Electoral Systems

• Plurality: The result of an election where the winner only has to obtain more votes than any other opponents. It does not mean the winner has to have an absolute majority.
• Absolute majority: This refers to the result where the winner receives more votes than all other candidates put together. In other words, the winner receives at least 50% of the total votes
• donkey voting is where voters vote for candidates in the order that they appear on the ballot
• 2021 London Mayoral Election: In the mayoral election 75.3% of voters placed one of their two votes for either the Labour candidate or the Conservative candidate.
• 2021 London Assembly Election: In the constituency vote 73.7% of voters placed their vote for Labour or the Conservatives and in the regional vote 68.81% placed their vote for Labour or the Conservatives.
• Plurality System – A voting system which emphasizes the importance of a candidate simply winning the most votes to win a seat.
• Proportional System – A proportional voting system is one that places an emphasis on clearly linking the number of seats awarded to a party to the number of votes cast.
• Elections Act (2022) – An Act of Parliament that changed the rules around voting in General Elections. Most significantly, it changed the voting system for a number of elections back to First Past the Post from the Supplementary Vote.
• Exit Polls – An Exit Poll is a survey taken after someone has voted and is then fed into national calculations to indicate at the closing of the polls what the likely make-up of the House of Commons (or another legislature) will be.
• Safe Seats – A constituency in which a particular political party or candidate has a significantly large majority of support, making it highly likely that they will that seat in the election.
• Electoral Deserts – Areas in which a political party, or a set of political parties, have very little presence and therefore are unable to make an electoral impact.
• When the Elections Act (2022) passed into law in April 2022 much of the focus of commentators was on the requirement for voter ID to be produced by citizens in order to cast their vote in UK elections. This requirement was first put to the test in the Local Elections of May 2023.
• Elections in the UK are heavily regulated. For example, there are restrictions on spending, with each campaign able to spend a limited amount depending on the number of candidates they are putting forward. These rules and regulations are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) and are monitored and enforced by the Electoral Commission, an independent body that exists to ensure elections are transparent and fair.
• Elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly take place every four years. 

  At these elections, you vote for:

  • the Mayor of London
  • your constituency London Assembly Member
  • the London-wide Assembly Members
• The Mayor of London election uses first-past-the-post system.

  The ballot paper for the Mayor of London election will list the candidates for mayor.

  You will only be able to vote for one candidate, by putting a cross [X] in the box next to your choice.  
• The Constituency London Assembly Member election uses first-past-the-post.

  The ballot paper for the Constituency London Assembly Member election will list the candidates for your London Assembly constituency (this is different to your parliamentary constituency).

  You can only vote for one candidate, by putting a cross [X] in the box next to your choice.
• The London Assembly election uses the additional member system.   

  The ballot paper for the London-wide Assembly Member will list the parties that have candidates.

  You can only vote once, by putting a cross [X] in the box next to your choice.