104UK-4-2._Government_and_the_Commonwealth(终).ppt

3.3 The Liberal Democrats自由民主党 The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centrist/centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger(合并) of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party（SDP）; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of the SDP. The partys leader is Nick Clegg. The Lib Dems are the third-largest party in the UK Parliament, behind Labour and the Conservatives. Promoting social liberalism, Lib Dems seek to minimise state intervention in personal affairs: they oppose what they call the nanny state. They support multilateral foreign policy; they opposed British participation in the War in Iraq and support withdrawal of troops from the country, and are the most pro-EU of the three main parties in the UK. The party has strong environmentalist values – favouring renewable energy and commitments to deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Since their foundation, Lib Dems have advocated electoral reform to use proportional representation (a system which would increase their number of seats), replacing the House of Lords with an elected chamber, and cutting government departments. 4. Elections in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom has five types of election: UK general elections, elections to national/regional parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are traditionally held on Thursdays. General elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations. Six different electoral systems are currently used: single member plurality system多数票制(First Past the Post), multi member plurality system, 集团投票制 Party list, 政党排名表proportional representation (PR