the purposes of elections

Elections Competition elections between political parties are the lifeblood of a democratic system of government.

Elections occur at every level of government. In the United Kingdom, regular elections are held to

Elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons

Elect Members of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly

Elect Members of the European Parliament

Elect Councils to County Councils, Unitary Authorities

The Purposes of Elections

Elections matter! Essentially, they provide an means by which individual people can participate in an indirect democracy through the election of representatives. Direct democracy - in which the people themselves rule, is relatively rare in western democracies.

One of the key functions of any election is as a means of political accountability. Elected politicians must eventually seek a fresh mandate from their electorate. They stand for re-election on the basis of past performance in office (or opposition) and put forward a manifesto that carries details of policy proposals for the next period of government. In this sense, elections are vital in conferring political legitimacy to democratic organisations.

When voter turnout declines, this inevitably damages the legitimacy that can be claimed by a winning candidate. The turnout at the 2001 General Election collapsed to just 59% - easily the lowest in the post war period, raising serious questions about the enthusiasm of British electors for domestic politics and the politicians that populate the political arena.

General Elections

General elections in Britain are called either when Parliament has run its full five years (an example being in May 1997 when John Major's government reached the end of its five year period on office) or by the Monarch on the 'advice' of the Prime Minister.

One of the advantages of the incumbent government is that (normally), the Prime Minister can choose the timing of the next General Election. Tony Blair opted to delay an election in May 2001 (because of the effects of the Foot and Mouth disease) but chose June 7th 2001 as an alternative. Opposition politicians had no say at all in the date.

A general election is also triggered when a government loses a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. The last time this happened was in March 1979 when the Labour administration under Jim Callaghan collapsed following a defeat in a non confidence motion brought by the then Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher.

Other Main Elections

Elections for the European Parliament take place every five years. (There have been elections in 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999). Voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also now vote for regional assemblies and parliaments and in London for the mayor and assembly.

The Franchise

To be eligible to vote, people in the UK must be on the electoral register (many thousands of people lose their right to vote because they do not register) and also over 18 years of age. The right to vote requires people to be a British or a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Irish Republic if resident for three months in the United Kingdom. A limited group of people are excluded from the franchise. These include inmates of residential hospitals and prisoners.

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the purposes of elections

key terms