UK voting system
The results of the 2015 General Election show quite clearly what a bad system First Past The Post is.
The current system means that it's possible for Party A to get 49.9% of the votes, and Party B to get 50.1%, and for Party B to win 100% of the seats. This is patently not a fair system.
Here are the number of votes each party got, along with the number of seats they got:
| Party | Total number of votes | Seats FPTP | Seats PR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 30,694,731 | 650 | 650 |
| Tory | 11,334,920 | 331 | 240 |
| Labour | 9,344,328 | 232 | 198 |
| UKIP | 3,881,129 | 1 | 82 |
| Lib Dem | 2,415,888 | 8 | 51 |
| SNP | 1,454,436 | 56 | 31 |
| Green | 1,157,613 | 1 | 25 |
| Others | 349,487 | 1 | 7 |
| DUP | 184,260 | 8 | 4 |
| PC | 181,694 | 3 | 4 |
| SF | 176,232 | 4 | 4 |
| UUP | 114,935 | 2 | 2 |
| SDLP | 99,809 | 3 | 2 |
The big winners...
The SNP got 56 seats, but only 31 seats worth of the vote....and the big losers
UKIP got 1 seat, but got 82 seats worth of the vote.The Lib Dems got 8 seats, but got 51 seats worth of the vote.
The Proportional Representation results are much fairer. Every party gets a share of the seats based on the number of votes that were cast for them.
Under the current system, any vote that isn't for the party that wins in a constituency is thrown away, and counts for nothing. This will discourage people from voting for small parties (as they know they're unlikely to win), and keep us stuck in a two or three party system.
This ridiculous voting system, as shown up in the recent elections has made my mind up for me. I'm not going to vote in any more elections where the FPTP system is used. I'll go along, and spoil my ballot to show that I'm not simply someone who can't be bothered to vote.