The role of the pressure group has been important in the British political system.
The main characteristics of pressure groups in the United Kingdom political system are as follows:
(i) In Britain, pressure groups are not viewed with suspicion. It wants to keep itself away from political disguise. Here pressure groups are considered an essential part of the political process. Unitary system Due to the supremacy of Parliament and the method of parliamentary governance, political culture in Britain remains wrapped up in pressure groups. Therefore, the role of pressure groups is considered to be complementary to the political system here.
(ii) Britain’s pressure groups are unable to play a fundamental role in political nature compared to the US. They do not get the opportunity to fill political vacancies.
(iii) In Britain, the pressures do very limited work to present the investment of demands in the political system. Political parties have a special status in parliamentary governance. The ups and downs of governments play a major role in the ups and downs of political parties. Therefore, in such a system, only the political parties complete the special presentation in the system.
(iv) In Britain, the public is very much interested in politics. Therefore, pressure groups here do not play any special role in making the citizens a concomitant of the political process, as well as political parties in Britain also do this.
(v) The formation of an institutional pressure group in the UK has not achieved particular prominence compared to the US.
The rise of a politically motivated group in Great Britain is not new. In the first half of the 19th century, many pressure groups were active in British politics, but due to their abundant abundance, modern governance has to be expanded in social and economic fields. Therefore, groups have been specially organized which continue to influence the government in their own interest. Although it is difficult to classify such groups and their activities. Nevertheless, the largest number of interest groups pertains to economic interests. Among economic groups, interest groups such as trade unions, Chamber of Commerce have been specially formed. There are also many pressure groups that are interested in local governance. The best example of this is The Association of Municipal Corporation. The British Legians are there to represent the interests of ex-servicemen. There are also some philanthropic and reformist pressure groups, like -Royal Society for the prevention of the cruelty of animals, Proportional representation of society. And so on.
Samuel H. Bear says, the working party also plays the role of pressure groups and many pressure groups have contributed to making it active as well. Hence Lobour Party is called a composite organization of several pressure groups. The Confederation of British Industries has also played an important role in various pressure groups.
Apart from this, there are also groups of people engaged in various occupations. For example, the name of British Medical Association, National Union of Teachers, National and Local Government Officers Association etc. can be taken specifically. It is thus clear that here too many pressure groups are playing an important role in politics.