Elections and Voting

The ‘first past the post’ electoral system is used for the House of Commons and also for local elections. This system has a number of features. These include the following. First, the country is divided into a collection of single-member constituencies, usually of equal size (there are 646 in parliamentary elections). Second, voters select a single candidate, marking his or her name with a cross on the ballot paper (there is no preferential voting). Third, the winning candidate needs only to achieve a plurality of votes. A plurality is the largest number out of a collection of numbers, not necessarily an overall majority. This is the ‘first past the post’ rule, and it ensures a winner-takes-all outcome. 

Four other electoral systems are used in the UK. These are the Additional Member System (AMS), used for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Greater London Assembly; the Single Transferable Vote system (STV), used for the Northern Ireland Assembly; the ‘closed’ regional party list system, used for the European Parliament; and the Supplementary Vote (SV), used for the London mayor. AMS is a hybrid system, incorporating features from the ‘first past the post’ and party list systems. The balance between these differs in different parts of the UK and the regional or party list is used ‘correctively’ to deliver more proportional outcomes. STV is based on preferential voting, multimember constituencies and the use of a quota. The party list system allows the public to vote for parties, not candidates, and allocates seats from ‘closed’ party lists on a proportional basis. SV is a revised version of the alternative votes that allows votes to express a first and second preference and ensures that the winning candidate achieves at least 50% of the vote. 

A variety of criticisms have been of the Westminster electoral system. These include the following. The system has been seen as a device for keeping major parties in power, in that it systematically ‘over-represents’ large parties and parties with geographically concentrated electoral support (the Labour and Conservative Parties). It has therefore sustained a duopolistic party system that has excluded other parties from power since 1945. Similarly, small parties and ones with geographically evenly distributed support are systematically 'under-represented' (the Liberal Democrats etc). In addition, governments are regularly elected with fewer that 50% of the popular vote, and the system can have seemingly random outcomes (large majorities for parties with les than 40% of the vote. On the other hand, supporters of the system highlight its benefits. These include the following. FPTP ensures mandate democracy, in that the winning party has the opportunity to carry out its election manifesto (unlike PR systems, which result in coalition governments). It provides the electorate with a clear choice of potential parties of government. It ensures strong and stable government, because governments have a majority control of the House of Commons, and so can carry though their policy programme and (usually) remain in power for a full term. 

The AMS system is a ‘hybrid’ voting system. It is a combination of FPTP (first past the post) with the regional party list system. A plurality and a proportional combination. The electorate make two choices when they vote, one for the candidate in their constituency the other from the party list. This produces two types of representative one local and one regional (multi-member constituencies).The party-list element is used to ‘top up’ the constituency vote. It is used correctively to achieve a more proportional outcome using the D’Hondt method. In Scotland and London 56% of seats are filled by FPTP; in Wales this is 67%. 

It has meant that a wider and more diverse range of political parties have been elected than under FPTP. This has meant that more political parties have enjoyed administrative power such as the Liberal Democrats who formerly shared power in the Scottish parliament with Labour. The above introduces the fact that single party majorities are highly unlikely with AMS. It has reduced the dominance of the Labour Party in both Wales and Scotland. It has not become the automatic or ‘natural’ party of government. It has revived and enhanced the fortunes of the nationalist parties Plaid Cymru and the SNP. It has revived and enhanced the representation of the Liberal Democrats. It has enhanced the representation of the Green Party. It has allowed for minor party representation such as the Scottish Socialist parties in Scotland. It had revived and increased representation for the Conservative Party in Scotland especially but also in Wales.