Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation - STV makes significant difference

Weak: STV ensures minimal wasted votes given that votes for a candidate who have been elected are redistributed following the voters 2nd,3rd,4th choice and that running candidates must hit a quota before passing for representation. Multi representation in wards

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation - FPTP makes a significant difference

Weak: FPTP systematically sidelines minority parties, and disproportionately rewards the majority party. For example, In 1997, the Labour Party enjoyed a landslide victory over the conservative party with 43% of the vote, but following FPTP, this translated to 63% of the seats in the HOC. Moreover, UKIP in 2015, who had secured 3.8 million votes, was only allocated a single seat because of their spare support.

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation - AMS makes significant difference

Weak: AMS combines FPTP with PR by using a list system in which there are two elements - a constituency vote and a regional vote which focuses on a political party. It features a ‘top-up’ system in which parties are penalised if they already did very well in the individual candidate vote. results in greater voting choice for the populous and can lead to coalition governments such as the labour lib dem coalition in Scotland in 1999-2007- Therefore, it can be argued that electoral systems affect party representation in the UK, as under AMS, they can encourage a multi-party system.

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation - Strong: STV is limited

Strong: Although this means more proportionality for other minor parties in Northern Ireland, following the Good Friday Agreement, Unionists and Nationalists must always share power equally. This blocks single party dominance, even if there is a high demand for a certain party in Northern Ireland and can mean lower proportionality for the majority party

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation - tactics influence fptp result more than system

Strong:FPTP relies heavily on concentrated support and therefore targeted campaigns from parties in order to secure proportional results. For example, In 2024, the Lib Dems concentrated their efforts mainly on the Conservative ‘Blue Wall’ ( Oxfordshire, Berkshire etc) and were able to achieve 12% vote share, and were allocated 11% of the total seats available.

Evaluate the view that the various electoral systems in use in the UK make significant differences to party representation -

Strong: The lists system is equalised with high numbers of tactical voting.According to the 2021 Scottish Election Study, approximately one in five respondents voted tactically during the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Of those tactical voters, 93% were pro-union voters attempting to stop the Scottish National Party (SNP). Meaning that the electoral system had limited impact.