Politics of the United Kingdom

The politics of the United Kingdom are based upon a unitary state and a constitutional monarchy. Its system of government (often known as the Westminster system) has been adopted by other countries, such as Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Jamaica.

Elections

Main article Elections in the United Kingdom

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Various electoral systems are used in the UK:

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• The First Past the Post system is used for general elections, and also local government elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
• The Additional Member System was introduced after devolution in 1999 for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and London Assembly.
• The Single Transferable Vote system is used to elect the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland's local councils. It will also be used for the next elections to councils in Scotland.
• The party list is used for European Parliament elections.
• The Supplementary Vote is used to elect directly-elected mayors, such as the Mayor of London.

In the last few elections, voter mandates for Westminster in the 40% ranges have been swung into 60% parliamentary majorities. No government has won a majority of the popular vote since the National Government of Stanley Baldwin in 1935. Twice since World War II the party with fewer popular votes actually came out with the larger number of seats (in 1951 and February 1974). One reason for all the quirks is that Britain has many political parties, making it possible to win individual constituencies on less than 50% of the vote due to the opposition votes being divided.

Related Topics:
National Government - Stanley Baldwin - 1935 - 1951 - February 1974

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Electoral reform has been considered for general elections many times, but after the Jenkins Commission report in October 1998, which suggested the Alternative vote top-up for general elections was effectively ignored by the government, there have been no further government proposals for reform. It is highly unlikely that electoral reform will happen unless there is a significant change in the balance of power and Labour loses its large majority.

Related Topics:
General elections - Jenkins Commission - 1998 - Alternative vote top-up - Labour

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Low turnout is a concern, as the percentage of the electorate who voted in the last general election was just 61%.

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