Voting Systems

First-Past-The-Post Explained

This is the name given to the system used to decide which MPs will represent us in

the UK Parliament

First-Past-The-Post

Remember the UK is split into 650

constituencies. The people in each

constituency get to vote for their MP.

Therefore, we have 650 MPs

in total.

All those entitled to vote get to choose the MP for their constituency.

Below is an example of a ballot paper for a specific constituency in England.

Using First-Past-The-Post you

have only 1 vote. You put an X next to the candidate you want to win and represent

you.

Using First-Past-The-Post, the candidate with the most votes will become the MP.

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4

Above are the results for the Falkirk constituency in the 2010 elections.

You can see that Eric Joyce got more votes than the others so he won!

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4

This majority is the difference in votes between the winning candidate and second place.

This process is repeated all over the UK until we have

650 MPs.They either represent a

political party or are independent.

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4

What’s good about F-P-T-P?

It’s a really simple system. It’s easy for people to vote (just put an ‘X’ in the box) for the candidate you want to

represent you.

‘The Count’ is really simple too and mistakes are less likely to happen. All

they have to do is allocate the individual vote to a specific candidate.

You don’t have to wait a long time for the result to be declared. As the system is so simple, the winning

candidates can often be declared within a few hours. You usually don’t have to wait until the next day which is

the case with some voting systems.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8661531.stm

You get to vote for a specific candidate who you know will represent you. In some voting

systems, you don’t know who you are voting for – it may just be a part you are voting for.

Is this fair?

However, there are criticisms of F-P-T-P

What’s bad about First-Past-The-Post?

You can be elected with less than half the votes

How fair is that?

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4

Lots of votes are basically ignored.

Roughly 27,000 votes went to people other than Eric Joyce. However, those ballot papers

are ‘binned’.

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4

Votes for smaller parties could be considered a waste of time because they have little chance of

winning any constituencies.

Unless they manage to win constituency (which means a seat in Parliament) they’ll have no chance of

success.

Name Party Votes % +/-

Eric Joyce Labour 23,207 45.7 -5.1

John McNally Scottish National Party 15,364 30.3 +8.9

Katie Mackie Conservative 5,698 11.2 +1.3

Kieran Leach Liberal Democrat 5,225 10.3 -5.7

Brian Goldie UK Independence Party 1,283 2.5 +2.5

Majority 7,843 15.4

Turnout 50,777 62.0 +2.4