Get to grips with the UK’s political system in our six minute politics series! For A Level Politics students, each of these blog posts is a six-minute summary of some of the main topics you will need for your exams. For university-level scholars or independent researchers, we’ve included clickable links to useful literature, primary sources and canonical scholarship you’ll need to know.
In this post, discover the electoral systems of the UK!
Benjamin Disraeli oversaw the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised urban male working class men in England and Wales
Plurality and Majority Electoral Systems
Plurality electoral systems (first-past-the-post or winner-take-all) award a seat to the individual candidate who receives the most votes in an election. The candidate does not need to get a majority of the vote. Plurality systems normally depend on single-member constituencies (one MP per constituency), allowing voters to indicate only one vote on their ballot. Plurality electoral systems also tend to encourage the growth of relatively stable political systems dominated by two major parties.
UK general elections have the plurality system of First Past the Post: in each constituency, the person with the most number of votes is elected. Victory is achieved by having one more vote than other contenders.
Majority electoral systems require the candidate to attain 50%-plus-one-vote. If no candidate gets a majority of votes, then a second round of voting is held, with only a select number of candidates from the first round. Majority systems usually rely on single-member constituencies and allow voters to indicate only one preference on their ballot.
Alternative Vote (AV), was rejected in a UK referendum in 2011. This asks voters to give their second choice and means that the winner must secure an absolute majority. It may eliminate tactical voting but is not strictly proportional.
Supplementary Vote (SV) is another variant of AV, which eliminates all but the top two candidates. It is used for electing Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners in the UK. This is a majoritarian system. The voter makes two choices (hence the term ‘supplementary’). If one candidate obtains over 50% on the first vote then the contest is complete. If no candidate attains this level, all but the top two candidates remain. Then the supplementary choices are re-distributed and whoever gets most votes from the remaining two wins the seat.
Proportional Representation
Proportional representation attempts to make the percentage of offices awarded to candidates proportionate to the percentage of votes that they received in the election.
Single Transferable Vote (STV) uses (often very large) multi-member constituencies, where candidates are ranked in order of preference. This system is used in the Northern Ireland Assembly and is proportional while maintaining the constituency link.
William Lovett was a leader of the Chartist political movement, non-violently advocating for the extension of the vote and political reform
It uses the droop formula: total valid votes cast/(seats in constituency +1) +1. In order to obtain a seat, a candidate must obtain a quota. After the votes are cast, those with the least votes are eliminated and their votes transferred and those candidates with excess votes above the quota also have their votes transferred.
Party List systems are party-based rather than candidate-based. There are national vs regional lists. Threshold: % of the vote needed in order to win any seats. When the UK was a member of the EU, England, Scotland and Wales used this system for elections to the EU Parliament.
Hybrid Systems
Hybrid electoral systems try to get the benefits of proportional representation and plurality systems. Additional Member System (AMS) is a mixed system with two lists (party and constituency) and is used in Scotland and Wales.
AMS uses ‘top-up’ MPS and maintains the constituency link while still being more proportional than FPTP. In AMS the number of MPs in the parliament is fixed, and as a consequence the result may not be fully proportional. The voter makes two choices. Firstly, the voter selects a representative on a simple plurality (FPTP) system then a second vote is apportioned to a party list for a second or ‘additional’ representative. of proportionality.
In the UK, Alternative Vote Plus (AV+) was recommended by the Jenkins Report and includes proportional top-up MPs, but this was never adopted.
Should the UK Abandon First Past the Post?
Think about the following issues when you consider whether we should abandon the First Past the Post system in UK general elections:
Democracy:
One of the main arguments against First Past the Post is that it is disproportionate: twice since 1945, the winner has received less votes than its nearest rival. Click the link to see how the 2024 election could have looked with proportional representation!
This also means that some votes are worth more than others. For example, a vote in a small constituency actually has more (mathematical) value than in a large one.
Some people have argued that First Past the Post actually helps left-wing parties more than right-wing parties. First Past the Post has been biased in favour of Labour since 1992, because of differences in constituency size, low turnout in Labour-held seats, larger vote swings in Labour-held constituencies and over-representation in Scotland and Wales.
Having said that, the simplicity of First Past the Post appeals to people. It is easy to understand and operate, and voters are familiar with it and view it as legitimate. Click the link to see how complicated STV can be! In the 2011 referendum, the UK electorate chose it over AV, showing at least some support for the system.
Accountability:
Single member constituencies mean that MPs represent clearly-defined geographical areas, and are accountable to their constituents, who may vote out their MP if they are displeased.
There is the problem of safe seats, in which the incumbent has a considerable majority over the closest rival and is largely immune from swings in voting choice. The same political party retains the seat from election to election.
MP John Bright raised concerns that working people could be bullied if the vote were not made secret
Marginal seats are held by the incumbent with a small majority. These are important as they decide the outcomes of elections. Only a minority of seats in UK Westminster constituencies are marginal.
Safe seats do not encourage accountability of constituency MPs and increase the power of party bosses. However, systems that use a party list (e.g. party list or AMS) suffer from the same (or worse) lack of accountability, because voters have no influence over who gets put on the list.
Result:
First Past the Post generally results in majority government, which is more stable and sometimes more effective than a coalition government (a government formed of more than one political party. It is normally accompanied by an agreement over policy options and office of state). This is because a majority government cannot blame other parties of they don’t keep their own promises!
Recent exceptions have been the 2010 general election, which resulted in a coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The 2017 general election resulted in a Conservative minority government (a government that enters office but which does not have a majority of seats in Parliament. This makes passing legislation very difficult).
First Past the Post promotes (but does not guarantee) a two party system that gives a clear choice between two alternatives. The downside is that this disadvantages third and minor parties. For instance, in the 2024 election, the Reform Party won 14% of the votes but only 1% of the seats, whereas Labour won 34% of the votes but 63% of the seats.
Constituency link:
Some people argue that MPs are actually elected by a minority of popular votes in their constituency (so the majority did not really want them to be elected). In addition, a single candidate does not give an effective choice.
Edmund Burke argued for the importance of the constituency link
However, constituency MPs offer a direct link to Parliament and can make a big difference to the constituence and its members. MPs who have made a difference to their constituencies include the late David Amess.
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