FPTP analysis

Total score: 10.5/20!

Proportionality/party representation

1/5 :(

• Fosters a 2 party system

• Isn’t proportional if party lacks regional concentration

• There aren’t any rewards for coming second

Examples:

1983- LibDems got 25.4% of the votes but 3.5% of the seats

1997- Labour got 43% of the votes and 63% of the seats

2015- UKIP got 4m votes, came 2nd in 120 constituencies and got 1 seat

2019- SNP got 50% of the votes yet 95% of the seats in Scotland

Voter choice

2/5

• Simple system

• Aspect of false choice and wasted vote

  • Tactical voting can remove voter choice, especially in marginal seats

  • No choice in safe seats

  • No rewards for coming 2nd

  • If you don’t vote for the winning party, your vote essentially did nothing

• Lots of parties on ballot but smaller parties have little opportunity to influence policy

• More choice in marginal seats, but only between main parties

Examples:

2010- Lab+Con got 65% of the vote, a post-war low

2017- Lab+Con got 83% of the vote, which is the biggest since 1970

Votes per seat is inversely proportional- the bigger the party, the fewer votes per seat

• Green - 485,951

• Labour - 23,622

Strong and stable govt

3.5/5

• Manifestos can be carried out due to the electoral mandate in a way they cannot in PR systems

• Majority control (caused by the winner’s bonus) allows for stability and easy passing of laws

  • Also causes tyranny of the majority

• Ideologically united parties/govts can stay in office for a full term

• Coalition govts often weak as have to have legislative support from 2 or more parties

Examples:

• Johnson ran a tyranny of the majority, with the PPE and partygate scandals

• Minority govts, such as Wilson 1974 and May 2017 were weak

• Most govts last a full term, and ideologically united ones such as Blair last even longer

  • On the other hand, May and Cameron’s ideologically divided govts did not last long

• The 2010 coalition was unstable

• Majorities have a huge effect, May and Johnson struggled to pass any legislation until Johnson gained the majority and managed to pass the Brexit bill

Constituency-voter link

4/5

• Visible channel of communication lost under PR

• MPs represent the interests of their constituents to the govt

• Transparency and accountability achieved

• Mandate democracy- govt confirms post if does well

• Not truly representative due to representation on plurality, not majority

Examples:

• Ellie Reeves sent a letter to her constituents post-3-day water outage to show her support and actions she took to get the water back

• Zarah Sultana and other MPs were suspended for supporting the abolition of the 2 child benefit cap

• Sultana has been outspoken about Gaza in support of her majority muslim constituency

• Zac Goldsmith, Tory MP, said he would stand down to protest the 3rd runway and did

• Nicky Morgan voted against gay marriage due to the views of her constituents despite that not aligning with her view or that of her party