3. Electoral Systems

Question 1

How does Supplementary Vote work? What type of party system does SV result in? - Electoral Systems

Answer 1

Supplementary Vote ensures that a candidate must win an absolute majority of votes across 2 preferences to be the winner. If a candidate doesn’t win across 1st preferences, then all but the top 2 candidates are eliminated, and 2nd preferences for those 2 candidates are added to their 1st preferences to produce an absolute majority. SV is likely to result in a 2 party system and promote a strong mandate for a single party leader.

Question 2

Where is SV used? What was the result in the most recent election here? - Electoral Systems

Answer 2

SV is used in London, with the 2021 election going to voters’ second preferences. Sadiq Khan won in the 2nd round of counting 55.2% of the vote, compared to 44.8% for Shaun Bailey.

Question 3

What was the result in the 2021 London Mayoral Election? - Electoral Systems

Answer 3

In the 2021 Mayoral Election, Sadiq Khan won 55.2% of the vote on second preferences, whereas Shaun Bailey won 44.8% on second preferences.

Question 4

What was the result of the 2019 General Election? (Seats and turnout) - Electoral Systems

Answer 4

The 2019 General Election was won by the Conservative Party with 365 seats on 43% of the turnout, ahead of Labour on 202 seats with only 32.1% of the turnout.

Question 5

When have nationwide referendums been held in the UK and over what issues? - Electoral Systems

Answer 5

1975 - Remaining in or leaving the EEC
2011 - Changing the electoral system to AV from FPTP
2016 - Remaining in or leaving the EU

Question 6

What examples have there been of regional referendums in the UK? - Electoral Systems

Answer 6

1997 - Scottish Parliament Referendum
1998 - Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Referendum
1998 - Welsh Assembly Referendum
2004 - North East Regional Development Centre

Question 7

What was the result of the 2016 Brexit Referendum? - Electoral Systems

Answer 7

The 2016 Brexit Referendum saw 52% voting in favour of Leave and 48% voting in favour of Remain. This has been incredibly divisive.

Question 8

What was the result of the 2004 North East referendum on Regional Development? What was the turnout? - Electoral Systems

Answer 8

The 2004 North East devolution referendum saw 80% voting against the proposed change on a 50% turnout.

Question 9

What was the result of the 2014 Scottish IndyRef? - Electoral Systems

Answer 9

The 2014 Scottish IndyRef saw 55% of voters voting to remain in the UK, with 45% voting to leave. This resulted in the extension of devolution to Scotland.

Question 10

What was the result of the 2011 AV Referendum? What was the turnout? - Electoral Systems

Answer 10

The 2011 AV Referendum was rejected by 2/3 of voters on a 42% turnout.

Question 11

How does AMS work at a local level? - Electoral Systems

Answer 11

At local level, AMS uses FPTP to elect its representatives, with the candidate winning the largest share of a vote in a constituency winning a seat in the legislature.

Question 12

How does AMS work at a regional level? - Electoral Systems

Answer 12

Voters cast an extra vote for a party at a regional level, with these votes then scaled up or down by the D’Hondt formula to produce an overall proportional result by allocating a certain number of regional representatives to sit in the legislature.

Question 13

What was the result of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election? (REGION/CONSTITUENCY SEATS) - Electoral Systems

Answer 13

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election saw the SNP win 64 seats/129, falling 1 seat short of a majority. 2 of these were regional seats, with 62 constituencies.

Question 14

What was the result of the 2021 Welsh Assembly election? (REGIONAL/CONSTITUENCY SEATS) - Electoral Systems

Answer 14

The 2021 Welsh Assembly election saw Labour win 30 seats out of 60, exactly half of those available. 3 of these were regional votes, and 27 were constituencies.

Question 15

What was the SNP’s % of the popular vote at constituency and regional level? How does this translate to their share of seats won? - Electoral Systems

Answer 15

The SNP won 47% of constituency votes and 40% of regional votes. This translated into 49% of the overall vote.

Question 16

How does STV work? - Electoral Systems

Answer 16

Voters rank candidates based on preference on their ballot paper, with a quota calculated in each constituency based on number of ballots cast. If a candidate achieves the quota on first preference, they win a seat. If not, the lowest ranking candidates are eliminated and their votes redistributed, with this process repeated until candidates achieve the quota.

Question 17

How are candidates for parties in STV elections different from FPTP elections? - Electoral Systems

Answer 17

STV elections have multiple different candidates from the same party within constituencies, whereas in FPTP, each party stands only a single candidate at constituency elections.

Question 18

In the 2022 Northern Irish election, what % of seats did the DUP and Sinn Fein respectively win compared to their share of the popular vote? - Electoral Systems

Answer 18

In 2022, the DUP received 27% of all seats in the Assembly having won 21% of the vote, whereas Sinn Fein won 30% of the seats in the Assembly on 29% of the vote.

Question 19

How many seats were won by a margin of < 5% in 2017? - Electoral Systems

Answer 19

97 seats were won by a margin of < 5% in 2017, indicating that marginal seats are still widely seen in the UK.

Question 20

What was the UK’s safest seat in 2019? What was the % majority for the winning party here? - Electoral Systems

Answer 20

Liverpool Walton is the UK’s safest constituency, with Labour winning a 75% majority over the Conservative Party.

Question 21

What was the Green Party’s average votes needed/winning candidate in 2017? What was the SNP’s? - Electoral Systems

Answer 21

On average, the Green Party needed 525,000 votes to win a single constituency, compared to only 28,500 for the SNP.

Question 22

How many seats were estimated to have been safe seats in 2015? - Electoral Systems

Answer 22

In 2015, an estimated 368 seats/650 were safe seats.

Question 23

In 2015, how many votes were calculated as being ‘wasted’ due to them having no chance of influencing the outcome of constituency contests? - Electoral Systems

Answer 23

In 2015, an estimated 22 million votes were estimated to have been wasted by FPTP.

Question 24

What % of Scottish Parliament seats would the SNP have won on FPTP in 2016? What % of seats did they win on AMS? - Electoral Systems

Answer 24

The SNP would have won an estimated 81% of seats at Holyrood under FPTP in 2016, instead winning 48% under AMS.

Question 25

How many seats did the SNP win in 2019 compared to the Lib Dems? How many votes did each party receive? - Electoral Systems

Answer 25

The SNP won 48 seats in 2019 compared to 11 by the Lib Dems. This was in light of the SNP taking 1.2 million votes compared to 3.7 million for the Lib Dems.

Question 26

What example is there of a multi-member constituency with split representation in 2022? - Electoral Systems

Answer 26

North Antrim had 5 representatives from 5 different parties in 2022. These were Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance, UUP and TUV.