First-past-the post electoral system (FPTP) adv/disadv

Question 1

Name one advantage of FPTP

Answer 1

Simplicity
- it is easy to understand and operate. The ballot paper is simple, the electorate only vote once and counting the numbers is straightforward and speedy and voters are familiar with system/view it as effective.

Question 2

Name a second advantage of FPTP

Answer 2

Creates strong and stable governments
- by favouring the major parties and giving the winning party a winners bonus, FPTP produces a strong government
- single party governments with working majorities exercise significant control over the legislative process
- they can fulfil their mandate by enacting the policy initiatives embedded in their manifest i.e 2019 general election resulted in 365 seats and 43.6% of the votes the highest percentage of any party since 1979 this suggests a single-party government

• Strong governments don’t always get things done. Despite this, Boris Johnson’s did not always successfully enact the policies within their manifesto for example they pledged 20,000 more police latest figures up to June 2022 shows that 13,790 police have been recruited or his pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year In 2019-20 there were 242,700 net additional dwellings, which fell to 216,490 in 2020-21, partly due to the pandemic (On 7 September Johnson announced plans for social care reforms, including a 1.25% rise in National Insurance to raise £36 billion over three years, and a cap of £86,000 on lifetime care costs in England.The following day MPs voted in favour of an NHS and social care tax rise by 319 votes to 248, a majority of 71.)

Counter point:
- FPTP system does not always produce a strong parliament. For example, the 2010 general election produced a hung parliament of which the Labour Party lost 66 seats and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrat’s. Again in the 2017 general election we see that the FPTP system created a hung parliament with the Conservative Party forming an agreement with democratic unionist party. Numerous examples that indicate that the FPTP voting system does not always form a strong government as these hung parliament made it more difficult to pass legislation such as the Conservative Party accepting in the coalition agreement that there should be a referendum to replace the FPTP system with AV, conservatives campaigned against this change and it was defeated in the referendum, a number of conservative MP revolted against Nick Clegg’s proposals to change the largely elected House of Lords which then led the Lib Dem’s to abandon the idea which in turn led the Lib Dem’s to refuse the change to constituency boundaries the conservatives wanted.

Question 3

name a disadv of FPTP

Answer 3

disproportional outcome
- number of seats does not reflect the share of votes
- the two main parties tend to win more seats/third parties/smaller parties are spread thinly and under represented in parliament
- For example the 1983 general election of which the Conservative Party won by a landslide of 37 seats despite a 4.5% loss in their share of seats. A parliamentary majority of 144 reflected the party’s 15 percentage point lead over labour who polled only over 600,000 more votes than the Liberal SDP alliance and won 186 seats. The alliance’s 25% of votes translated into 3.5% of seats. Votes for labour were distributed efficiently despite the collapse in national vote whilst the alliance chalked up a series of second and third place finishes without a reward

Counter point:
- Parties other than the labour and Conservative parties are winning more seats in the House of Commons. The Liberal Democrat’s had won over 50 seats between 2001 and 2010 and the SNP’s won 56 seats in 2015. Even in 2017, parties other than labour and conservatives such as DUP won 70 seats.

Question 4

name a disadv of FPTP

Answer 4

limited choice
- voters are denied an effective choice because only one candidate stands for each party voters cannot chose between different candidates for the same party
- many constituencies are also in safe seats which mean that supporters of other parties have little prospect of winning i.e Liverpool Walton 86% of the votes were labour the 2017 general elections and again in the 2019 general election of which 74.83% of votes were labour. (data collected from the electoral commissions) suggests that number of safe seats has increased. Seats won by a margin of over 50% increased from 35 in 2017 to 37 in 2019. (Always link back to the question) means that FPTP system does enable voters to freely select the candidates that best represents them as voting is based on geographical base.

Counter point:
however through tactical voting - voting for the candidate most likely to defeat the voters least favoured candidate .
- in 1997 Labour Party received a swing vote of 10.2% from conservatives giving it a record tally of 418 labour MPs and a parliamentary majority
- i.e liberal democrats in 1997 won 46 seats the highest third party total since 1929 Despite a 1% decline in their share of votes the Liberal Democrat’s doubled their tally of seats as many labour voters switched to lib dems in seats where they, rather than Blair’s party, were best placed to defeat the occupant Conservative Party.

Question 5

What will you include in your introduction

Answer 5

• Explain what the FPTP system is
• give an example of when it is used for example, 4th May local elections of which councillors are elected every four years
• Include alternative points that you will be using and include the argument you will support