FPTP

• How does First past the post work?

  The UK is divided into 650 constituencies

  candidate pays a deposit (is returned if 5% of the vote is obtained )

  People then have one vote

  the winner has to have the majority of votes wins( plurality)

  for a party to win a general election they will try to get the most seats on the house of commons (326/650)
• plurality electrol system 


  each voter gets one vote for one candiate

  the candiate that achieves the most votes is elected

  aka winner takes all

  a candiate can get less than 50% and still win
• safe seats/ safe constituency :


  regarded as secure by the party - very little chance of the seat changing from one party to another

  Example: 2017- labour retained Liverpool Walton with 85.7% of the vote
• Marginal seats:


  seats held with a very small lead

  they require a small amount of votes to change hands for the seat to be won or lost

  Money and campaigning always focuses on marginal seats

  EXAMPLE: SNP won north east fife by only 2 votes (2017)
• 3 benefits of FPTP

  1. produces a single clear winner that can form a majority government with a clear mandate - 2019 conservative won winning a mandate to get Brexit done
  2. produces a single representative for each constituency- MP creates a close bond - Phillips MP stood outside a school in Birmingham to defend teachers
  3. stops extremist parties- 2010 general elections the british national party recieved over half a million votes but did not gain a seat
• Disadvantages of FPTP

  1. does not always guarantee a clear winner and by extension a clear mandate - 2010 and 2017 the conservatives had a coalition government with the lib Dems, same in 2015 the conservatives had a minority government
  2. the overall outcome is not proportional or fair, some parties win more seats than their overall support whilst others will fewer seats- Lib Dems won almost 12% of the vote in 2019 but only one under 2% of seats
• what is a hung parliament 


  occurs when no party has a majority of seats; either a minority government or coalition government is formed
• What is a minority government 


  one party makes up the government but it does not have a majority of seats - often happens when parties make deals with each other E.G: conservatives did with the DUP in 2017-2019 such deals are called confidence and supply arrangements
• 1 extra disadvantage of FPTP:

  Prevents new parties breaking into the system and produces a political " inertia" - UKIP won a broad support across the country in the 2015 general election with almost 4 million votes , one secured one seat