‘Disproportionate’ electoral system is bust say Electoral Reform Society

If the UK electoral system was reformed then the results of this year’s General Election would have been fairer.

This is the view proposed by the Electoral Reform Society in a report which is published today and which the ERS say will lay bare the whole system.

The report claims that the ERS was able to predict the results in all but five seats across the UK due to the first past the post system which leads to ‘safe seats’.

331 MPs have been elected on less than 50% of the vote, and one MP in South Belfast was returned to Westminster with the lowest vote share in electoral history – 24.5%.

Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of the ERS, said: “This report shows definitively that our voting system is bust. May 7^th was the most disproportionate election in British history – and it’s about time we had a fairer system for electing our MPs.

“That nearly three quarters of votes were wasted this election shows that we have a democratic crisis on our hands, with most people’s votes not counting. We have an archaic and divisive voting system that leaves millions disenfranchised and forces millions more to feel that they have to vote for a ‘lesser evil’ – instead of who they really support.

“The Greens and UKIP won 5m votes and just two seats between them. This is simply unsustainable – and can only end badly.

[tweet_box design=”default”] “First Past the Post is artificially dividing the UK – giving the SNP nearly all Scottish seats on half the vote, while excluding Labour from the South of England and over-representing them in Wales and under-representing the Conservatives in the North of England and Scotland.[/tweet_box]

At the same time, cross-community parties in Northern Ireland got a tenth of the vote and no seats, yet the DUP received nearly half the seats on just a quarter of the vote. This situation is unsustainable if the Prime Minister truly wants a ‘one nation’ Britain. Our voting system is breaking up Britain.

You can read the report in full here or below.