First Past The Post

• How it works

  Parliament made up of 650 seats. Whichever party wins the most will try to form a government, which is easy if they win more than half of the seats, however if they have less than half they will have to work with other parties (coalition, confidence and supply).
• Constituency 


  Each seat is known as a constituency and is contested by candidates.

  You don't need a majority to win a seat, just more than anyone else.

  Each constituency typically has 70,000 voters.

  The winner of each constituency then becomes an MP.

  The party with the most MPs then wins.
• FPTP

  FPTP will typically result in a single party government.
• Speed and simplicity

  Relatively easy to understand and doesn't cost much to run.

  Easy to count so results can be declared quickly.

  More proportional systems typically take longer to form a government. E.g Belgium took 18 months to form a government.
• Strong and Stable

  Tends to mean having a two party system which results in a single party government, allowing legislation to be passed much more easily. E.g Thatcher could easily carry out trade union restrictions.
• Exclusion of Extremist parties

  FPTP encourages centrist policies as to not alienate moderate voters.

  This helps to prevent parties with radical manifestos gaining a foothold.

  However it does also mean that smaller, not so radical parties struggle to break through.
• Constituency link

  FPTP creates a clear link between voters and MP.

  MP can ensure the local area is heard in parliament.

  However MP may not be very good at their job.

  MPs may also feel that the party manifesto contradicts local issues.
• Unrepresentative MPs and Government

  MPs can often get elected on minority support, as can governments due to a lack of proportionality.
• Limited voter choice


  Some seats have never changed parties whilst marginal seats change regularly.
• Unequal voters

  Differences in constituency size can mean a voter in a small marginal seat is more important than a voter in a safe seat.