Abstract
Although the British political system has traditionally been dominated by the ‘big three’ political parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat), de-alignment between social class and party identification and the recent electoral success of non-party, high-profile individuals in mayoral contests hint at a chink in the armour of party politics.
Berry likens this to climate change and global warming, suggesting that the melting of the hegemony of the ‘big three’ is indicative of a future in which people may start to view democracy as functioning ‘without the political party to aggregate societal interests’ (p. 1). Thus the scene is set for an entertaining (sometimes humorous) investigation of this ‘alternative politics’ involving interviews with prominent Independents, such as Martin Bell and Dai Davies, and case studies on the mayoral elections in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough (‘H'Angus the Monkey’ and ‘Robocop’ elected as Independent mayors, respectively). While Berry uses electoral data to support his case, he rightly observes that non-aligned politics is so diverse and multifaceted that it is often hidden in the aggregate data. It is also important to note that Berry's definition of Independent and non-aligned is not exclusive to non-party politicians, preferring to define them as not tied to a specific set of principles and being strongly attached to a specific geographical area.
Berry's main argument for non-aligned politicians is that they can have a dedicated local focus that national political parties simply cannot match. However, he also discusses the drawbacks of not being part of the party machine – lack of information, difficulty with strategic voting and the problem of getting seats on key committees. Thus while independence is to be celebrated, both parliamentary and local government are structured in favour of political party groupings. Does the Independent remain an individual and thus on the periphery or sacrifice true independence to pool resources? The argument is an interesting one, even if the answer is not clear and the one concern a reader might have stems from this: should minor parties and Independents be treated similarly (as Berry does) or is there a fundamental paradox in this approach?
In summary the book is an enjoyable empirical work written lucidly by an author with a clear interest in the topic. The case studies are historically detailed and the use of interview data to support the key arguments is competently handled; the book contributes to an area of party system literature that is currently underdeveloped – that of minor parties and Independents.