criticisms of various electoral systems in the uk

Since 1997 with the labour government in charge, the UK have adopted various electoral systems. However, there are a number of problems with each systems and some systems are more proportional than others, for example the List System has a higher degree of proportional representation than the First Past The Post system which is used in UK general elections. In spite of this, there are good systems in Northern Ireland, like AMS which is very proportional and provides a simple outcome.

The First Past The Post system usually leads to single party governments (apart from the 2010 election where the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats made a coalition government), having a single party government most of the time can lead to one party dominating, this can lead to low participation as people are discouraged that it will always be the big two and having their opinions being acted upon, and the small minority that voted them in would be happy with this, but the other voters (up to 49.9%) wouldn't be happy with it and may start hate campaigns. Another criticism of FPTP is that no Government in any recent general elections have got 50% of the votes that were cast, and this shows that people are becoming more divided, and maybe are voting for minority parties rather than the "big two", for example the results of the general election in 2010 the results were; Labour 40.7%, Conservatives 31.7% and Liberal Democrats 18.3%. This shows a clear divide between there parties and suggests that the voting system needs to be changed as there is such a divide. However, the FPTP system is straight forward to follow so could lead to increased turnouts because of its simplicity, and this also means that the public become more educated on Politics since they are involved with it.

The Closed Party List is a system used to elect MEPs for the European Parliament. A criticism of this system is that using a closed list system, the candidates are selected by the party and the voters don't get a say in who will be representing them and this can put people off voting, for example the MEP vote in 2009, the UK had a turnout of 34.7% which is extremely low, compared with Belgium who had a turnout of 90.39% in the same year. Also, in the senior party leaderships there is too much power in the hands of one person. For example, if the voter prefers one candidate over the other, the preferred candidate will get the vote. However, this electoral system ensures that no votes are wasted and it has a high degree of proportional representation and corresponds with what the voters want.

The Additional Member System is used in Scotland, for the Scottish Parliament. A disadvantage is that this system can be quite hard to understand, for example in the last election 38,341 ballot papers had to be rejected because of people not ranking in order of preference, but instead putting a 'x' in the box of who they wanted to vote for, this is because many don't know how to use the system and are still voting how they voted for the FPTP system. However, an advantage to this system is that it makes it easier for minority parties to be noticed and get into parliament because the votes are highly proportional.

The Supplementary Vote System is used in the UK to elect the London mayor and is used in Wales. A criticism of this system is that it does not mean that the winning party has at least 50% of the votes, and therefore they don't have the majority, it just means that they received the most number of votes. For example in the London mayor election in 2012, Boris Johnston won 44.74% of the second preferences, whereas Ken Livingston won 55.26% of the votes, but Boris Johnston still won the position. Also, the SV system strongly promotes voting for someone from one of the "big three parties" and so this is unfair representation to the smaller parties who are campaigning. However, this system is fairer than the FPTP system as the winner has the most votes and they are the most in favour of winning out of those who voted.

The Single Transferable Vote system is used in Northern Ireland, a criticism of this system is that voters and candidates only come into contact at election time, and this may lead to an uninformed vote because its a rushed and quick decision for voters. Also, the results for the vote are complicated to work out, so this means that the results are often delayed. However, this system gives the voters more choice than any other system, and this puts the power in the hands of the voters, the responsibilities lie more with the electorate than those above them in their party.

In conclusion, all of the voting systems that are used in the UK have negative aspects, but some are worse than others. The Single Transferable Vote system has the best positives as voters have the most power in this system, but the Additional Member system has the worst negatives as there are so many wasted votes, also the Supplementary Voting system has bad negatives because the second preference usually wins. The closed list system is the most proportional and gives a simple outcome, therefore it is the fairest vote and this system should be used in the UK.