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First Past The Post Voting System

            It is clear that the simple majority system has much to recommend it, however, since then there has been constant calls for electoral reform. It is equally clear that FPTP has its flaws. .
             Firstly it favours the major parties both labour and the conservatives have won a disproportionate amount of seats compared to their shares of votes. E.g. in the 2001 election, Labour won 412 seats which is 62.5% of the seats but only won 40.7% of the popular vote. Conversely if Labour were at an advantage in this election then some parties must have been disadvantaged. This is one of the largest criticisms of FPTP because smaller parties do not often win seats despite gaining a reasonable share of the vote. As in the 1997 election the protest/referendum party won 2.6% of the vote but no seats, whereas, under some PR systems this party would have received seats. It is not only small parties that suffer as Liberal Democrats in the 2001 election, won 18.3% of the vote and only 7.9% of the seats. .
             Since it favours the big parties it leaves little choice for the voters to vote e.g. in the 2001 elections many people did not vote as they were uninterested in the topics being discussed by the Conservatives such as the issue of Europe. Also as well as parties having widespread support they must also have regional support in order for them to win the majority of votes in a particular area and therefore gaining MP's elected. This means that bigger parties with larger regional support will benefit but smaller parties with widespread support across the country such as Liberal Democrats will be disadvantaged and loose out. Although they receive a lot of votes it is not enough in any constituency to get their candidate elected.
             Too many votes are wasted in FPTP This perhaps explains falling turnout; wasted votes can sometimes come in the form of all votes cast for defeated candidates. Conservative votes in inner city Glasgow or Labour voters in the home country's southeast England.


Essays Related to First Past The Post Voting System

1. Should the UK Voting System Be Reformed?

The electoral system is commonly known as first past the post, and although it was picked for its speed and simplicity, there are discrepancies in regard to its fairness to all parties. There is no definite answer to the question, should the voting system be reformed, and first must arise the discussion of how the voting system could be reformed, and subsequently would it be beneficial to our electoral system. Reforming the voting system may not be such a dramatic change, as it would first appear, over the years there have been alterations made which have often proved beneficial. ... Prese...

  • Word Count: 722
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Should there be Electoral reform?

The current electoral system employed for the general election is the First-past-the-post system. ... The alternative to the majoritarian First-past-the-post system would be a proportional system, such as the Party List system, or a Hybrid system, such as the Additional member system. ... There would also be no "wasted" votes, as there is in the FPP system. ... The Additional member system is a combination of the First-past-the-post system and the party list system. ... The fact that there is so many better alternatives to the First-past-the-post system makes a mockery of the British elections...

  • Word Count: 412
  • Approx Pages: 2

3. The British Electoral System

'The First Past the Post electoral system for elections to the House of Commons is in urgent need of reform'. ... It has come to light that the First Past the Post voting system traditionally used in the 'Golden era' of a two party system is failing to achieve the objectives its defenders attribute it to. The 2010 general election produced the first hung parliament since 1974 which lead to the formation of a conservative- liberal democrat government which no one voted for making it undemocratic. ... The fact that since 1945, there have been 16 stable majorities produced ...

  • Word Count: 1999
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Proportional Representation

The electoral system adopted by Canada is based on " first-past-the-post." ... The " first-past-the-post" system also has a tendency to produce strong, stable majority governments. ... The " first-past-the-post" system has been accused of contributing to a low voter turnout in Canada. ... Low voter turn out and a futile opposition are also major failings of the " first-past-the-post" system. ... the " first-past-the-post" system. ...

  • Word Count: 2270
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. United Kingdom - Two and Multi-Party Systems

The UK has factors of both a multiparty system and a two party system. For the past eight decades either Labour or Conservative have lead Parliament, in this sense we are a two party system because only two parties have been in power for such a long time. ... An example of the UK having a multiparty system is the voting system that the UK has – in the UK we have a first past the system, which shows more than the two main parties, which makes it clear that there are more than two parties in the UK – therefore a multi-party system, however first past the post doesn't give en...

  • Word Count: 849
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Compulsory Voting in the UK

As a result of the First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system it is often the case that a majority of the population do not actually support the Government. Now for the first time, non-voters are the largest single group outnumbering those who supported the winning party and calling in to question the whole election process by their non-participation. ... Forcing people to vote is against liberty. ... These people begin to feel disenfranchised and disassociated from an unrepresentative political system, 'so voting for it is tacit complicité' (Brand, 2013) The recent Scottish ...

  • Word Count: 1001
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Comparative Politics - US and the UK

In the first part of my essay I'm going to talk about the Electoral system in the United Kingdom and United States. ... However both countries actually have the same electoral system of first past the post (FPTP). ... "It is the second most widely used voting system in the world, after Party List-PR. ... "The first past the post system is justified because it places responsibility for government in the hands of a single party. ... Some parties are bound to do better in one party system than the other: first past the post tends to benefit larger parties and PR smaller ones[ C...

  • Word Count: 1603
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography

8. Consensus Democracies and Majoritarian Systems

The differences on the executives-parties dimension are given below with the majoritarian characteristic listed first in each case: 1. ... Two-party system vs multiparty system 4. ... In consensus democracies minorities are better represented and there is more of a sense that every vote counts. In a majoritarian country that adopts a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, citizens may feel less inclined to vote as minorities could feel powerless to influence an outcome that so greatly rewards the biggest parties, and which results in a government that wasn't proportionally voted for. The FP...

  • Word Count: 2678
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Pol Interest Groups

Essentially both countries use a first past the post, winner takes all style of electing their Presidents. ... In any event, the person with the most votes wins. ... Anyone can run on the first ballot but if a majority has not been decided in the first ballot only those with greater than 12% of the vote go to the second ballot. The person with the most votes on the second ballot wins. ... These three ideologies can explain how and why the American's use such a system taken that most "first past the post' systems are two-party systems. ...

  • Word Count: 2515
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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