UK Politics: Different Electoral Systems Explained

Main Ideas

The video compares four electoral systems used in the UK: First Past the Post (FPTP), Additional Member System (AMS), Single Transferable Vote (STV), and Supplementary Vote (SV). It explains how each system allocates representation and weighs trade-offs involving proportionality, local representation, voter choice, simplicity, and the likelihood of single-party government.

The presenter argues that no system is perfect. Which one is preferable depends on what voters consider most important.

1. First Past the Post (FPTP)

How it works

• The UK uses FPTP for general elections.
• The country is divided into single-member constituencies. Each voter casts one vote for a candidate.
• The candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins, even without a majority.
• The video gives the UK Parliament’s 650 constituencies as an example and notes that their populations vary considerably.

Features and effects

• Safe seats are reliably held by one party, while marginal seats are closely contested.
• Parties and leaders tend to focus their campaigning on marginal seats, so safe seats may receive less attention.
• Voters in safe seats may feel their vote is unlikely to affect the result, potentially reducing turnout.
• FPTP can create a large difference between a party’s share of the vote and its share of seats. For example, the presenter says the Conservatives received just under 44% of the vote but won 56% of the seats in 2019.
• The system tends to favour larger parties and parties whose support is concentrated in particular areas. Parties with support spread thinly across the country can win many votes but few seats.

Advantages

• It is relatively simple to understand and count.
• Results are usually clear at constituency level and can produce a clear national outcome.
• It maintains a direct link between each constituency and its representative, giving voters a named MP to contact.
• It often produces single-party government, which supporters may value for clarity and accountability.
• The presenter says the system has public support, pointing to the 2011 referendum in which voters chose to keep the existing system.

Disadvantages

• A candidate can win without majority support. The presenter cites Belfast South in 2015, where the winner received 24.5% of the vote.
• The system is not proportional and can give a party a parliamentary majority without majority support from voters.
• It can encourage a two-party system and tactical voting, in which voters choose the candidate most likely to prevent a less-preferred party from winning.
• Voters in safe seats may feel their votes matter less.
• It disadvantages parties whose support is dispersed, including the Liberal Democrats, UKIP, and the Greens. The presenter says the Conservatives and SNP have benefited in recent elections.
• The presenter challenges the claim that FPTP necessarily prevents extreme parties from gaining power, arguing that its effect depends on how much support those parties have.

2. Additional Member System (AMS)

How it works

• AMS combines constituency elections using FPTP with regional party-list seats.
• Voters generally have two votes: one for a constituency candidate and one for a party on the regional list.
• The video says AMS is used for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament, and the London Assembly.
• Regional-list seats are allocated proportionally to help correct imbalances created by constituency results. The presenter describes this as using the D’Hondt formula: parties that have already won more seats receive a lower priority for further seats, while parties with fewer seats can gain ground.
• The lists described are closed lists, meaning voters choose a party rather than an individual candidate on that party’s list.
• The presenter also describes “zipping”—alternating women and men on party lists—as a way parties can improve women’s representation.

Advantages

• It combines local constituency representation with a more proportional element.
• Voters can split their choices between a constituency candidate and a different party on the regional list.
• This can let voters support a preferred smaller party on the list, even if it is unlikely to win the constituency seat.
• The list element can improve the representation of smaller parties and, through zipping, women.

Disadvantages

• It creates two types of representatives: constituency members with local constituency duties and list members without the same role.
• Closed lists give parties considerable control over which candidates are elected.
• Smaller parties can still struggle where few list seats are available.
• The presenter says the smaller regions in Wales can make results less proportional than in Scotland.

3. Single Transferable Vote (STV)

How it works

• STV is a proportional system used for the Northern Ireland Assembly, local elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and—at the time discussed in the video—European Parliament elections.
• Constituencies elect multiple representatives.
• Voters rank candidates in order of preference and can rank as many or as few as they wish.
• A candidate needs to reach a quota to be elected. The presenter describes the Droop quota, calculated from the number of valid votes and seats available.
• If a candidate has more votes than the quota, surplus votes are transferred according to voters’ next preferences.
• If seats remain unfilled, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and their votes are transferred to next preferences. This process continues until all seats are allocated.

Advantages

• It can produce a more proportional result within each multi-member constituency.
• It allows voters to express preferences among several candidates, including candidates from the same party.
• The presenter says it can help represent different communities in Northern Ireland.

Disadvantages

• The link between an individual representative and a specific constituency is weaker than under FPTP.
• It often leads to coalition or power-sharing government. The presenter notes that Northern Ireland’s coalitions have sometimes been unstable and collapsed.
• Smaller parties may gain substantial influence if their support is needed to form a governing coalition.
• Counting is complex and can be slow, making results harder to understand.

4. Supplementary Vote (SV)

How it works

• SV is a majoritarian system used to elect the Mayor of London and police and crime commissioners.
• Voters can mark a first and a second preference; they do not have to provide a second choice.
• If a candidate wins a majority of first preferences, they win.
• If nobody does, all but the top two candidates are eliminated. Eligible second preferences for those remaining candidates are then added to their totals, and the candidate with the higher total wins.
• The presenter suggests it may suit elections for a single office, such as a mayor or a directly elected president.

Advantages

• A winning candidate can gain broader support through second preferences.
• Voters can support a smaller-party candidate as their first choice while indicating which of the leading candidates they would prefer.
• This may reduce the feeling that a vote for a minor party is “wasted.”

Disadvantages

• It is not proportional.
• The winner may be the least disliked of the final candidates rather than the candidate with the strongest first-preference support.
• A voter whose first and second preferences are both for candidates outside the final two may have little or no influence on the final result.

Overall Comparison and Lessons

• The presenter says general elections have the highest turnout among the elections discussed, but argues that this may be because they are seen as more important—not necessarily because FPTP engages voters more.
• The video gives recent disproportionality figures of over 20% for UK general elections, compared with 11% in Scotland and 15% in Wales under AMS, and 7% in Northern Ireland under STV.
• FPTP is presented as the system most likely to produce single-party government, though recent elections have shown it does not always do so.
• Electoral systems shape how parties campaign and how voters behave. Examples include tactical voting under FPTP and parties adapting their strategies to make use of AMS’s regional-list seats.

The presenter suggests considering these questions when evaluating electoral systems:

• How important is proportional representation?
• Is a two-party system acceptable, or is a multi-party system preferred?
• Is single-party government desirable?
• How simple should the voting system be?
• How much voter choice should the system provide?

The central lesson is that electoral systems involve competing priorities. A system that improves proportionality may make counting or government formation more complicated; a system that produces clear local representation may leave many votes with little effect on the final seat totals.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Speaker: One presenter, introducing the video as part of the Alan History Nerd channel’s A-level Politics material. No other speakers or interview clips are apparent in the subtitles.
• References and examples mentioned by the presenter: the 2011 UK voting-system referendum; the 2015 Belfast South result; the 2019 UK general election and the “red wall”; Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the London Assembly; US elections and split-ticket voting; Weimar Germany and the Nazis; and a passing reference to Hannah Montana.