This ESRC fact sheet provides an overview of elections in the UK. It is designed to introduce the topic rather than be a comprehensive summary.
Elections
An election is an organised choice that is decided by votes and usually refers to politics or a political office.
Electoral systems
An electoral system is the set of rules according to which citizens' votes determine which candidates and parties win public office. Political scientists usually distinguish three basic types: plurality, majority and proportional representation systems. Variations of each of these systems also exist, as do a variety of other possible rules for electoral systems. Voting, for example, may be voluntary or required by law. In nearly all modern political systems, each citizen's vote is equally weighted, but elections held in other kinds of organisations may follow their own rules[1].
Plurality or 'first-past-the-post' electoral systems
These systems award office to the candidate with the most votes within a given district, and therefore strongly emphasise the territorial aspect of representation. Primarily used in Britain and its former colonies (including the United States and India), plurality systems tend to lead to two-party systems, as voters will be disinclined to vote for those parties or candidates with little chance of winning. Plurality systems have the advantage of being most likely to produce clear legislative majorities, but they have the disadvantage of allowing governments to be elected with a minority of the popular vote [1].
Majority systems
Majority systems ensure that the winning candidate commands at least 50 per cent of the vote, thus addressing some of the disadvantages of the plurality system. They are employed by many countries for electing a chief executive, and by Australia and France for legislative elections. Australia uses an alternative vote system in which voters rank the candidates, while France and a number of other countries hold a second ballot between the top candidates if no candidate wins a majority on the first [1].
Proportional representation (PR)
Proportional representation (PR) systems employ various means to ensure that a party's representation in the legislature is proportional to its share of the popular vote. There are three main varieties of PR: party-list methods, single transferable votes, and additional-member systems. While PR systems more closely represent actual voter preferences, they tend to encourage multiple-party systems and coalition governments [1].
The British Election Study
The British Election Study (BES), currently funded by the ESRC, has been conducted at every general election since 1964. The objectives of the British Election Study are to:
- Study long-term trends in British voting behaviour
- Explain the election outcome
- Explain party choice
- Explain turnout
- Examine election effects on British politics
Who can vote in the UK?
To vote, you have to be:
- Registered to vote
- 18 years of age or over
- A British citizen, or a citizen of another Commonwealth country, or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland
To check if you are registered, or to register to vote, you can visit the Electoral Commission's 'About my vote' website.
Women's right to vote
On the European mainland, Finland (1906) and Norway (1913) were the first countries to grant women suffrage; in France, women voted in the first election (1945) after World War II. In Switzerland, however, women were denied the vote in federal elections until 1971. Table 1 below shows the year women were granted the right both to vote and to stand for election without restrictions or conditions attached for selected countries within Europe [2].
Table 1: Women's Suffrage in Western Europe Date Country 1906 Finland 1913 Norway 1915 Denmark 1918 Austria, Germany 1919 Luxembourg, Netherlands 1921 Sweden 1928 Ireland, UK 1930 Turkey 1944 France 1945 Italy 1948 Belgium 1971 Switzerland 1984 Liechtenstein Note: The list is not intended to be exhaustive.
Elections in the UK
In the UK there are 5 distinct types of elections. These are general, local, regional, European and Mayoral. Elections have traditionally been held on a thursday since the 1930s.
General elections
The UK is split into geographical regions called constituencies. Each constituency has electoral candidates from various political parties aiming to represent that constituency. General elections are the elections held to see which candidate, and thus, political party will represent each geographic constituency. At the 2005 general election there were 646 constituencies meaning that 646 members of parliament were elected seats in the House of Commons. The Party that holds the most seat (ie the most constituencies) forms the government and the second largest forms the opposition.
General elections must be held before a new parliamentary term begins. The maximum term of a parliament is five years and an election can be called by the Prime Minister anytime within this five years.
General elections were last held on May 5 2005. There were 646 seats up for election in the in House of Commons so the party that would form the government needed 324 seats to win. Labour won with a majority of 356 seats (35.3 per cent). Conservatives formed the opposition party with 198 seats (32.3 per cent) and the Liberal democrats won 62 seats (10.3 per cent). Other smaller parties won the remaining 30 seats (10.3 per cent) [3].
