UK political parties on the political compass (2024)
Where Labour, the Conservatives, Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru stand on the economic and social axes, using 2024 expert survey data.
Written by Ottavio Malatacca · Updated
- Radical right
- Conservative
- Liberal
- Socialist
- Green
- Regionalist
Reading the map
Labour won the 2024 general election from a position the experts place left of centre on both axes (−2.8, −3.3), but with an unusual amount of ambiguity. On the 0–10 scale of how blurred a party's stance is, Labour scores 5.5 on economics and 5.3 on social questions; no other party in the five countries on this site is rated as vague on social and cultural issues.
On the right, Reform UK (+6.8, +8.2) sits beyond the Conservatives (+4.9, +4.3) on both axes, and it is the most opposed to European integration of all 50 parties (1.0 on CHES's 1–7 scale). The Conservatives (1.8) are not far behind.
The Liberal Democrats are close to Labour on economics (−1.4) but much more socially liberal (−6.5). The Greens are furthest to the left (−5.8, −7.1), and the SNP and Plaid Cymru sit near Labour on both axes, slightly further left.
Climate policy is where Reform stands furthest from the others: 8.2 towards growth first, against 0.2 for the Greens and 2.1 for the Liberal Democrats. The survey covers the seven parties listed here; Northern Ireland's parties are not included.
Every party, by the numbers
| Party | Family | Vote 2024 | Economic | Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lab · Labour Party |
Socialist | 33.7% | −2.8 | −3.3 |
Con · Conservative Party |
Conservative | 23.7% | +4.9 | +4.3 |
Reform · Reform UK |
Radical right | 14.3% | +6.8 | +8.2 |
LD · Liberal Democrats |
Liberal | 12.2% | −1.4 | −6.5 |
Green · Green Party of England and Wales |
Green | 6.4% | −5.8 | −7.1 |
SNP · Scottish National Party |
Regionalist | 2.5% | −3.8 | −4.4 |
Plaid · Plaid Cymru |
Regionalist | 0.7% | −4.2 | −3.1 |
Economic: −10 left, +10 right. Social: −10 libertarian, +10 authoritarian. A dash means the dataset records no vote share for that election.
Where they stand on specific issues
Expert ratings on CHES's own scales: 0 to 10, except European integration, which runs from 1 to 7. The bar shows how far along the scale each party sits.
| Party | EU integration | Redistribution | Services vs taxes | Immigration | Climate policy | LGBTQ+ rights | Civil liberties vs law and order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lab | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 4.6 |
| Con | 1.8 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 8.3 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 7.5 |
| Reform | 1.0 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 9.7 |
| LD | 5.8 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 2.0 |
| Green | 6.2 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| SNP | 6.4 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 4.3 |
| Plaid | 6.2 | 3.2 | — | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
What the scales mean
- EU integration
- 1 strongly against → 7 strongly in favour
- Redistribution
- 0 strongly in favour → 10 strongly against
- Services vs taxes
- 0 improve public services → 10 cut taxes
- Immigration
- 0 liberal policy → 10 restrictive policy
- Climate policy
- 0 climate first, even at a cost to growth → 10 growth first
- LGBTQ+ rights
- 0 strongly supports → 10 strongly opposes
- Civil liberties vs law and order
- 0 civil liberties → 10 tough on crime
Where would you be on this map?
Take the 15-question test, then compare your result with these parties.
Take the test →How these positions were calculated
Source: Chapel Hill Expert Survey 2024 (Rovny et al., 2025). Conversion to the compass and commentary: PolitiCompass.