First Past the Post: Operation and Impact on UK General Elections
First Past the Post (FPTP) is the electoral system used for UK general elections and local elections in England.
Method
- Learn the mechanics of FPTP precisely: one MP per single-member constituency, voters choose one candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins, whether or not that is a majority of votes cast.
- Learn the main consequences of FPTP for representation: it tends to under-represent parties whose support is spread evenly across the country, historically the Liberal Democrats, and to over-represent parties whose support is geographically concentrated, such as the Scottish National Party in Scotland.
- Learn the concept of a 'safe seat' (rarely changes hands) versus a 'marginal seat' (can change hands on a small swing), and how this concentrates campaign effort and can encourage tactical voting.
- Learn the argument that FPTP usually produces a decisive single-party government with a working majority, which supporters argue gives voters a clear choice and strong, accountable government.
- Learn a specific, real example of FPTP's disproportionality, such as the 2015 general election, in which the UK Independence Party won millions of votes nationally but only one seat, while the Scottish National Party won a much smaller number of votes but dozens of seats, because its support was concentrated in Scotland.
- Learn the difference between the size of a party's vote share and the size of its seat share, and be able to explain why they diverge under FPTP.
- For 'assess'/'evaluate' questions comparing FPTP with other systems, weigh a genuine advantage, e.g. strong government, against a genuine disadvantage, e.g. disproportionality, in each paragraph, rather than only listing FPTP's flaws or only its strengths.
Worked example
In a constituency, four candidates receive the following votes: Party A 18,000; Party B 15,500; Party C 9,000; Party D 4,000. Identify the winner under First Past the Post, and calculate the winner's share of the total votes cast to explain why this does not need to be a majority.
- Add the total votes cast: 18,000 + 15,500 + 9,000 + 4,000 = 46,500.
- Identify the candidate with the most votes: Party A, with 18,000 votes, has more than any other single candidate.
- Calculate Party A's share of the total: 18,000 / 46,500 x 100 = approximately 38.7%.
- Confirm that Party A wins the seat under First Past the Post, since it has a plurality, the most votes of any candidate, even though 38.7% is well under half of the votes cast.
- State the wider point this illustrates: because FPTP only requires the most votes, not a majority, most winning candidates are elected without support from most of their constituency's voters.
Practice questions
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Q1What is the winning condition for a candidate under First Past the Post?Show answer
Answer: Winning more votes than any other individual candidate in the constituency, a plurality; a majority of all votes cast is not required.
Q2How many MPs does each constituency elect under First Past the Post?Show answer
Answer: One (it is a single-member constituency system).
Q3Define a 'safe seat'.Show answer
Answer: A constituency that one party wins repeatedly by a large margin, so it is very unlikely to change hands at the next election.
Q4Define a 'marginal seat'.Show answer
Answer: A constituency where the gap between the top two candidates is small, so it could change hands with a relatively small swing in votes.
Q5Give one type of party that FPTP tends to disadvantage, and explain why.Show answer
Answer: A party whose support is spread evenly and thinly across the country, such as the Liberal Democrats have often been, because it can win a large national vote share without coming first in many individual constituencies.
Q6Give one type of party that FPTP tends to advantage, and explain why.Show answer
Answer: A party whose support is geographically concentrated, such as the Scottish National Party within Scotland, because it can win most seats in that region even with a smaller national vote share than a more evenly spread party.
Q7What is 'tactical voting'?Show answer
Answer: Voting for a candidate who is not a voter's first preference, in order to try to prevent a less-preferred candidate from winning, common in marginal seats under FPTP.
Q8State one argument in favour of FPTP.Show answer
Answer: It usually produces a single party with a majority of seats, giving a clear, decisive government that voters can hold to account at the next election.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Politics exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Using an example, explain why First Past the Post can produce a disproportional result.
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'First Past the Post should be replaced because it produces unrepresentative outcomes.' Analyse and evaluate this statement.
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