Electoral Systems - evidence

Question 1

What percentage of the vote and seats did Labour win in the 2024 general election?

Answer 1

Labour won 33% of the vote but secured 63% of the seats, highlighting the disproportionality of First Past the Post (FPTP).

Question 2

How did the Reform party perform in terms of votes and seats in the 2024 general election?

Answer 2

The Reform party won 14% of the vote but only 1% of the seats, showing how smaller parties are disadvantaged by FPTP.

Question 3

How does Labour’s vote share in 2024 compare with the Conservatives’ in 2010?

Answer 3

Labour received fewer popular votes in 2024 than David Cameron’s Conservative party did in 2010, despite Cameron needing a coalition to form a government with 306 seats, while Labour formed a majority in 2024.

Question 4

How did votes per seat compare between the Green Party and the Conservative Party in 2019?

Answer 4

In 2019, the Green Party needed 866,400 votes per seat, whereas the Conservatives needed only 38,300 votes per seat, reflecting severe vote-to-seat disproportionality.

Question 5

What was the number of marginal seats in 2019 and what defined them?

Answer 5

There were 141 marginal seats in 2019, defined as seats where the winning candidate had less than a 10% lead over the runner-up.

Question 6

What was notable about the Lanark & Hamilton East constituency in 2019?

Answer 6

The top three candidates each received about 16,000 votes, demonstrating how closely contested the seat was.

Question 7

How many marginal seats were there in 2024, and what was the criteria?

Answer 7

There were 46 marginal seats in 2024, where the majority was less than 2%.

Question 8

What was significant about the Hendon constituency in 2024?

Answer 8

The Labour MP won by just 15 votes, a 0.04% majority, leaving 25,401 voters’ choices unrepresented under FPTP.

Question 9

What did Lord Hailsham mean by ‘elective dictatorship’?

Answer 9

He used the term to describe how FPTP allows a government with a small majority to dominate Parliament, making major policy changes with little opposition.

Question 10

How did the 1974-79 Labour government exemplify an ‘elective dictatorship’?

Answer 10

With only a 3-seat majority, Labour passed significant reforms like industrial legislation and nationalisation, aided by party whipping, Lib-Lab pact, and exploiting opposition divisions.

Question 11

What were the results of the 1975 referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU?

Answer 11

67% voted to remain, with a 64% turnout.

Question 12

What were the results of the 1997 Scottish Parliament referendum?

Answer 12

74% voted Yes, 25% No, with a 60% turnout.

Question 13

What were the results of the 1997 Welsh Assembly referendum?

Answer 13

50.3% voted Yes, with a 49.7% turnout.

Question 14

What were the results of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA) referendum?

Answer 14

71% voted Yes, 29% No, with an 81% turnout.

Question 15

What were the results of the 2011 AV referendum?

Answer 15

32% voted Yes, 67% No, with a 42% turnout.

Question 16

What were the results of the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum?

Answer 16

45% voted Yes, 55% No, with a record 84% turnout.

Question 17

What were the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum?

Answer 17

52% voted Leave, 48% Remain, with a 72.2% turnout.

Question 18

What proportion of MPs supported Remain, and how did they vote on Article 50?

Answer 18

80% of MPs supported Remain, but 77% voted to trigger Article 50, showing the influence of the referendum result over parliamentary opinion.

Question 19

What happened in the Greater Manchester Congestion Charge referendum?

Answer 19

With a 46% turnout, the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected, showing not all referendums have high engagement or approval.

Question 20

What type of government does FPTP usually produce?

Answer 20

Single-party governments, with clear winners who often gain a ‘winner’s bonus’ and can dominate Parliament (e.g., 1997 Labour, 2019 Conservatives).

Question 21

How does FPTP contribute to elective dictatorship?

Answer 21

The winning party can push through legislation unchallenged, as seen in Labour’s 1997 constitutional reforms or Johnson’s 2020 Coronavirus Act.

Question 22

Does FPTP always produce majority governments?

Answer 22

No. Coalitions or minority governments can occur, such as the 2010–15 coalition and the 2017–19 minority government under May.

Question 23

How did Theresa May’s minority government manage Brexit policy?

Answer 23

She faced legislative challenges, attempted soft Brexit through sub-committees and cabinet committees, but failed and resigned in 2019.

Question 24

What is the usual result of AMS (Additional Member System)?

