Electoral Systems - First Past The Post Flashcards
What type of system is FPTP ?
it is a plurality system
Also known as the Plurality in a single-member constituency system
Where is FPTP used?
Westminster England General Elections and local elections in England/Wales but also in other countries around the world:
India, some African countries, USA, Canada, and in the Caribbean.
How does FPTP work?
the winning candidate/party has to receive more votes than any other party individually - but they do not have to have an absolute majority, just the most individual votes.
variation in geographical + population sizes affect constituencies - the average population for a constituency is 75000 but the Isle of Wight is near double that with 150K.
FPTP runs as a single-member constituency - represented by one elected individual.
Winning party has to have the most MPs - anything over 326 means that the government has a strong majority.
Positives - SIMPLICITY
It is very easy to understand and as it has been used for centuries, people find it far easier to vote.
2019 elections using FPTP, only 0.37% of the votes were invalid whereas in the 2007 Scottish Parliament Elections (using AMS) 3.5% of the ballots (140,000) were unusable.
Positives - strong + stable governments
Clear accountability and government held responsible via scrutiny
governments are more likely to be strong and stable and majority governments - the only exceptions being in February 1974 and 2010. 2015 and 2017 were also not decisive.
Positives - effective representation
geographic link of one MP per constituency - Henry Smith is Crawley’s local representative and often work closely to enhance what that constituency wants - Aviation group for Gatwick April 2020.
Positives - harder for extremists to break through
BNP cannot break into national politics because they need support from the entire constituency not just singular individuals - 515,000 votes in 2010 GE but failed to receive a seat (300 candidates)
Positives - Safe seats
North Shropshire CONS to LIB DEM following the resignation of Owen Paterson.
Cons safe seat for nearly 200 years, Lib Dems won with a 6000 vote majority December 2021.
Positives - accountability
referendum
MPs have clear accountability for their constituencies, so they hold regular surgeries + are likely to be interested in remedying local issues within their constituency.
68% of participants in the 2011 referendum voted NO for the AV.
Negative - Number of votes converts into the number of seats in a disproportionate way
*discuss how it benefits parties like the SNP and their concentration of votes (they are the current third largest party in WM)
2019 election - 44% of the vote, 56% of the seats.
Liberal Democrats: 12% of the vote, 2% of the seats.
SNP - 4% of the vote, 7% of the seat
Negative - two-party race
in 2019, the Cons and Lab won 76% of the vote but they received 87% of the seats.
Negatives - supports parties that are concentrated but not dispersed
Green Party had 3% of the vote share relatively dispersed but only received (0.15% of the vote) 1 seat in 2019.
How many seats would UKIP have if we used a proportional system?
in 2015, UKIP had 13% of the vote, not concentrated enough in any single constituency to win a seat - they would’ve won 82 MPs rather than 1 MP had we used a proportional system.
In 2017, how many constituencies were marginal?
BBC considered 110/650 seats marginal - parties focus on campaigning on a smaller number of marginal seats.
2015 - Parties spent combined £130,000 in marginal Luton North but only £6000 in safe seat of Bootle.
How many wasted votes were cast in 2015?
The ERS - 3/4 of voters were casting wasted votes in this election because they did not have a chance at influencing the election.
