Electoral systems

Question 1

STV case studies

Answer 1

• Scotland (2017)
  = 40,000 invalid votes
  = 1.95% of all votes cast
• 2017= DUP won 28.1% of the vote, so won 28 seats, Sinn Fein won 27.9% vtoe share and 27 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Sinn Fein won 29% of the vote and 30% of the seats in 2022 and DUP won 21% of the vote and 28% of the seats
  = means that the top two parties are both third parties (not labour or tory(

Question 2

extremist party under FPTP

Answer 2

• 2010 GE= BNP won 563,743 votes and 0 seats

Question 3

3rd parties under FPTP

Answer 3

• 2015 GE= UKIP won 3.9 mil votes and only 1 seat

Question 4

wasted votes under FPTP

Answer 4

electoral reform society said that 74.4% votes cast in 2015 were wasted
1987 general election, Thatcher won a strong majority of 376 seats in the HOC, yet only won 42% of the vote share

Question 5

AMS case studies

Answer 5

• Green won 1.3% constituency votes but 8.1% top up votes
  = won 6 seats overall in 2021 Scottish Parl election
• 1999-2003= Scottish Labour and Scottish LD coalition
  = 73 collective seats
• 2003-2007= Scottish labour minority
  = only won 39.9% vote share and only 50 seats out of 129
• 1999 scot parl election= tories won 0 constituency MPs despite 15.6 vote share
  = but won 18 AMS seats= 14% seats overall
• 29% of Scottish voters in 2021 used split ticket voting
  = resulted in fewer wasted votes
  = legislative bodies have the consent of the public to legislate on their behalf
• elections to the Senedd in Wales have never passed a 50% turnout of registered voters with the 2021 elections having the highest turnout at 46.6%
  = expansion of powers by the Wales Act 2017, e.g. income tax, hasn’t inspired the electorate to vote= reducing the Senedd’s legitimacy
• has resulted in Labour being the dominant party since the Senedd’s inception= Welsh Labour has been in control of the Senedd five out of six elections since 1997
  = regional multi-member seats are overrepresented by Plaid Cymru, but the winner’s bonus of the majoritarian FPTP means that they lose out on a proportional share of constituency seats to Labour
  = system has resulted in the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru unable to agree as the two largest opposition parties to Labour

Question 6

Describe STV/ adv or disadv

Answer 6

allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference in multi-member constituencies
= no wasted vote
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- Scotland and NI local government elections
- caters for fair representation
- Good Friday Agreement 1998 chose STV due to its highly proportional results in an effort to end sectarian violence in the home nation and increase the legitimacy of Stormont
- delivers highly proportional outcomes compared to FPTP’s issues with the winner’s bonus

Question 7

Describe AMS

Answer 7

voter gets two votes - One vote is cast for a constituency MP, under FPTP rules, the other vote is cast for a party
- Scottish Parliament Elections
- AMS balances FPTP and PR with the majority of seats being allocated by FPTP in Scottish Parliament and the Senedd (57% and 67%)

Question 8

adv refs

Answer 8

• if politicians can’t agree= more power to public to unite disagreements
• helps educate public on important issues
• makes gov listen to party and the ppl e.g. 2014 Scot ind ref

Question 9

2024 multiparty system under FPTP?

Answer 9

• combined Conservative-Labour vote share was 57.4 per cent, the lowest total since the 1922
• libdems won 12.2% and 72 seats= example of tactical voting to get tories out
  = labour and LD seats combined has 74%
  = PG MakeVotersMatter reported in 2024 GE 1/5 voters tactically voted
• 42% of voters didnt vote labour or tory= weaken 2 party system preferences
  BUT FPTP still upheld 2 party system= L and C won 81% of seats with only 57% of vote
• tories won 23.7% and 121 seats
• labour won 33% and 411 seats= WINNERS BONUS
• reform won 14.3% and 5 seats= increased power
• green won 6.7% and 4 seats
• 4/10 voters didn’t vote for 2 major parties
• 27.1 per cent of the votes cast in the 2024 general election were for candidates who did not represent any of the five well-known major and minor parties (Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, SNP and Plaid Cymru)
• Reform UK and the Greens were disadvantaged by FPTP since they secured vote shares of 14 and 7 per cent respectively but received only 1 per cent of the seats each (5 and 4 seats)

Question 10

adv FPTP

Answer 10

• strong and stable gov= 18/20 of GEs since 1945 have produced majority govs
  = 2024, labour won w 174 seat majority= strong mandate to govern
• voters can hold MPs to account by removing those who have performed poorly in office
  = Liz Truss was voted out in south west Norfolk with huge 26.6% swing
  = James bagge won 6,000 votes after running with specific objective to take out truss
• allows candidates with strong local support to be elected= creates effective MP-constituency link
  = Corbyn was reelected in Islington North 2024= has strong local support
• fast and quick results= 2024, first constituency result in Sunderland was announced @ 23.15pm on the day of the election and results was clear by early hours of next morning= starmer arrived @ Downing Street as new PM @ 12.40pm the day after the election

Question 11

disadv of FPTP

Answer 11

• many MPs are elected with limited support from their constituency, most failing to win a majority
  = 58% voters ended up with MP they didn’t vote
  = labour candidate Terry James elected in south west Norfolk with just 26% vote share
• winner’s bonus give disproportionate amount of seats to biggest party
  = labour won 63% of seats with just 33.7% of vote
• underrepresents majority of minority parties that lack geographically concentrated support
  = reform won 14.3% of vote but only 0.8% of seats
  = L and C won 81% seats despite only winning 57% vote share

Question 12

describe SV

Answer 12

One column of boxes is for voters to mark their favourite candidate with an X and one in which to mark a second favourite with an X. Voters don’t have to mark a second favourite if they do not have one
= candidates have to campaign to get a broader base of support
= used for electing Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners in the UK

Question 13

adv SV

Answer 13

• SV has ‘directly elected public officials’ in English cities
  = SV if there is no majority candidate in the first preference, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the remaining votes are redistributed to their second preference, which is more straightforward than AMS or STV
  = almost always results in the candidate who wins the most first preference votes being confirmed the victor
  = 2016 London mayoral election= Sadiq khan won 44% and Zac Goldsmith won 35% on first round= no one got over 50%, so the top two go to a second round
  = Sadiq won with 56.8%

Question 14

disadv of SV

Answer 14

• 2021 in the Cambridge and Peterborough mayoral election when the leading candidate (a Conservative) in round one lost in round 2
  = as a result of this, the Conservative gov in Westminster replaced SV with FPTP in 2021
  = it sometimes returned candidates who were less legitimate
• failure of SV for Police Commissioner elections in England and Wales since 2012 has resulted in most turnouts below 20%
  = shows that a measure meant to bring the selection of additional key gov officials closer to the people has been met with even less enthusiasm than devolved bodies
  = been uptick in turnout for these elections reaching 25-29% in 2024, an increase possibly connected to BLM and other social justice movements
  BUT the consistent low turnout shows that the electorate is apathetic in picking more representatives than before 1997
  = SV has been ruled to be a complete failure because it was scrapped in 2021 for electing a second place candidate and has not inspired the electorate to choose new representatives