1. Elections OUTLINE General Elections Other Elections
Alternative Vote (Referendum 2011)
General Election Day
SLIDES on STUDIP
But take notes on what I say about them! (Slide numbers to help!)
Miss C. Fielder
November 2014

2. The three main parts of Parliament
House of Commons
All of the MPs elected by UK citizens in the GENERAL ELECTION. Each represents their own constituency.
House of Lords
All of the Peers. They are unelected. They are nominated experts in their fields. The Prime Minister has a large say in who becomes a Peer.
The Monarch
The King or Queen at the time. They have less power now but still have the final sign-off on laws and on Peerages.
We know this from last week: Note that general elections refers only to elections in House of Commons.

3. General Elections UK For MPs in House of Commons
One constituency = one MP
First-past-the-post system
Postal voting allowed

4. General Elections UK 650 consituencies Each ca. 90,000 voters
Scotland: 72 consituencies
London: 73 consituencies
Not to do ith geographical size: but no of voters
In Scotland, e.g., lower population density = larger geog areas to reach same no of ovters in each constituency.
In London, e.g. constituencies geog v small as high pop denisty

5. First-Past-the-Post
Candidate with highest no. of votes wins constituency  becomes MP in HoC
Advantages:
Simplicity
Fair & no cheating
Strong government
Main parties favour FPTP
Dissatisfaction:
Not proportional
Other votes ignored
Postal votes  fraud
Low turnout
Coalition government

6. Other UK Elections
Scottish Parliament & Welsh Assembly: Additional Member System
Two votes: one for candidate, one for party.
Northern Irish Assembly:
Single Transferable Vote System
Rank candidates, redistribute if no one reaches ‘threshold’
Proportional representation  coalitions
Growing understanding of proportional voting
SCOTLAND & WALES: Each elector (voter) has two votes.
Country is divided into constituencies and each constituency elects one representative using 'first past the post' system in exactly the same way as MPs are elected to Westminster. This is the elector's 'first vote'.
The 'second vote' is used to elect additional members. Country is divided into parliamentary Regions and each region elects a number of regional representatves. In the second vote the voter votes for a party rather than a candidate. The parties are then allocated a number of additional members to make the overall result more proportional. The regional representatives are selected from lists compiled by the parties. These are also sometimes referred to as List Candidates.
NORTHERN IRELAND:
Complicated!
Proportional within the constituency.
Each constituency has 1+ MP
Voters rank candidates in order of preference: 1, 2, 3
1st preference votes counted; there's a certain no of votes needed to be elected, based on no of voters and no of seats the constituency has to fill. (called winning threshold)
If no one reaches threshold, votes for lowest candidate are redistributed according to 2nd preference. Etc.
If candidate receives more votes than this threshold, they’re elected, and the voets over the threshold number are redistributed according to 2nd preference votes.

7. Alternative Vote Referendum
One constituency = one MP
Voters rank candidates
Winner: candidate ranked 1st by >50%
If no winner: redistribute votes for lowest candidate according to 2nd preference, etc.
Referendum 2011: Rejected AV
Each consituency elects still only ONE MP
Not proportional! But closer to it than FPTP
The Alternative Vote (AV) is a preferential system where the voter has the chance to rank the candidates in order of preference.
Voters rank candidates 1,2, 3, order of preference
Candidate with 50%+ of 1st preference votes wins.
If no candidate has 50%+ of first preference votes, then votes for candidate with lowest no of 1st preference votes, are redistributed according to 2nd preference vote. If still no 50%+, then repeat redistricbution.
In a UK-wide referendum in 2011 the British public were asked if they wanted to replace First Past the Post (FPTP) with the Alternative Voting system for electing members of parliament. The referendum produced a definitive no vote against AV. - See more at:
Reasons for rejection (?): People don’t want AV. Voting ‘no’ doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t want any change to electoral system, but the AV system is not the system they want – maybe??

8. General Election Day Before: Watch party political broadcasts
Vote for preferred party
Cast vote in ballot box
Count ballot papers
After: Election Night TV coverage
After: Race to declare
What do people in UK do on election day?

9. Election Day Procedure
FILL IN THE BLANKS After the date for the election has been fixed, nominations for candidates are invited in each _____. In order to get their names on the _____, candidates deposit £500 with the _____ (the person responsible for the conduct of the elections in each constituency). They get this money back if they receive _____ percent of the votes or more. They can also, if they wish, indicate their political affiliation after their names on the _____. About three weeks later, the election takes place. On _____, which is always a Thursday, the _____ open at seven in the morning. To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least aged eighteen years old and be on the _____. This is compiled every year for each _____ separately. Nobody is obliged to vote. Each voter has to vote at a particular _____. After being ticked off on the _____, the voter is given a blank _____ which he or she takes to a _____. There, he or she makes a choice by putting an ‘X’ next to the name of one candidate and then drops the marked _____ into a _____. The _____ close at ten in the evening. Then, all the _____ are taken to a central place in the constituency, where they are opened and the _____ begins. When all the voted have been counted, the _____ makes a public announcement of the number of votes cast for each candidate and declares the winner to be the _____ for the _____.

10. References
Allen, P., ‘Electoral reform: the alternative vote, AV plus and single transferable vote explained’, The Guardian, representation-alternative-vote-plus, 11 May 2010
Education Service, ‘General Election in nearly 60 seconds’, Parliament.co.uk, election-60-secs/, n.d.
Electoral Reform Society, ‘Alternative Vote’, Electoral Reform Services, , n.d.
Lees, C., ‘How Unusual is the United Kingdom Coalition (and What are the Chances of It Happening Again)?’, The Political Quarterly, 82/2, 2011,
Qvortrup, M., ‚’Voting on Electoral Reform: A Comparative Perspective on the Alternative Vote Referendum in the United Kingdom’, The Political Quarterly, 83/1, 2012,
Watts, D., British government and politics (Edinburgh U.P., 2006)