Elections Flashcards
What is a general election?
Full parliamentary elections in which all the seats in the house of commons are up for re-election
What is devolved assembly election?
Elections to Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies, every 4 years
What are Local Elections?
Elections to district, borough and county council. There are elections for metro Mayors and the London Assembly
What is plurality?
Largest number out of a collection of numbers, a simple majority, not an absolute majority
What is majority?
Voting system in which winning candidates must receive an overall majority (over 50%) of votes to win a seat
What is hybrid system?
Mixed system which makes use of plurality and proportional to achieve a more proportional outcome
What is a multi-member contituency?
a constituency that is represented by more than one elected official
What is a single party government?
Government that contains a single party, usually with a majority in parliament.
In a STV how many votes to voters get?
The amount of candidates
In an STV how do voters indicate their vote on their ballot paper?
Rank their preference by numbers
In an STV what type of constituencies are used?
Mulit - member system
What is Droop?
Quota
What type of government is inevitable in an STV?
Coalition
What kind of system is STV?
Proportional
How many votes to voters get in SV?
2
What must a candidate in an SV achieve?
An absolute majority
What happens in an SV if nobody gets a majority in the first round?
All the candidates except the top 2 are eliminated and the losing candidates votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates using their second preferences
What is SV mainly used for?
Metro Mayors
What was the conservatives vote share and seat share in 1979?
Vote share - 43.9%
Seat share - 53%
What is the winners bonus?
When the winning party gains a bonus of seat share to achieve a majority
In 1997 what was Labours majority?
179
In 1997 what was Labours vote share to seat share?
Vote share - 45%
Seat share - 63%
In 1997 what was Conservatives vote share and seat share?
Vote share - 31%
Seat share - 25%
In 2005 what was Labours winning vote share and seat share? What does this say about our voting system?
They got 35% of the vote, it tells us that the majority of people voted against the government that got in, making it illegitimate. However, they got 55% of the seats.
In the 2024 election what percentage of the vote did Labour and Conservatives get vs the seat share?
Won 57.5% of the vote but 82% of the seats.
What was Labours vote share to seat share in the 2024 election?
33.7% vote share and have 63%.
In the 2021 Scottish election what are the pros of the system?
- The government had 50% of the vote
- It avoids single party governments - more representative, encourages compromise
- Broader range of voters being represented
- No wasted votes
In the 2021 Scottish election what are the cons of the system?
- Coalition governments are typically weaker
- Green finished 4th and 5th but managed to be in government
- No manifesto for a coalition, harder to hold them accountable/ know what to expect
- next election if labour gets in they could form a coalition with green again, not being held accountable
In 2017 what was the vote share in Knowsley?
Labour - 47351
- Conservative - 5137
What are the problems with safe seats (Knowsley)?
- Many wasted votes
- No political equality - why would Labour or conservatives campaign there?
Positives of safe seats?
- completely legitimate
What are surplus votes?
safe seat votes
What are unrepresented votes?
Votes for the parties that lost
What are decisive votes?
Ones who contribute to an election
What is a marginal seat?
a seat where more than one party could win
Pros of marginal seats?
- more competitive
- encourages more people to vote
Cons of marginal seats?
- tactical voting is encouraged
- You could argue that the winner isn’t very legitimate
