Vocabulary

Major parties in the House of Commons

Complete the following text with the words and phrases from the box.

Think of the General Election in your country. Compare it with General Election in Great Britain and find differences and similarities between them.

constituency private sector opposition inflation   unemployment general election manifesto

1)The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary…

2)A…takes place every five years.

3)Before an election, each party prepares a…which outlines their policies.

4)An important Conservative policy was the return of state industries to the…

5)During the period of Conservative government,…fell to 4%.

6)However, …continued to be high.

7)While the Conservatives were in power, Labour formed the official Opposition.

1.Think of the meaning of the word “party” and try to explain it. What main political parties in your country can you name? Which of them is currently the leading one? What party would you vote for at General Election and why?

free enterprise [ˈentəpraɪz]	свободное предпринимательство
private ownership[’praɪvɪt] [ˈəʊnəʃɪp]	частная собственность
to lead-led-led	возглавлять, руководить
to flourish [’flʌrɪʃ]	процветать
at the expense [ɪk’spens]	за счет
to subordinate [səˈbɔːdɪneɪt]	подчинять
an alliance [ə’laɪəns]	союз
be eager for [’i:gər]	жаждать, стремиться

2.Read and translate the text:

The main parties in the UK are the Conservative party (right wing), the Labour party (left wing) and the Liberal Democrats (centre).

The Conservative party goes back to the Tories, who originated in King’s Charles’ reign (1660-1685). The Tories were the party that supported Church and King. The other main party at that time were the Whigs, who were a group eager for political reform.

The Conservative Party was founded in 1834, and was one of two dominant parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party. The Conservative party believes in free enterprise and the importance of a capitalist economy, with private ownership preferred to state control. Conservative prime ministers led governments for 57 years of the 20th century, including Winston Churchill (1940–45, 1951–55) and Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) and the current Prime Minister David Cameron who assumed his office on May 11, 2010.

The Independent Labour Party was founded in 1893. The Labour party believes that private ownership and enterprise should be allowed to flourish, but not at the expense of their traditional support of the public services.

Since 1868 there has been a Liberal Party in Great Britain, when the name was adopted by the Whig party. The Whig party was formed after the revolution of 1688 and aimed to subordinate the power of the Crown to that of Parliament and the upper class.

The Liberal Democrats are the alliance of the Social Democratic party and the Liberal Party. The Liberal Democrats believe that the state should have some control over the economy, but that there should be individual ownership.

3.Answer the following questions:

1.What are the origins of the main political parties in Great Britain?

2.What political priorities do the main political parties in Britain have?

3.If you were a British voter, which party would you vote for and why?

4.What do the following numbers from the text mean?: 1843, 1688, 1868, 1951-55, 1660-1685, 57, 1940-45, 1979-90, 2010.

5.Case study: In groups of 5-6 students think of a party you could organize. Name this party, think of its emblem and choose the leader of your party. State some of the problems you want to figure out as members of this party.

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