1. Representation
in the UK and
FPTP
What we will cover;
- Who represents us in
Parliament?
- What is First Past the
Post?
2. Who represents us?
Single Additional
Transferable Members
Vote System
Party List
First Past
the Post
3. First Past the Post
Vote in constituencies
Cross on ballot paper for
candidate/party of your choice
Candidate with more votes than
anyone else wins
All other candidates ‘lose’
There are 650 constituencies in
the UK. East Lothian is 1
constituency .
Fiona O’Donnell (Labour) is the
MP for East Lothian.
4. East Lothian 2010
Write down 2 conclusions you can make
about Labour winning the East Lothian seat.
5. National Result
Party with the most
seats forms the
government.
Leader of that party
becomes Prime
Minister.
Party that comes 2nd
becomes the
opposition.
6. However in 2010…..
No clear winner.
Conservative and Liberal
Democrat coalition.
Leads to difficult votes –
Student Fees.
8. Strengths of FPTP
FPTP is a simple system that people
understand. This means more people will
choose to vote, so the result is more
democratic. 2010 Turnout 65%
Everyone knows who their MP is. This makes
the MP highly accountable to their
constituents. MP Expenses
FPTP usually produces a majority government.
This means the government is stable will be
able to make sure its manifesto promises are
kept. Labour had a 64 majority 2001-5.
Smaller parties are unlikely to get that much
representation are have little effect on power
in the Parliament. BNP
9. Limitations of FPTP
More than half the people do not have to vote for the
winning candidate in a constituency. This means most
people do not feel well represented. E.g. Alan Reid in
Argyll and Bute won with 31% of vote (2010). Two thirds
of all MPs are elected with less than 50% of support
from voters.
Many feel that their votes are ‘wasted’ if they do not
vote for the winning candidate.
Governments are usually elected with less than half the
vote e.g. in 2005 Labour won 35%. This means most
people in Britain do not feel represented by the
Government.
Smaller parties find it hard to get support under this
system. Labour or Conservatives will always be the
parties in Government and Opposition.
% of votes a party receives does not equal the % of
seats – democratic? Lib Dems 23% of vote 8% of seats
in 2010
Can produce ‘tactical voting’ – vote for a party only
because they may have a chance of winning over
another.
