First Past the Post. An establishment stitch up or sensible, effective politics?

A series of articles looking at how the UK elects its government and lawmakers. Whether it serves the UK well or is not fit for purpose.

A mysterious transfer of power

Fast forward, or rewind to a favourite General Election day of your choice. C’mon I know you have one,

You rise from your overnight slumber. You are standing taller, stronger, lighter on your feet, more purposeful in your actions. Today is the day you will exercise the almighty power that is your right. A power that has been earned in blood, a power which is still denied to hundreds of millions across the world. a power that has been fought for over millennia. A power that can be taken away from you by a simple tweak of the law requiring photographic id or a change to postal voting requirements or even an alteration to the opening times of a polling station.

Democracy is fragile. It was hard won and can be easily lost. Democracy gives you the voter, the power to assert your choice of person who you think should represent you, your family, your community, your interests and your values.

The power you exercise is added to the power of tens of thousands of others in your specific constituency. That combined power is endowed upon one of several candidates who will take that power to the House of Commons and represent your constituency as a Member of Parliament.

This is our UK democracy and on the surface it appears effective and fair and many would argue, although not perfect, it is the best system to serve the needs and interests of the population of the UK.

Let’s take a step back and break this down. On voting day you would be able to vote, secretly, for one of several candidates. Usually these candidates would represent one of the registered political parties. Sometimes an individual may stand as an independent candidate, someone who is not affiliated with, or representative of one of the political parties.

Imagine you live in a town called Democraton. Democraton has a voting population of 75,000 people (adults over 18 years old) and as such it sends one MP to parliament every General Election. In today’s general election, Democraton voters have four candidates to choose from, three of which represent established political parties which we will call Toads, Moles and Rats. One candidate is standing as an independent.

In the month before election day the four candidates competed to get their campaign messages across to persuade as many voters as possible to vote for them.

The Moles have the advantage of being the incumbent government so have regular access to television and newspaper media.

The Rats, who are the official opposition, and the Toads also get a significant amount of exposure as there are laws dictating that television airtime must be balanced between the parties during a general election campaign.

Democraton is what’s called a three way marginal seat and so is contested hotly by all the parties. At the last election only the three main parties ran and the split between them was Moles 37%, Toads 34% and Rats 29%. A swing of more than 1.5% from the Moles to the Toads or a swing of more than 4% from the Moles to the Rats and the seat will change hands. It’s all to play for in Democraton.

The Toads, Moles and Rats have the resources and member numbers to flood Democraton with campaigners to door knock and talk to thousands of residents. The independent candidate however, has a small local team behind him and although his message focussing on local issues resonates strongly with a proportion of the population, they do not have the resources, the publicity or the national presence to expect a realistic chance of winning.

Campaigning stops the day before the election and the big morning arrives. You’re standing in the polling both, pencil in hand and decide. The Toads appeal to you more than the other main parties. Although you like the independent candidate, you want to vote for a candidate with a chance of winning. You cast your vote and award your democratic power to the candidate from the Toads party.

Take a breath and think about what you have just been able to do and how many millions of people have fought for you over centuries.

Late the same night, at the Democraton town hall, the votes from all the many polling stations are counted. The ‘seat’ lived up to it’s billing as a three way marginal and two recounts are needed.

Finally the result is announced:

• Independent - 2014, 3.14%

• Rats - 14620, 25.99%

• Toads - 19257, 34.23%

• Moles - 20359, 36.19%

A higher turnout of 75% resulted in the Moles retaining the seat with a reduced majority. The four candidates stand on the stage as the Returning Officer announces the result.

The Moles’ candidate celebrates and the others clap in polite misery.

Then a very strange thing happens.

Invisibly without sound or any perceptible movement, the winning candidate takes all the power that has been endowed upon the other candidates. 2014 from the Independent, 14620 from the Rats and 19257 from the Toads’. Irrespective of the level of support and power that was invested in these candidates, they will leave with nothing.

This includes the power that you gave to the Toads. Do you want your democratic power to be used by another party? Well you no longer have that choice or that power.

The Moles’ candidate takes 100% of the power for herself even though she gained only 36.19% of the votes.

This is the power she will take and wield at parliament.

This is the UK system of First Past the Post, where the winner takes all.