Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

==Electoral systems==
{{Main|Elections in the United Kingdom}}
Various electoral systems are used in the UK:

* The [[first-past-the-post]] system is used for [[List of United Kingdom general elections|general elections]] to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and also for some [[Local government in the United Kingdom|local government]] elections in [[England and Wales]]. The first-past-the-post system elects members to parliament through individual elections in each of the 650 constituencies in the UK. To be elected to the House of Commons, candidates require the biggest share of votes. Each constituency can only elect one member to parliament; voters are given a ballot paper with a list of candidates from which they can select one. [1]
* The [[plurality-at-large voting]] (the bloc vote) is also used for some local government elections in England and Wales. The plurality system is a simple way of election; the winner requires only to gain more votes than any other candidate.[2]
* The [[additional-member system]] is used for elections to the [[Scottish Parliament]], [[Senedd]], and [[London Assembly]]. The system is implemented differently in each of the three locations. The additional member's system used when electing members of parliament is a combination of the first-past-the-post system and the party-list system. Voters are given two ballots: one is for the candidates running to be elected as MP, and the other has a list of parties that are running for a seat in parliament. Voters choose their preferred party. [3]
* The [[single transferable vote]] system is used in [[Northern Ireland]] to elect the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], local councils, and [[Members of the European Parliament]], and in Scotland to elect local councils. The single transferrable vote is a form of proportional representation; the strength of a party in parliament is equal to the number of votes they received during a general election. Areas elect a team of representatives rather than the traditional one; they also represent a larger area. Voters rank their choices; they can rank as many as they choose since parties will run more than one candidate in each area. To be elected, candidates have to receive a specific number of votes, the quota, which is decided based on the number of vacancies and the number of people that can vote.[4]
* The [[alternative vote]] system is used for by-elections in [[Local government in Scotland|Scottish local councils]]. The alternative vote system is designed to deal with vote splitting. Under the first-past-the-post system, a candidate can win even when the majority votes against them if this majority is split over several other candidates. Voters rank the candidates from their preferred to their least preferred; if a candidate is the first choice for more than half of the votes cast, they win. But when there is no majority, the loser is removed, and the second choice becomes the first. This process is repeated until one candidate receives the majority. [5]
* The [[D'Hondt method]] of [[party-list proportional representation]] was used for [[European Parliament elections]] in England, Scotland, and Wales between [[1999 European Parliament election|1999]] and [[2019 European Parliament election|2019]] (the last such election before '[[Brexit]]').
* The [[supplementary vote]] was used to elect [[Mayors in England|directly elected mayors]] in England, including the [[mayor of London]] before [[Elections Act 2022|2022]].

The use of the first-past-the-post to elect members of Parliament is unusual among European nations. The use of the system means that when three or more candidates receive a significant share of the vote, MPs are often elected from individual constituencies with a [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] (receiving more votes than any other candidate), but not an [[absolute majority]] (50 percent plus one vote).

Elections and political parties in the United Kingdom are affected by [[Duverger's law]], the [[political science]] [[Law (principle)|principle]] that states that [[plurality voting system]]s, such as first-past-the-post, tend to lead to the development of [[two-party system]]s. The UK, like several other states, has sometimes been called a "[[two-and-a-half party system]]" because parliamentary politics is dominated by the Labour Party and Conservative Party, while the Liberal Democrats used to hold a significant number of seats (but still substantially less than Labour and the Conservatives), and several small parties (some of them regional or [[nationalist]]) trailed far behind in the number of seats, although this changed in the 2015 general election.

In the last few general elections, voter mandates for Westminster in the 30–40% ranges have been swung into 60% parliamentary majorities. No single party has won a majority of the popular vote since the [[Third National Government]] of [[Stanley Baldwin]] in [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]]. On two occasions since [[World War II]] – [[1951 United Kingdom general election|1951]] and [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974]] – a party that came in second in the popular vote came out with the largest number of seats.

[[Electoral reform]] for parliamentary elections has been proposed many times. Calls for reforms to the first-past-the-post electoral system comes from the significant disproportionate representation that emerges with elections, diminishing the idea of fair elections, also resulting in candidates winning a constituency vote without the majority vote. Leaving smaller parties without representation in Parliament. The plurality rule (first-past-the-post) voting system states that candidates do not require the majority vote (of 50% + 1), but only more votes than any other candidate which gives leading parties the advantage while heavily discriminating against smaller parties who may rely on dispersed national support.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunleavy |first1=Patrick |title=The UK's Changing Democracy: The 2018 Democratic Audit |date=2018 |publisher=LSE Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-909890-44-2 |url=https://doi.org/10.31389/book1 |access-date=13 December 2024}}</ref> The [[Jenkins Commission (UK)|Jenkins Commission]] report in October 1998 suggested implementing the [[Alternative Vote Top-up]] (also called alternative vote plus or AV+) in parliamentary elections. Under this proposal, most MPs would be directly elected from constituencies by the [[alternative vote]], with a number of [[Additional-member system|additional members]] elected from "top-up lists." However, no action was taken by the Labour government at the time. There are several groups in the UK campaigning for electoral reform, including the [[Electoral Reform Society]], Make Votes Count Coalition, and Fairshare. The boundary commission for England has also suggested in its 2023 boundary review that constituency lines should be redrawn to allow constituencies to have a similar number of residents.

The [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] resulted in a [[hung parliament]] (no single party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons). This was only the second general election since [[World War II]] to return a hung parliament, the first being the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974 election]]. The Conservatives gained the most seats (ending 13 years of Labour government) and the largest percentage of the popular vote but fell 20 seats short of a majority.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats entered into a [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|new coalition government]], headed by [[David Cameron]]. Under the terms of the [[Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement|coalition agreement]], the government committed itself to holding a [[2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum|referendum in May 2011]] on whether to change parliamentary elections from first-past-the-post to AV. Electoral reform was a major priority for the Liberal Democrats, who favour [[proportional representation]] but were able to negotiate only a referendum on AV (the alternative vote system is not a form of proportional representation) with the Conservatives. The coalition partners campaigned on opposite sides, with the Liberal Democrats supporting AV and the Conservatives opposing it. The referendum resulted in the Conservatives' favour, and the first-past-the-post system was maintained.