FPTP

Question 1

what is FPTP?

Answer 1

FPTP is a plurality voting system, where voters pick a candidate to represent their constituency and whichever party has the most votes wins a seat, which is counted in total out of all constituencies and the party with the most seats wins

Question 2

advantages of FPTP:

Answer 2

• simple system and easy for the public to understand
• prevents extremist parties gaining representation
• produces clear mandate as there is a clear majority for one party

Question 3

disadvantages of FPTP:

Answer 3

• constituencies are uneven sizes, meaning the vote of one person may be more valuable than the other

-no majority is needed, meaning even if a large number of people didn’t vote for the winning party, it wouldn’t make a difference

• in some recent elections (2010, 2015, 2017) the system failed to produce a government majority

Question 4

what are safe seats?

Answer 4

when an individual has a clear majority and is unlikely to suffer a swing in votes, for example, how Maidenhead have had safe seats since 1997

Question 5

what are marginal seats

Answer 5

seats held by the incumbent with a small majority

Question 6

does FPTP attract safe seats or marginal seats?

Answer 6

safe seats

Question 7

where has FPTP seen to not be good at creating a strong single party?

Answer 7

in 2010 and 2017, the conservative lib dem coalition and Theresa Mays DUP supply and demand agreement