Election issues 2005
Issues that the voting public see as important are the issues that political parties focus their efforts on during their election campaigns and in their party manifesto. Table 2 shows an opion poll taken just before the May 2005 election and it shows the issues that respondents thought was the main issues that needs to be addressed in the election. In 2005, 21 percent thought the National Health Service was the most important election issue, down from 30.9 percent in the UK general election of 2001[4].
Table 2: Most important election issue 2005 Election Issue Percentage of Respondents National Health Service 21 The economy generally 15 Law and order 7.9 Education 4.2 Taxation and public services 3.7 Asylum and immigration 3.0 Iraq 2.8 The fight against terrorism 2.8 Europe 1.9 None of these 1.3 Don't know 0.8 Sample size: 1,444
Local elections
Local elections elect councillors forming local council authorities. Local elections are held every year but not every authority has an election. When there is a general election there is usually a local election held on the same day. In 2004, local elections were held on the same day as European Elections.
European Parliamentary overall results for the UK
Elections were held for the European Parliament across Europe between 10-13 June 2004 using a system of proportional representation. The UK has 78 seats in the Parliament, which are distributed between 12 electoral regions. The overall results of the vote in the UK are displayed in Figure 1 below [5].
Figure 1 - Downloadable as a Power Point Slide here (494 KB)
Voting
There are three ways to vote in the UK, at a polling station, by post or by proxy.
Most people choose to cast their vote in person at a local polling station. The process is simple and involves marking a ballot paper in a private polling booth and then depositing the vote in a ballot box.
You can apply to vote by post for a particular election, for a set period of time or for all future elections. Postal votes can be sent out to addresses in the UK and abroad. You can organise a postal vote at aboutmyvote.co.uk, by entering your postcode, selecting 'how to vote' and then 'by post'.
Voting by proxy means a third party voting on someone else's behalf. This is useful for persons of limited mobility or other extenuating circumstances. You can register to vote by proxy by visiting aboutmyvote.co.uk, entering your postcode, selecting 'how to vote' and then 'by proxy'.
The Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament in November 2000. Its purpose is to increase public confidence in the democratic process within the United Kingdom and to encourage people to take part. It aims to do this by modernising the electoral process, promoting public awareness of electoral matters, and regulating political parties.
Voter turnout
There are currently 44,180,243 voters registered as of December 2004. The official turnout for the 2005 General Election was 61 per cent, a small increase on the 59 Per cent turnout recorded in 2001 which was the lowest since the election of 1918. The highest turnout was of 84 per cent in the 1950 elections [6]. Figure 2 below shows the voter turnout at UK general elections since 1945 [7].
Figure 1 - Download as a powerpoint presentation (494 KB)
Age differences in turnout were evident in the last election. Opinion poll data suggests that those aged 65 and over were twice as likely to vote as those under 25 [6].
Table 3: Voter turnout by age AGE 2001 percentage 2005 percentage 18-24 39 37 25-34 46 48 35-44 59 61 45-54 65 64 55-64 69 71 65+ 70 75
- Calhoun C, (2005) 'Electoral System' Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Electoral ed. Oxford University Press 2002. OxfordReference Online. Oxford University Press. (accessed 15 December 2006)
- world chronology of the recognition of women's rights to vote and stand for election (2005) Woman's Suffrage (accessed 15 december 2006)
- Election 2005 (2005) BBC (accessed 18 December 2006)
- May 1-3rd 2005 Final Poll (2005) ICM - NB no longer available
- European Election: UK result (2004) BBC (accessed 18 December 2006)
- Social trends 36 (2006) Office of National Statistics, pp198 [pdf 221] (accessed 18 December 2006)
- UK Election Statistics: 1945 - 2003 (2005) House of Commons Library pp16 (accessed 18 Decemember 2006)
Friday 29 May 2009
ESRC Society Today - Elections
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