Farage’s party has benefited this time as voters flee the main parties, but there are faultlines within its own coalition tooLocal elections: full mayoral and council resultsFragmentation in British politics is not new. Disillusionment with the choices on offer is not new. The two-party share of the vote has been below 70% in four of the last six elections. Six months before the 2019 general election the Brexit party topped the EU election results with the Liberal Democrats in second. The 2024 general election had the lowest two-party share in the modern-party system.What is driving this change? Political scientists talk about the demand and supply sides of electoral politics. The voters are the demand side, what types of parties and positions they want to vote for. They do not always get their wish. Who appears on the ballot paper is the supply side of the electoral equation. Increasingly, it is everyone.Professor Paula Surridge is deputy director at UK in a Changing Europe and professor of political sociology at the University of Bristol Continue reading...