ELECTORAL SYSTEMS EVIDENCE

• 89% of 16-17 year olds registered to vote in 2014 Scotland Independence 
• Referendums usually encourage close results. Therefore, the 48% of people that voted that the UK should remain in the EU in 2016 were not listened to at all 
• 2019, Lab + Con combined for 87% of seats in Westminster
• In 3 of the last 5 general elections, at least 50% of votes went to losing candidates. PR would closely link power to public support. It means that when more people votes for a party that party wins more seats. 
• Sinn Fein secured 29% of the vote share in the 2022 NI Election, translating to 30% of the seats, indicating a slight over-representation of their support by 1%
• DUP obtained 21% of the vote share in the 2022 NI Election but secured 27% of the seats, indicating an over-representation of their support by 6%
• SNP received 48% of the vote share in the 2021 Scottish Election and secured 50% of the seats, reflecting a 2% over-representation of their support
• Labour received 22% of the vote share in the 2021 Scottish Election but only secured 17% of the seats, indicating a 5% under-representation of their support
• Conservative received 22% of the vote share in the 2021 Scottish Election and secured 24% of the seats, reflecting a 2% over-representation of their support
• Conservative secured 43% of the vote share in the 2019 General Election, which translated to 56% of the seats, indicating a 13% over-representation of their support
• Labour secured 32% of the vote share in the 2019 General Election but only 31% of the seats, indicating a slight under-representation of their support by 1%
• Liberal Democrats received 12% of the vote share in the 2019 General Election but only secured 2% of the seats, indicating a significant under-representation of their support by 10%
• Green Party received 2.7% of the vote share in the 2019 General Election, but their seat representation was less than 1%, indicating negligible representation
• AV referendum, with a turnout of 42.2%, 67.9% voted against adopting the Alternative Vote system


  2011
• In the 2015 General Election, the Green Party secured one seat despite earning one million votes, highlighting a discrepancy under the First Past the Post (FPTP) system
• General Election witnessed a turnout of 59%, indicating some dissatisfaction with FPTP


  2001
• Labour secured power with 35.3% of the popular vote, showcasing another instance where FPTP did not reflect broader voter sentiment


  2005
• 51.9% voted to leave the EU, while 48.1% voted to remain


  Brexit referendum
• Scottish Independence referendum, with an impressive turnout of 84.6%, 55% voted to remain part of the UK


  2014
• Scottish Parliament Election, the voting turnout was 63.5%


  2021
• General Election saw a turnout of 68.8%, with Labour and Conservative parties collectively receiving 82.3% of the vote share


  2017
• General Election, despite winning 37% of the vote, the Conservatives secured 51% of the seats


  2015
• Despite receiving only 43.6% of the vote, the Conservatives won 365 out of 650 seats, illustrating the discrepancy under FPTP


  2019
• Elections Act introduced compulsory ID requirements for voting and abolished the use of Supplementary Vote (SV) in mayoral and police and crime commissioners' elections


  2022
• While the Lib Dems recieved 11 seats in 2019 under FPTP, research indicates that they would have received 59 under STV, and 79 under AMS
• Over last 4 elections, 3 have lacked a single party government in the Uk
• 60 Conservative MPs rebelled against HS2, showing a strong MP-constituency link caused by FPTP
• On average ever week, MPs spend 17 hours on constituency work
• 72% of votes were wasted in 2019 (22m)
• In 2010, 59% of seats were safe seats
• The UK has one of the lowest voter turnouts in Europe at 68%, compared to Germany's 76%
• No party has secured over 50% of the vote in an election since 1931
• In 2019, the Conservatives needed under 40k votes per seat while the Greens needed over 800k per seat
• In 2010, the BNP won 1.9% of the vote, which would translate to 12 seats if a proportional system was used
• As of May 2024, the Conservatives are at 344 seats (11 by-election defeats, the suspension of the whip from three MPs accused of sexual misconduct, suspension of the whip from Matt Hancock)
• 1998 referendum of approval of the GFA


  71% Yes, 29% No, 81% Turnout
• In 2008, the SNP government passed the Graduate Endowment Abolition Act, scrapping the Graduate Endowment scheme and introducing free tuition for Scottish students