Answer 24

It often leads to two-party coalitions or one-party minority governments, promoting multi-party representation.

Question 25

How does AMS affect tactical voting?

Answer 25

It reduces tactical voting, allowing voters to support preferred parties in the regional closed list vote.

Question 26

Give an example of a coalition formed under AMS.

Answer 26

The SNP-Green pact in Scotland, formed in 2021, is a result of coalition-favoring AMS dynamics.

Question 27

What are the limitations of STV in Northern Ireland?

Answer 27

It has resulted in unstable governments, with the Assembly suspended three times, including a 5-year gap (2002–2007) and a recent 2022–2024 suspension.

Question 28

Why might instability in Northern Ireland be less about the voting system and more about politics?

Answer 28

The political tensions (e.g., disputes over the First Minister role and Brexit protocol) have more influence than the voting system itself.

Question 29

What is the SV system and why is it no longer in use?

Answer 29

SV (Supplementary Vote) elected single mayors, but after the Elections Act 2022, it is no longer used.

Question 30

What are the characteristics of SV in practice?

Answer 30

It reinforced a two-party system, as only major parties typically reach the final round.

Question 31

How many seats did the Labour Party win in the 2024 UK general election and how did this compare to Tony Blair's 1997 victory?

Answer 31

Labour won 412 seats in 2024, which was slightly fewer than Tony Blair's 418-seat landslide in 1997.

Question 32

What was significant about Labour's vote share versus seat share in the 2024 election?

Answer 32

Labour secured 34% of the national vote but won 63% of the seats in Parliament (412 out of 650), making it the most disproportionate UK election result in post-war history.

Question 33

What made the 2024 UK election highly disproportionate?

Answer 33

The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system allowed Labour to gain a large majority in Parliament with a historically low vote share (34%), highlighting a major discrepancy between votes received and seats won

Question 34

How did the Reform Party perform in the 2024 election?

Answer 34

Reform increased its seats from one to five, despite gaining 14.3% of the national vote. This disparity was due to FPTP’s "winner-takes-all" structure, which disadvantaged parties with widely spread support.

Question 35

What would have happened under a proportional voting system in 2024?

Answer 35

Labour would likely not have secured a majority. Reform, the Green Party, and possibly other smaller parties would have gained significantly more seats. The Liberal Democrats might have received slightly fewer.

Question 36

What was the Conservative Party’s performance under FPTP in 2019?

Answer 36

The Conservatives won 365 seats with 43.6% of the vote, giving them a parliamentary majority.

Question 37

How would the 2019 results have differed under the Single Transferable Vote (STV)?

Answer 37

Under STV, the Conservatives would have received only 312 seats, resulting in a minority government. The left-leaning parties combined (Labour, Lib Dems, SNP, Greens) would have held slightly more seats.

Question 38

What would be the likely challenges of forming a government under STV in 2019?

Answer 38

With near-equal splits between left and right-wing blocs, passing legislation would be difficult. Coalition formation would have been necessary, potentially leading to political gridlock.

Question 39

What was the outcome of the 2017 general election?

Answer 39

The Conservatives won 318 seats, resulting in a hung parliament. This was less than expected and required the support of smaller parties to govern.

Question 40

How proportional were the 2017 results?

Answer 40

The election was unusually proportional for the two major parties—both Labour and the Conservatives received around 40% of the vote and a similar share of seats. However, smaller parties were underrepresented.

Question 41

What would 2017 results have looked like under the Additional Member System (AMS)?

Answer 41

Conservatives: 260–280 seats (instead of 318) Labour: 240–260 seats (instead of 262) Liberal Democrats: 40–50 seats (instead of 12) SNP: 25–30 seats (instead of 35) Other smaller parties: 20–30 seats

Question 42

What are some failures or disadvantages of PR systems?

Answer 42

In Northern Ireland, the STV system has led to prolonged political deadlock, halting the assembly for years (e.g., in 2017). Belgium’s 2019 election led to over 500 days without a functioning government. PR systems can enable extremist parties to enter Parliament, as seen with the AfD in Germany, complicating coalition-building and increasing polarization.

Question 43

What major change to the UK voting system occurred in 2022?

Answer 43

The 2022 Elections Act replaced the Supplementary Vote system with First Past the Post (FPTP) for the London Mayoral elections.