Voting Systems
First-Past-The-Post Explained
First-Past-The-Post
This is the name given to the system used to
decide which MPs will represent us in the UK
Parliament
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-PastThe-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.
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
You can see that Eric Joyce got more votes
than the others so he won!
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-ThePost?
You can be elected with less than
half the votes
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
Turnout
50,777 62.0 +2.4
How fair is that?
15.4
Lots of votes are basically ignored.
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
Roughly 27,000 votes went to people other
than Eric Joyce. However, those ballot papers
are ‘binned’.
Votes for smaller parties could be considered a
waste of time because they have little chance of
winning any constituencies.
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
Unless they manage to win constituency (which means
a seat in Parliament) they’ll have no chance of
success.