In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party. For instance, in the United Kingdom a third party is a national political party other than the Conservatives and Labour which has a member(s) in the House of Commons.

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  • In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party. For instance, in the United Kingdom a third party is a national political party other than the Conservatives and Labour which has a member(s) in the House of Commons. It is currently generally used there for the Liberal Democrats. In the United States of America, there have been numerous "third parties": see Third party (United States). The term "third parties" is used mostly in countries with first past the post electoral systems, as those systems tend to create a two-party system, so that successful smaller parties are rare. Countries using proportional representation give little advantage to the largest two parties, so they tend to elect many parties. Therefore, in those countries, three, four, or more political parties are usually elected to legislatures. Consequently, coalitions, including some smaller parties, are common in the legislatures of such countries. The public in those countries tends to see all parties as being in the same category, as opposed to the idea in two-party countries that there are major parties, which are "serious", and there are other parties, which are to be ignored, scorned, or blamed. In some categorizations, a party needs to have a certain level of success to be considered a third party. Smaller parties that win only a very small share of the vote and no seats in the legislature often are termed minor or fringe parties.
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  • In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party. For instance, in the United Kingdom a third party is a national political party other than the Conservatives and Labour which has a member(s) in the House of Commons.
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  • Third party (politics)
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