| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
See: Third party (United States).
In Canada, a third party or third party status usually refers to a small political party that is not considered a contender for power but has representation in the provincial legislature or federal House of Commons. Most provinces in Canada have a two party system where there are two major political parties that alternate government or are considered contenders for government though the identity of these parties may change over time. Prior to the 1993 Canadian election the two major parties in the federal House of Commons were the Liberal Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (now part of the Conservative Party). The New Democratic Party of Canada (and its predecessor the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation) was the most durable third party. Provincially, however, the NDP has been one of the two major parties in the western provinces while the Liberals have been third parties at various times in those same provinces.
In the United Kingdom a third party is a national political party other than the ConservativesThe Conservative Party is the largest centre right political party in the United Kingdom. It is descended from the Tory Party and its members are still commonly referred to as Tories''. It votes with the European People's Party bloc in the European Parlia and LabourThe Labour Party is a centre- left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdom's three main political parties. Under its leader Tony Blair it won a landslide in the 1997 general election, and forme which has a substantial presence in the House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 659 members, who are known as "Members of Parliamen. It is currently generally used to refer to the Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats ("Lib Dems") are a social liberal political party based in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal Party and the short lived Social Democratic Party (the two parties had already been in an allian.
In a general sense, third party can mean an entity not affiliated with two or more sides in conflict, or who have formed a contract; thus one often sees a prohibition to do something "with any third party."
In business, a third party product is a product needed by the customer that comes from a company other than the seller.