Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

===Membership===

All political parties have membership schemes that allow members of the public to actively influence the policy and direction of the party to varying degrees, though particularly at a local level. Membership of British political parties is around 1% of the British electorate,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/06/british-democracy-decline-report|title=British democracy in terminal decline, warns report|date=6 July 2012|website=The Guardian}}</ref> which is lower than in all European countries except for Poland and Latvia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9555528/Our-politics-is-bursting-with-life-its-the-parties-that-are-dying.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9555528/Our-politics-is-bursting-with-life-its-the-parties-that-are-dying.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Our politics is bursting with life – it's the parties that are dying|website=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 September 2012 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Overall membership to a political party has been in decline since the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-12934148|title=Can UK political parties be saved from extinction?|publisher=BBC News |date=19 August 2011}}</ref> In 1951, the Conservative Party had 2.2 million members, and a year later in 1952 the Labour Party reached their peak of 1 million members (of an electorate of around 34 million).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN05125.pdf|title=Parliament UK – Membership of British Political Parties}}</ref>

The table below details the membership numbers of political parties that have more than 5,000 members.

<!-------  ***********************************THIS TABLE IS FOR PARTIES THAT HAVE MORE THAN 5,000 MEMBERS ONLY. THE SOURCE MUST BE FROM A REPUTABLE NEWS ARTICLE OR FROM AN OFFICIAL PARTY WEBSITE. SOCIAL MEDIA (Twitter etc) SOURCES *CANNOT* BE CITED.************************** ------->
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"	
|-
! Party !! Members !! Date !! Regions served
|-
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] || 309,000<ref name="Membership, February 2025">{{cite news |url= https://news.sky.com/story/nigel-farage-claims-reform-uk-has-200-000-members-and-has-warning-for-labour-13306272|title=Nigel Farage claims Reform UK has 200,000 members and has warning for Labour|work=[[Sky News]] |date=9 February 2025 |access-date=9 February 2025}}</ref>|| February 2025 || UK
|-
| [[Reform UK]]||  220,000<ref>{{cite news |last= Francis |first= Sam |date= 28 March 2025 |title= Reform UK launches 'most ambitious' local election campaign |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62z28n5nxeo |work= BBC News |access-date= 30 March 2025}}</ref>|| March 2025 || UK
|- 
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] || 131,680<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date= 2 November 2024 |title=Kemi Badenoch wins Tory leadership election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/nov/02/kemi-badenoch-wins-tory-leadership-election |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> || November 2024 || UK
|-
| [[Liberal Democrat (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] || 90,000<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.libdems.org.uk/ |title= Liberal Democrats website |date= 29 April 2023 |website= libdems.org.uk |access-date= 12 July 2023}}</ref> || 2023 || UK
|-
| [[Green Party of England and Wales]] || 60,000<ref>{{cite web |title= Become a member |url= https://join.greenparty.org.uk/ |website= greenparty.org.uk |publisher= Green Party of England and Wales |access-date= 22 March 2025 |quote= By joining the Green Party today, you are becoming part of a Green community of over 60,000 members working together to create a fairer, greener future.}}</ref>|| July 2024 || England and Wales
|-
| [[Scottish National Party]] || 58,940<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-27 |title=SNP membership drops again as size of fall revealed |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/snp-membership-drops-again-as-size-of-fall-revealed-5011099 |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=The Scotsman |language=en}}</ref> || December 2024 || Scotland
|-
| [[Co-operative Party]]|| 13,194<ref>{{cite web |url= https://party.coop/publication/board-report-2022 |title= BOARD REPORT & ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2022 |date= 19 September 2024 |website= Co-operative Party |access-date= 22 September 2024}}</ref> || 2022 || UK
|-
| [[Plaid Cymru]] || 10,000<ref>{{cite web |url= https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05125/SN05125.pdf |title= Membership of political parties in Great Britain |first1= Matthew |last1= Burton |first2= Richard |last2= Tunnicliffe |date= 30 August 2022 |website= UK Parliament House of Commons Library |access-date= 18 September 2022}}</ref> || 2022 || Wales
|-
| [[Scottish Greens]] || 7,646<ref name="Conor Matchett">{{Cite tweet |author=Conor Matchett |user=conor_matchett |number=1650490185350623235 |title=Scottish Greens state their membership stands at 7,646 |access-date=24 April 2023}}</ref> ||2023|| Scotland
|-
| [[Alba Party]] || 7,475<ref>{{cite web |url=https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Api/Accounts/Documents/25309 |title= ALBA PARTY Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2022 |date= 31 December 2022 |website= electoralcommission.org.uk |access-date= 22 September 2024}}</ref> || 2023 || Scotland
|-
| [[Workers Party of Britain]] || 7,469<ref name="Anon. t260">{{cite web |title=Workers Party GB Annual Report 2024 |url= https://workerspartybritain.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-Congress-A4-layout_FINAL.pdf |access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref> ||January 2025|| UK
|}
<!-------  ***********************************THIS TABLE ABOVE IS FOR PARTIES THAT HAVE MORE THAN 5,000 MEMBERS ONLY. THE SOURCE MUST BE FROM A REPUTABLE NEWS ARTICLE OR FROM AN OFFICIAL PARTY WEBSITE. SOCIAL MEDIA (Twitter etc) SOURCES *CANNOT* BE CITED.************************** ------->

No data could be collected for the four parties of Northern Ireland: the DUP, UUP, SDLP, and Sinn Féin. However, in January 1997, it was estimated that the UUP had 10,000 – 12,000 members, and the DUP had 5,000 members.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeqNAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA262|title=British Elections and Parties Review|first1=David|last1=Denver|first2=Justin|last2=Fisher|first3=Steve|last3=Ludlam|first4=Charles|last4=Pattie|date=18 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135255787|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In December 2020, the [[UK Independence Party]] had 3,888 members.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Api/Accounts/Documents/23513 |title= United Kingdom Independence Party Limited (a company limited by guarantee) report and accounts 31 December 2020 |date= 31 December 2020 |website= The Electoral Commission |access-date= 19 October 2021}}</ref>