Belize has a two-party system, which has been in place since the pre-independence 1974 election, consists of the centre-left People's United Party (PUP) and the centre-right United Democratic Party (UDP). It has been extremely difficult for anybody to achieve electoral success as an independent or under the banner of any other party. Philip Goldson, a longtime UDP area representative who ran under the National Alliance for Belizean Rights banner in 1993, is the only successful candidate outside the two major parties since independence.