Electoral system

The British people have always prided themselves on their electoral system believing it to be one of the most democratic. It is known as a majority system, now often called "first-past-the-post" one. The foundation of the British electoral system is the single-member constituency. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, each one of which elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to sit in the House of Commons. Each MP represents 66000 electors. A person may represent a constituency even if he does not live there.

Any number of candidates can stand for election in each constituency. The winner is the candidate who gets more votes than any other single candidate, even if the difference is only one vote. This "first-past-the-post" system is simple, clear and familiar, but it means that sometimes the elected candidate represents only the third of those who voted and the candidate who comes second, even very close to the winner, gets nothing.

The weakness of the electoral system was revealed in the 1980s, when the conservatives enjoyed a large majority in the commons although at the elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987 more people voted against the Conservative Party than for it. In 1987 the Liberal/SDP Alliance received 23,1 % of the total vote but won only 22 seats (3,5 %) in Parliament. This is the reason why all the smaller parties continue their campaign for proportional representation, which would give them far more seats in Parliament.

General Elections in Britain are held every 5 years, as every Parliament (and Government accordingly) is elected for this term. The Prime Minister chooses the date of the next General Elections, but does not have to wait until the end of the 5 years. A time is chosen that will give as much advantage as possible to the political party in power.

About a month before the election the Prime Minister meets a small group of close advisers to discuss the date, which would best suit the party. The date is announced to the Cabinet. The Prime Minister asks the Queen to dissolve the Parliament. Once it is dissolved, all MPs are unemployed.

Party manifestos are published and campaigning begins throughout the country lasting for about 3 weeks with large-scale press, radio and television coverage.

Voting takes place on Polling Day (usually a Thursday). MPs are elected by direct and secret ballot. Citizens of 18 and over have the right to vote (except prisoners, lords and mentally ill). Voting is not compulsory and about 75 % of the electorate take part in General Elections. On election day the voters go to the polling-station, and record their votes by placing a cross against their candidate's name on the list, and place the paper in a ballot-box. Some people may vote by proxy. The election officials count up the number of votes and the Returning Officer announces the elected candidate. The candidate in a constituency who gains most votes is returned as Member to the Commons.

If an MP resigns, dies or is made a peer during the lifetime of a Parliament, aby-election must be held in the constituency (which he represented) to elect a new member.

No candidate requires the backing of a political party in order to stand for election, but today no independent candidates succeed in being elected. MPs are chosen by the constituency branch of the party from a list of suitable candidates issued by the party headquarters.

The two party dominance has existed since the 18th century. But for more than one hundred years Britain has had two-party state with Labour and the Conservatives taking turns in government. And both dominating parties have constant supporters. About 1/3 of the people vote for the Labour party candidates all the time, another third for the Conservatives. The traditional voting changed in the end of the last century. The electorate chose the Conservatives in four consecutive General Elections and Labour seemed consigned to the dustbin of history. They realised that it would help to move to the centre if it was ever to be elected again. And it was exactly what was done what insured its landslide victory in the next two General Elections (1997, 2001) — they won 63 % seats in the House of Commons. System in Britain promotes and maintains the dominance of the leading parties at the expense of the smaller ones.

The Liberal Democrats, a center party, as well as many small parties, are against the current "first-past-the post" electoral system. This is because, though they come second in many constituencies, they can not win many seats in Parliament. They campaign for a system of proportional representation (PR), in which the number of MPs is based on the number of people who vote for a party in the whole country.

Дата добавления: 2015-09-03