Why Does Tradition Play Much Too Big A Part In British Politics?

It depends on which traditions you mean, and what is meant by "much too big a part."

A lot of the odder British political traditions - posts like "father of the house" for instance, and more seriously the whole institution of the House of Lords - have probably survived as long as they have partly because of a typically British outlook. This is best summed up by the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - in other words, the British generally have no interest in reforming any tradition or institution, however illogical or downright silly, as long as it more or less does its job.

The House of Lords, for instance, was clearly ridiculous in its original form (it has recently been reformed, of course, but it's too soon to say how much good the reforms will do.) Nevertheless people put up with it - and all its weird customs like the Lord Chancellor sitting on the Woolsack - because in its undemocratic way it did often serve the cause of democracy, putting a check on the actions of the government of the day.

The other reason is that, like island people everywhere, the Britsh tend to be conservative.

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