Key Terms/Definitions

• Majoritarian

  Winning candidate must achieve an absolute majority of votes cast in a single-member constituency
• Single-Member Constituency

  Candidate with the most votes in a single-member constituency
• Single Transferable Vote

  A voter can order their candidates in order of preference and can vote for as many or as few as they wish
• Mixed System

  Combination of elements of a plurality and majoritarian system
• Additional Member System

  Made up of two elements - constituency vote and regional vote
• District Magnitude

  The number of representatives elected from a particular constituency
• Proportional Representation

  Multi-member constituencies in which a formula is used to match the percentage of seats won by each party to the percentage of votes they won
• First Past the Post

  Electors cast a single vote by writing a cross on the ballot paper beside the name of their favored candidate
• Constituencies

  Boundaries established by the independent boundary commission
• Isle of Wight

  Most populated constituency at the 2017 election
• Marginal Seat

  Constituency where the incumbent party has a small majority and may be won by a different party at the next election
• Safe Seat

  Constituency where the incumbent party has a large majority
• Two Party System

  Two major parties compete for power as the system favors major parties that have strong nationwide support
• Winners Bonus

  Share of seats that the first-placed party wins in excess of its share of the vote under FPTP
• Minority Government

  Government consisting of members of one political party which does not have an absolute majority of seats
• Coalition Government

  Government of two or more political parties
• Supplementary Vote


  Used to elect the Mayor of London
• Devolved Assembly

  Minority and coalition governments are the norm
• Split Ticket Voting

  Electors use their second vote to choose a different party or candidate
• Referendum

  Vote on a single issue put to a public ballot by the government
• Independence


  Election that took place in Scotland in 2014
• Congestion Change

  Edinburgh and Manchester held a referendum on...
• Participant

  People donating more than £10,000 during an election
• The Sun

  Backed Tony Blair in the 1997 General Election
• Popularity Rating

  Showed Theresa May as +33 before the 2017 General Election
• Swing

  5.2% to Conservatives in 1979
• Electoral Commission

  Responsible for regulating referendums
• Manifesto

  Published by parties before an election
• Mandate

  Earned by a party if it is returned to a power in Westminster
• Salisbury-Addison Convention

  House of Lords should not oppose at a second reading any bill included in a manifesto
• Two-Party System

  Where two equally matched parties compete for power
• New Labour

  Labour Ideology that advocates the market economy, public-private partnership and tries to appeal to all
• One Nation Conservatism


  Conservative Ideology given during the 20th century until Thatcherism
• Single Party System

  One party has total control of candidacy
• NEC

  Main National organ of the Labour Party, approves party policy before it is submitted to conference
• Dominant Party System


  A number of parties exist but only one holds power
• Conservative Associates

  Local Branches of the Conservative Party
• Trade Unions


  Labour Party received majority of funding from this before the 1990s
• PERA

  Imposed an overall spending limit of £30,000 per constituency
• Multi-Party System

  Party system in which government consists of a series of coalitions