A-Level Politics

Question 1

What is First Past The Post (FPTP)?

Answer 1

Electoral system where MP’s are elected in 650 constituencies and the party with the most MP’s wins the election and goes into party

Question 2

What is Additional Member System (AMS)?

Answer 2

A hybrid of FPTP and Party Lists. Has 2 components/elements. Electorate makes 2 choices- first vote is for their constituent MP (FPTP) and their second choice is for their regional MP (Party Lists)

Question 3

What is Single Transferable Vote (STV)?

Answer 3

Voters rank their candidates in the order they want them to win. Can vote for only 1, or all of them. If no one meets the quota, then the candidate with the least votes are removed. Whoever picked the candidate that got removed gets their 2nd vote allocated. This is repeated until a candidate meets the quota

Question 4

What is Supplementary Vote (SV)?

Answer 4

Electorates make 2 choices- their favourite candidate, and their 2nd favourite candidate. If no candidate wins a majority, all candidates except the top 2 are removed. The votes are redistributed, but only to the top 2, and whoever gets more votes out the top 2 wins the seat

Question 5

What is a Safe Seat?

Answer 5

A seat that never changes through elections. Usually gets a considerable majority over the 2nd placed candidate

Question 6

What is a Swing Seat?

Answer 6

A seat that changes from election to election

Question 7

What is a Marginal Seat?

Answer 7

A seat that wins with a small plurality (majority) of the vote

Question 8

What is a Minority Government?

Answer 8

A government that doesn’t have an absolute majority (50% + 1) of seats in parliament

Question 9

What is a Coalition Government?

Answer 9

A government that is formed by more than one political party, that usually have similar ideology

Question 10

What is a Constituency?

Answer 10

A geographical area that is represented by one MP

Question 11

What is an electorate?

Answer 11

Any individual that is allowed to vote in an election

Question 12

What are general elections?

Answer 12

Electorates cast votes in order to elect MP’s that will represent their constituency

Question 13

What is an absolute majority?

Answer 13

When the winner of an election receives more votes than all the other candidates combined

Question 14

What is Government By Consent?

Answer 14

a government using their power as long as it is consented to by the people

Question 15

What is tactical voting?

Answer 15

Voting so a party you don’t want to win loses, instead of voting for who you want to win

Question 16

What is Turnout?

Answer 16

The number of electorates that take part in an election

Question 17

What are wasted votes?

Answer 17

A vote that is not “used” to elect a winner

Question 18

What are majority systems?

Answer 18

A system where a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win

Question 19

What are plurality systems?

Answer 19

A system where a candidate needs at least 1 more vote than any other candidate to win. No majority needed

Question 19

What are hybrid Sytems?

Answer 19

When 2 systems are merged into one

Question 20

What are Preferential systems?

Answer 20

When electorates don’t have to pick just one candidate, but also their second choice, third choice etc- depends on what system it is

Question 21

What are proportional systems?

Answer 21

A system in which the % of votes you receive reflects how many seats you win. Leads to coalition governments

Question 22

What is a referendum?

Answer 22

A vote, national or regional, where qualified voters are asked a proposal, and vote with “Yes” or “No”

Question 23

What are By-elections?

Answer 23

When a seat in the House of Commons is vacant between elections

Question 24

What is a Closed-list system?

Answer 24

Proportional system where voters vote for a list of candidates that are provided by a party. Based on the % of votes the party receives, it will be awarded a number of seats from across large multi-member constituencies. The order of candidates is decided by the party, with the highest preferences being the ones who are most likely to win a seat

Question 25

What was the Jenkins Commission?

Answer 25

An independent investigation into the best form of voting, commissioned in 1997 and ran by Roy Jenkins. Reported in September 1998, proposed the use of AV+ over FPTP. Proposals were not commissioned

Question 26

What system is used for English Local Elections, and how often do they occur?

Answer 26

First Past The Post
Every 4 years

Question 27

What system is used for Scottish Parliament, and how often do they occur?

Answer 27

Additional Member System
Every 5 years

Question 28

What system is used for Welsh Parliament, and how often do they occur?

Answer 28

Additional Member System
Every 5 years

Question 29

What system is used for Northern Irish Assembly, and how often do they occur?

Answer 29

Single Transferable Vote
Every 5 years

Question 30

How many MP’s are in the House of Commons?

Answer 30

650

Question 31

How does somebody become Prime Minister?

Answer 31

They need to be the leader of the party who wins the most seats in the House of Commons

Question 32

Name some examples of Safe Seats:

Answer 32

Liverpool Walton- Held by the Labour Party since 1964. Won 84% in 2019, and 72% in 2024.

South Holland and the Deepings- Held by the Conservatives since 2010. Won 76% in 2019, and 38% in 2024

Question 33

Name some examples of Swing Seats:

Answer 33

High Peak- Conservatives won in 2015 with 45% of the vote, Labour won in 2017 with 49.7%, Conservatives won in 2019 with 45.9%, Labour won in 2024 with 45.8%

Crewe and Nantwich- Conservatives had the seat until 2017 when Labour won it back, in 2019 Conservatives took the seat back and in 2024 Labou took the seat back