simple plurality electoral systems

The plurality system is the simplest, and is more commonly known by its descriptive term, "First Past the Post" (FPTP). Each elector has a single vote, and this is cast, in single member constituencies, for one candidate. The winner will be the candidate who has more votes than any other individual candidate.

FPTP is used in British parliamentary elections (General Elections), and in all federal and state elections for the United States.

An example of a plurality seat is given below; this was the result of the constituency of Conway, in North Wales, from the General Election of May 1997.

Mrs Williams Labour 14,561 35.0%

R Roberts Lib Dem 12,965 31.2%

D Jones Conservative 10,085 24.3%

R Davies Plaid Cumry 2,844 6.8%

Others 1,105 2.6%

Labour majority: 1,596 3.8%

Here, the winning candidate was Mrs Williams representing the Labour party.

Ease of use:

The system is simple for the voter to use (marking a cross), and determining a result from the data is also very easy (simple addition)

Preferentially:

There is no opportunity for the candidates to indicate any preference within the ballot (i.e. on the paper itself), although naturally tactical voting can be used to ensure some degree of preferentially.

Proportionality:

Under plurality systems the extent of proportionality depends mainly upon the number of parties and the degree of concentration of a party in a particular region. Where there are less parties, there is a better chance of a proportional outcome, for example the United States, with its entrenched two-party system.

Regional concentration is important as well. In 1997 the Welsh Nationalists Plaid Cymru won 4 seats, all in the north-western corner of Wales where welsh culture and language is best preserved. In much of the rest of Wales, they polled only a few percent. The 4 seats out of 40 welsh seats (10%), matched very closely with the 10.7% of the Welsh vote that they achieved.

On the other hand, where parties have their voters widespread, they will do very poorly in proportional terms. The Liberal/SDP Alliance only won 23 seats in the 1983 election (3.5%), however in terms of share of the vote, they achieved 25.4%, which ought to have entitled them to 165 seats.

Constituency Link:

In Constitutional theory such as presented in J.S.Mill's "Representative Government", the link between a constituency MP and his constituents is very important as it enables him to listen to their views and make a suitable judgement. In today's environment of tightly controlled party systems, the MP has far less discretion to take into account the views of his constituency. Nonetheless, in an era when political leaders are seen as becoming ever more detached from the people, the constituency MP is an important link.

Under plurality systems, with single member constituencies, this link is preserved; indeed there are many examples when an MP may not be nationally very famous, however is very well known and respected among his local community (e.g. David Mudd - MP Falmouth & Cambourne 1966-1992).

National result:

The plurality system, by lacking proportionality, traditionally rewards the party which benefits from a split opposition: Labour in 1997 was able to achieve 419 seats, representing 63.5% of the seats based upon only 43% of the votes, and the Tories in 1983 obtained a similar result.

Almost invariable, single-party government is produced, which is normally highly stable (although a small majority - as experienced by John Major's Conservative government 1992-7 - can be highly unstable).

The plurality system traditionally resulted in small changes in votes resulting in large changes in seats. With the disproportionately large change in seats in comparison with votes, it is usually easy to remove a party from office.

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simple plurality electoral systems

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