lФАЯ 2 Lecture elections, government, political parties

Ecections, government, political parties

Who governs Britain? When the media talk about ‘the government’ they usually relate it to the most powerful politicians, namely the Prime Minister and the other members of the cabinet. How is the government formed?

Election procedure

The system in which a political party comes to rule the country is the result of centuries of development. The country is divided into 651 constituencies which each have one representative in parliament. Everyone over 18 has the right to vote, except criminals and certified lunatics. Members of the House of Lords are also not allowed to vote. Voting is not compulsory. At the 1992 election only 77.8% of the electorate did actually vote.

There are two types of parliamentary election. A general election is when there is voting in all 651 constituencies on one day. It be called by the Government at any time but must be within five years of the previous one. A by-election is held when a Member of Parliament dies, retires or resigns between general elections. Voting then only occurs in the constituency without a member.

General elections

Approximately three weeks before the day of the election, people in each area receive brochures from each political party, giving details of their policies. People also receive an official polling card to stop people voting more than once. On election day, the voter goes to the polling station and tells the clerk their name and address. This is checked against the electoral register, and the voter is given a ballot paper containing a list of all the candidates in that area. The voter marks the paper in private. The paper then goes into a sealed ballot box.

When the polling station is closed, all the boxes are taken to one central point - usually a town hall - and opened. This happens in all the 651 constituencies. After all the votes have been counted in each constituency, the result is announced.

First past the post

The system in the UK is called 'first past the post'. This means that the candidate who gets most votes in a particular constituency wins their seat in parliament. It does not matter whether the winning candidate gets 20% or 70% of the total votes, what is important- that they get at least one more vote than each of the other candidates. The party that wins the most seats in parliament takes power.

What are the advantages of this system? The first-past-the-post system is relatively simple and easy to understand. It is inexpensive to operate and produces a result fairly quickly. Each constituency elects one representative who can identify with his or her area. Constituents know whom to approach when they have a problem. One party generally gains a majority in the House of Commons so voters know what to expect and which policies will be carried out.

Are there any disadvantages to this system?

1) Since the candidate who wins has only to get a simple majority — more people in total may have voted for other candidates than for him or her.

2) A party which comes consistently second or third in constituencies but wins very few can obtain a sizeable proportion of the votes, but few seats.

3) It is possible for the party that forms the Government to have received fewer votes than its nearest rival.

4) A number of seats are considered ‘safe’ — one party generally wins. Voters who do not support this party may feel that there is no point in voting at all.

The 'first past the post' system benefits the leading parties and discriminates against the smaller parties.

The United Kingdom general election of 2010 was held on Thursday 6 May 2010 to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 651 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the largest number of votes and seats but still fell twenty seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. As no single party won enough majority of seats to form the government alone. So in order to form a government two parties had to join together. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, formed a new government, in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have published a full Coalition Agreement. The agreement acts as a clear programme for the Coalition Government in thirty one different areas of policy.

Writing in the foreword, Cameron and Clegg described it as "an historic document in British politics".

"The first time in over half a century two parties have come together to put forward a programme for partnership government. As our parties have worked together it has become increasingly clear to us that, although there are differences, there is also common ground".

They said that it is a programme for five years of partnership government driven by the values freedom, fairness and responsibility.

"We believe that it can deliver radical, reforming government, a stronger society, a smaller state, and power and responsibility in the hands of every citizen. Great change and real progress lie ahead", they added.