electoral reform needed essay plan

AGAINST electoral reform (keep FPTP)

FPTP ensures strong/stable gov

• ensures one party gets clear majority + a mandate

  • mandate —> legitimacy when controlling legislative outcomes

  • 172 labour majority. Labour able to do King's speech because of majority and pass legislation eg Finance Act 2025

• A stable majority government allows the government to implement its policies more effectively, making it easier to govern without constant negotiations with other parties.

• FPTP tends to avoid coalition governments, which are often seen as unstable and prone to compromises that slow down policymaking.

  • 2010 UK General Election under FPTP resulted in a Tory-LibDem coalition, which faced difficulties due to differences in policy positions, especially on austerity measures. led to a lack of clarity over accountability and prolonged policy debates.

• With FPTP, voters know exactly who to hold accountable for policies. This is in contrast to systems like PR, where coalition governments often result in blurry accountability, making it harder for voters to figure out who is responsible for policy failures or successes.

COUNTER

• FPTP might not produce a majority

  • 2017 election - hung parliament. Minority gov (42.4% vote) that relied on DUP. not a strong government as May couldn’t pass Brexit legislation and was forced to resign

• FPTP doesn’t guarantee a stable government. might be instability even within a majority gov w/ clear mandate

  • In a 5 year window where conservative party should've provided stability, there were 3 PMs in that time. Majority doesn’t equal stability

FPTP encourages single party accountability & other democratic attributes

• ensures link between MP and constituency

  • Jess Philips resigned from labour party over lack of a call for ceasefire in Gaza, reflecting her Muslim constituents

• Votes can punish gov/party

  • Each voter has one MP representing a defined geographic area. This strengthens local accountability and makes it easy for constituents to raise concerns or seek help.

  • MPs are directly answerable to their electorate — if they underperform, they risk losing their seat at the next election especially if they don’t have a safe seat

  • In 2024, Wellingborough constituents held MP Peter Bone to account by triggering a recall petition over misconduct, leading to his removal and a Labour by-election victory.

Single-Party Governments = Clear Responsibility

• Under FPTP, most UK governments are formed by a single party with a working majority.

• 2010–2015 Coalition Government made it hard to determine whether the Lib Dems or Conservatives were responsible for certain policies (e.g. tuition fee increases).

• In contrast, 2019–2022 Conservative Government could be clearly held responsible for its pandemic response, Brexit implementation, and cost-of-living policies.

COUNTER

FPTP leads to disproportionate results so reform

number of seats won in FPTP not proportional to the amount of votes each party got

• 2019 GE:

  • Conservatives: 43.6% vote → 56% of seats

  • Lib Dems: 11.5% vote → 1.7% of seats (11 seats)

  • Green Party: 2.7% vote → 1 seat

• undermines representation and legitimacy of Parliament.