Politics - UK Elections

What are some issues with electoral systems?

Proportionality, vote value and a fair result

How should voters feel about the government?

Like a government can directly reward or punish a PM and their party based on record in office

How do MP’s have local links with their specific region?

Allow voter to bring concerns directly to ‘their’ elected representative

What does power of the party mean?

Voters may want an electoral system that allows them to choose different candidates from the same party

In terms of party choice and representation what should electoral systems encourage?

A broad range of parties to stand in elections

In terms of comprehensibility and transparency would should an electoral system be?

Easy for the public to understand

What is a positive of First-Past-the-post (FPTP)?

Usually generates strong majority governments

What is a negative of FPTP?

No single party has won more than 50% of the vote in the UK GE since 1945

In 2015 what did the cross-party pressure group, make votes matter, campaign for?

A proportional not majoritarian electoral system

What party’s are most disadvantaged by FPTP therefore are for an electoral reform?

Green Party, Liberal Democrat’s and brexit party (UKIP)

What is a tactical vote?

When voters are reluctant to choose a candidate they feel stands no chance of winning and may vote for the ‘least worst’ candidate

How many MP’s did Lib Dem’s have in 2019 GE despite getting 11% of the vote?

Only 11

Which seats are the most contested?

Marginal seats

Despite getting 13% of vote share in 2015 how many MP’s did UKIP get?

1

How does the proportional representation (PR list) system work?

Candidates are ranked and need a quota which is total votes/seats already won + 1

How are seats allocated in the proportional representation (PR list) system?

In successive rounds and the highest remaining total wins round

How many ballots are voters given in the additional member system (AMS) and what are they for?

2, 1 for constituency and 1 for region

How many members of Scottish parliament (MSP) are there for 1 area?

8 - 1 for constituency, 7 for region

What happens if AMS is not proportional enough in constituencies?

Then party is topped up from regional MSP

Where is the single transferable vote (STV) used?

In local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland and for elections for deputy speakers in the House of Commons

How does the single transferable vote (STV) system work?

Candidates are ranked and 1st preference is counted first then if equaled quota then elected then votes over quota are transferred to other candidates and if no one equals quota then candidate with the least is eliminated

What is the alternative vote(AV)/runoff used for?

To elect chairs of committees and Lord speaker and by-elections for hereditary peers

How does alternative vote work?

The candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and their votes are transferred to the 2nd lowest this ends once a party reaches 50%

How many member constituencies are there in alternative vote (AV)?

Single member

What sorts of issues does alternative vote (AV) have?

Similar issues to FPTP

How proportionate if FPTP?

Not very as the number of seats won doesn’t directly reflect the proportion of votes cast for each party

Example of the disproportionality of FPTP working in favour of the conservatives?

In 2019 the tories won 77 more seats than their proportion of the overall vote entitled to them

Example of the disproportionality of FPTP working against the Green Party?

In 2019 the Green Party won 2.7% of the vote but just 1 (0.2%) MP

When did the party with the most votes overall not win the largest number of seats?

In 1951 and 1974

Example of a winners bonus / landslide result that distorted the actual vote share?

In 1997 labour won 63% of seats on a vote share of 43%

Example of List PR being very proportional?

The brexit party won 39% of the overall vote and gained 4 (40%) of the seats

When the Scottish Conservative Party won 25% of seats (4/16) how much vote share did they have?

24%

Despite not winning any constituency seats how many overall seats did the Scottish Green Party win with 11% of the vote share?

2/16

Which system tends to most preferred by advocates of a more proportional system such as the electoral reform society (ERS)?

STV

What does the electoral reform society say about STV on their website?

‘Voters don’t have to worry about “vote splitting” or tactical voting with STV they just put the candidates in order.’

One study of the 2017 election predicted that what system would have resulted in a less proportionate result than FPTP?

AV

What is a positive about the proportionality of AV?

It ensures that every winning candidate has at least the tacit support of a majority of voters in their constituency

In 2019 what proportion of MPs were elected with less than 50% of the vote?

229/650

Is FPTP good for vote value?

No as many votes are ‘wasted’

In 2019 how many votes did the Brexit party get despite not getting any MP’s?

644,257

In List PR system is it likely that small parties who receive 1-5% of the national vote get any seats?

Not really

How did the Scottish Green Party gain 2 seats in AMS?

Thanks to the regional list MSPs

In AMS when are small parties unlikely to secure any seats?

When seats are awarded on a regional not national list

What system reduces potential for wasted votes and means that voting for minor parties can be effective on the final outcome?

