election systems UK

• Constituencies elect Members of Parliament (MPs) using the first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate with the most votes wins.
• In an STV system voters rank candidates by preference on their ballot paper.
• In the FPTP system, voters have one vote which they cast by placing an X next to their preferred candidate on the ballot paper.
• FPTP stands for First Past The Post
• FPTP is the most common voting method, but it has some disadvantages such as wasting votes.
• The FPTP system is used to elect MP's
• The House of Commons has 650 members elected by constituency vote every five years.
• Voters can also use their second vote to support smaller parties or independents who may not win seats but still have influence on policy decisions.
• In the Scottish parliamentary elections, voters cast two ballots - one to choose their local MSP and another to select parties that will form the government.
• The number of seats allocated to parties is proportional to the share of the vote they receive across all constituencies.
• The FPTP system is used to elect MP's
• The candidate who receives more than half of all valid votes is elected as MP.
• The winner is the person who receives more than half of all valid votes cast in that constituency.
• Parties can win more seats than their proportion of the national vote suggests if they perform well in certain areas.
• If no single party or coalition has won enough seats to form a majority government, then the leader of the largest party will be invited to try to form a minority government.
• If no candidate reaches this threshold, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated from the contest and their second preferences are redistributed among the remaining candidates.
• STV allows voters to express preferences between candidates within a party or coalition.
• The Alternative Vote (AV) system allows voters to number their preferences from 1 to n, where n is the total number of candidates standing.
• A minority government can only govern if it enjoys support from other parties in parliament.
• STV allows voters to express preferences between candidates by ranking them in order of choice.
• A voter can only choose one candidate under FPTP.
• This process continues until one candidate has over 50% of the vote.
• STV stands for Single Transferable Vote
• Under AV, if no candidate receives more than half the votes, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those who voted for them will have their second choice counted instead.
• Under FPTP, the winner must get more than half of all votes (50% +1).
• The FPTP system allows voters to choose between candidates from different political parties.
• STV is used to elect members of local councils and the European parliament.
• If there are still no winners at this stage, further eliminations take place until someone reaches over 50% of the vote.
• If no candidate gets over 50%, then there will be a run-off between the two leading candidates.
• The FPTP system ensures that all votes count equally towards the result.
• Proportional representation (PR) ensures that all political parties are represented proportionally based on the number of votes they receive.
• There are different types of PR including closed-list proportional representation, open-list proportional representation, single transferable vote, and mixed member proportional representation.
• The FPTP system encourages two-party politics because only the party with the most votes wins.
• A single transferable vote (STV) allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of just choosing one candidate.
• Proportional representation (PR) ensures that political power reflects popular opinion more accurately than first-past-the-post (FPTP).
• FPTP is simple and easy to understand, with clear winners and losers.
• FPTP has been criticised because it does not always produce fair results when there are many candidates standing.
• FPTP has been criticized for not accurately representing public opinion or giving smaller parties a fair chance at winning seats.
• It encourages candidates to appeal to a broad range of voters rather than just those from their own party.
• It is possible for a party with less than half of the popular vote to gain an overall majority of seats in Parliament.