.