STV

Which system is good for vote value as there is no disincentive to vote for a minor party or indecent candidate?

AV

Despite many wasted votes what system generally has a voter turnout of around 67%?

FPTP

Which system had low turnout of 37% in 2019 European elections?

List PR

What was the Welsh turnout in the 2019 general election using AMS?

67%

What was the turnout in the 2016 devolved assembly elections using AMS?

45%

Using STV in Northern Ireland how much higher was the turnout than the rest of the UK in the 2019 European elections?

45%

What is the issue without turnout and AV system?

AV isn’t used for any public elections

Which Tory victory could be seen as a return to the pattern of strong single-party government using FPTP?

2019

Which system inevitably produces election results where no one party secures an overall majority of seats?

List PR

Using List PR for the 2019 European elections how many seats did the winning party, Brexit, win?

29/73

What is a negative of coalition governments?

Make it harder to punish or reward individual parties in government

Which 2 systems almost inevitably produces election results a coalition or multiparty government?

AMS and STV

Using AMS when was the only time the SNP secured an overall majority?

In 2011

What do supporters of STV argue about coalition deals and policy compromises?

A small price to pay for fairer votes

Which alternative to FPTP is most likely to produce a single-party government?

AV

Which system doesn’t have good local licks meaning that representatives would serve hundreds of thousands of constituents?

List PR

Which system creates the potential to a 2-tier system of elected representatives who may lack a direct mandate?

AMS

Which system gives people a range of representatives they can approach with their concerns?

STV

Which system means that each representative oversees an area perhaps 5 times bigger than the current Westminster seats?

STV

Which alternative to FPTP retains single-member constituencies?

AV

How does FPTP limit power of the party?

Voters can’t choose between different candidate from the same party

Example of a closed list system?

The system used for the UK European elections

What is an open-list system?

When voters can choose between candidates of the same party on the regional list

In AMS what does the presence of constituency members ensure?

That many members have been chosen locally by party members and activists

What does STV allow voters to choose between if the multi-member constituency is large enough?

Individual candidates from the same party

What is an example of STV where parties only put up 1 candidate knowing they wouldn’t secure more than 1 seat?

In Northern Ireland with just 3 MEPs

In AV who are candidates largely chosen by?

Local activists in their branches

What evidence is there to show that FPTP discourages candidates for a wide range of parties to stand in elections?

None

Which system tends to ensure that a wider range of candidates get elected?

List PR

Example of List PR ensuring a wider range range of candidates get elected?

In 2009 European elections how many 2 BNP ( far-right party) elected as MEPs

Using what system have smaller parties like the Green Party and UKIP had more MEPs than MPs elected?

List PR

Using what system is the range of parties represented in Scottish and Welsh gov relatively small?

AMS

After the 2016 elections how many parties were in the Scottish and Welsh governments?

3 main national parties, 2 nationalist parties and UKIP in wales and the Green Party in Scotland

Using STV how many independents did the Republic of Ireland have after its 2020 general election?

19/160

What candidates are favoured in AV?

Candidates with a bread appeal or the ‘least worst’

What party would’ve faired far worse in the 2017 elections if AV was used?

Liberal Democrat’s

Which system enables voters to spilt their ticket by voting for one party with their constituency vote and another with their list vote?

AMS

Which system is simple to understand and provides a clear and quick result after the election?

FPTP

Which system has multiple rounds and is hard to understand?

List PR

Which system requires 2 ballot papers but is easy to calculate the result?

AMS

Which system isn’t straightforward and can take a while to calculate the final allocation of seats?

STV

Using which system did the election process of the Republic of Ireland take 2 full days before the final results were declared?

STV

In 2024 what proportion of seats did labour gain despite having 34% of the vote share?

64%

How many seats did reform get in 2024 with 14.3% of the vote share?

Only 5 seats

Despite losing more than 500,000 votes from 2019 to 2024 how many seats did Labour gain from 2019?

211

How many seats did the Liberal Democrat’s win with 12% of the vote share?

72 ( 11% of the commons)

Who had their worst ever election performance in 2024?

The conservatives with only 121 seats

What did the 2024 election show about the electoral system?

How unfair and distorted it is

From 2019 to 2024 what did the Tories vote share fall from?

44% in 2019 to 24% in 2024

In 2024 what was the combined vote share for Labour and Conservative?

57.4%

How many seats did Labour and conservative get between them?

533/650

What was the voter turnout in the 2024 election?

60%

A study by YouGov in late June 2024 found that what proportion of voters planned to use their vote tactically?

22%

What is the term for the study of voting behaviour?

Psephology