When you take a look at Britain's 2015 General Election, there are more than a few disparities between the seats parties won and their share of the vote.
Wasn't it bad enough that the SNP won 95% of the seats in Scotland on 51% of the Scottish vote? Well, what I am about to say next will really hit. Did you know that the Conservatives won every Constituency in Cornwall, despite not even gaining 50% of the Cornish vote?
When myself and others who are like-minded on the subject of electoral reform speak of the reasons the First Past The Post electoral system is no longer fit for purpose, a dramatically reduced share of the vote share for the two largest parties is frequently mentioned.
If we compare British general elections over the past 20 years to elections over the 20-25 years since World War II, it is clear that the share of the vote enjoyed by the two major parties has declined from consistently well over 80% to around the mid 60 percentage points. This is not the most damning statistic though.
In general elections over the last 20 years or so, the winning party has generally achieved a share of the vote which is lower or similar to the party which finished second during general elections in the generation which followed World War II!
So let's look at a few examples of vote share achieved by the two main parties in UK general elections which truly do leave a damning verdict on First Past The Post:
The Conservative Party won the 2015 general election with a small House of Commons majority on just 37% of the vote share!
The Conservatives in 1945 were on the receiving end of a landslide Labour victory, in which Labour gained a parliamentary majority of 145. The Tories share of the vote was 36% (or 39% if you include the vote share of a Liberal Party breakaway faction who later joined the Conservative Party).
Tony Blair's Labour Party ended 18 years of Tory rule in 1997, winning a stunning Commons majority of 179. This was despite Labour having a vote share of around 43%!
In fact, Labour gained just under 44% of the vote share in the 1959 general election. However, that year saw a Tory landslide victory which delivered a 100 seat majority.
THE EVIDENCE IS INCREASINGLY OVERWHELMING THAT BRITAIN'S VOTING SYSTEM IS BROKE, AND DOES NOT WORK FOR THE MODERN DAY.
THE MAIN QUESTION NOW IS HOW LONG SENIOR FIGURES IN THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT CAN PRETEND OTHERWISE?
Wasn't it bad enough that the SNP won 95% of the seats in Scotland on 51% of the Scottish vote? Well, what I am about to say next will really hit. Did you know that the Conservatives won every Constituency in Cornwall, despite not even gaining 50% of the Cornish vote?
When myself and others who are like-minded on the subject of electoral reform speak of the reasons the First Past The Post electoral system is no longer fit for purpose, a dramatically reduced share of the vote share for the two largest parties is frequently mentioned.
If we compare British general elections over the past 20 years to elections over the 20-25 years since World War II, it is clear that the share of the vote enjoyed by the two major parties has declined from consistently well over 80% to around the mid 60 percentage points. This is not the most damning statistic though.
In general elections over the last 20 years or so, the winning party has generally achieved a share of the vote which is lower or similar to the party which finished second during general elections in the generation which followed World War II!
So let's look at a few examples of vote share achieved by the two main parties in UK general elections which truly do leave a damning verdict on First Past The Post:
The Conservative Party won the 2015 general election with a small House of Commons majority on just 37% of the vote share!
The Conservatives in 1945 were on the receiving end of a landslide Labour victory, in which Labour gained a parliamentary majority of 145. The Tories share of the vote was 36% (or 39% if you include the vote share of a Liberal Party breakaway faction who later joined the Conservative Party).
Tony Blair's Labour Party ended 18 years of Tory rule in 1997, winning a stunning Commons majority of 179. This was despite Labour having a vote share of around 43%!
In fact, Labour gained just under 44% of the vote share in the 1959 general election. However, that year saw a Tory landslide victory which delivered a 100 seat majority.
THE EVIDENCE IS INCREASINGLY OVERWHELMING THAT BRITAIN'S VOTING SYSTEM IS BROKE, AND DOES NOT WORK FOR THE MODERN DAY.
THE MAIN QUESTION NOW IS HOW LONG SENIOR FIGURES IN THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT CAN PRETEND OTHERWISE?
