What is first-past-the-post?
Each party nominates one candidate per constituency and the voter chooses the candidate they want only. Party candidate with most votes (not majority) in constituency wins a seat in the House of Commons for the constituency. Party with majority of seats (or most) wins the election.
What are the advantages of First-Past-The-Post?
- Easy, just tick a box
- Usually produces a clear outcome (2010 only coalition since 1945 Churchill’s war ministry)
- Screens out extremist parties as needs localised support (something that parties like the BNP struggled with)
- Creates direct link between local area and MP
What are the disadvantages of First-Past-The-System?
- Winning party can get a relatively very small amount of the popular vote but still win a majority in the HoC (e.g. in 2005 Blair had 35.2% of popular vote but still had a 66 seat majority)
- Forces the voter to vote tactically on many occasions so people don’t vote for who they really want
- Smaller parties (even Lib Dems) struggle to win seats as it requires very localised support
What referendum was held on First-Past-The-Post? When? What outcome?
- Referendum to replace FPTP with the ‘Alternative vote’ system
- 2011 (was part of the coalition agreement between Tories and Lib Dems)
- Defeated 69% to 31%
How does the ‘Alternative Vote’ work?
1) Voter ranks candidates in order of choice
2) If a candidate gets over 50% first choice votes they are elected
3) If no candidate reaches 50% then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and their second choice preferences are distributed to the other candidates.
4) Process repeats until one candidate reaches 50% (a majority)
When is ‘Alternative Vote’ used in the UK?
- London Mayoral Elections
- Major party leader elections
How does the ‘Single Transferable Vote’ (STV) system work?
Requires multi-member constituencies and parties field the maximum number of candidates they think can get elected.
1) Voters rank candidates in order of choice
2) First around votes are counted and then a quota is set (Quota = Number of votes/Number of seats in Constituency + 1)
3) If a candidate gets over the quota they are elected and their surplus votes are distributed based on second choice preference
4) If the second person is not above the quota then the bottom choice is eliminated and their preference votes are distributed
5) Finished when all seats are filled (if taken to last round the candidate nearest to the quota wins even if they don’t reach it)
Where in the UK is the STV used?
- All Northern Irish elections (except UK general election)
- Used in Scottish council elections
Why could AV and STV be beneficial?
- Arguably much fairer
- No tactical voting and gives voter more choice as to who they truly want to vote for
- Helps smaller parties that sometimes struggle with localised support
What did Labour do in 1997?
It introduced devolution for Sco, Wal, NI and London and so they all had their own assemblies/gov’ts. Big cities also got their own Mayors.
What is the Additional Member system? How does it work in Scotland?
When the voter votes for two different candidates. E.g. in Scotland, the voter votes for a local member by FPTP, the other is a regional list party vote where a voter votes for just a party. 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the FPTP system. A further 56 are returned from 8 additional member regions, each electing 7 MSPs.
Where (other than Scotland) uses the additional member system?
- Wales
- Greater London assembly
How has FPTP survived in Westminister when it most of Western Europe uses different systems?
- It produces outcomes that support the two major parties that have monopolised government since 1945
- Familiar to British public and really easy to use
Why was Additional Member System for the devolved governments and assemblies?
- Less of a radical change than STV would’ve brought
- Reflects greater population whilst also retaining an element of geographical representation
- Labour thought it would help them dominate the Scottish Parliament (true up to 2007)
Why was STV adopted for NI?
Highly proportional and limits chance of single-party domination which would damage the fragile peace between Catholic Nationalist and Protestant Unionist agreements due to the Good Friday Agreement. STV should ensure that Stormont is a power sharing body drawn from both sides of the divide.
When was the first referendum held in the UK?
1975
When have referendums been more frequently used since?
1997
What were the 2 major referendum case studies?
- 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum (voted no 55.3%)
- 2016 Brexit Referendum (voted leave 51.9%)
What are the largest parties in UK parliament (FPTP)?
Conservative 359 Labour 199 SNP 45 Lib Dem 13 DUP 8 and Sinn Fein 7 Independent 7 4 parties all have 2 or less MPs
Who are the biggest 3 parties in Scottish Parliament (AMS)?
SNP 64
Conservative 31
Labour 22
Who are the biggest 3 parties in terms of Scottish constituencies in UK parliament (FPTP)?
SNP 48
Conservative 6
Lib Dem 4
Who are the biggest 2 parties in England (FPTP)?
Conservatives and Labour
Who are the 3 biggest parties in the Welsh Senedd? (AMS)
Welsh Labour 30
Conservatives 16
Plaid Cymru 13
Who are the biggest 3 parties in terms of Welsh constituencies in UK parliament (FPTP)?
Labour 22
Conservatives 8
Plaid Cymru 4
