Was the 2015 election the most unfair ever?
Campaigners argue that the recent election 'disenfranchised millions', underlining the need for a better system
A report by the Electoral Reform Society has criticised the "divisive and disproportionate" results of the 2015 general election and highlighted how an alternative voting system could have returned a very different result.
The report, titled The 2015 General Election: A Voting System in Crisis, reveals how the election would have looked if Britain did not use the first-past-the-post system, which many criticised after Ukip and the Greens took almost five million votes between them, but only managed to get one MP each.
Some of the report's key findings include:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- 50 per cent of votes in the election (22m) went to losing candidates, while 74 per cent of votes (15m) were 'wasted'
- Over 9 per cent of voters (2.8m) were likely to have voted 'tactically'
- Under a more proportional voting system – the single transferable vote – the Conservatives would have won 276 seats to Labour's 236, while the SNP would have secured 34, Ukip 54 and the Lib Dems 26. The Greens would have won two more seats – one in Bristol and one in London.
- This election saw an MP win on the lowest vote share in electoral history – 24.5 per cent in South Belfast
- 331 of 650 MPs were elected with less than 50 per cent of the vote, and 191 with less than 30 per cent.
Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of the ERS, said: "This report shows definitively that our voting system is bust. May 7 was the most disproportionate election in British history – and it's about time we had a fairer system for electing our MPs."
Ghose said that the fact that nearly three quarters of votes were "wasted" – which the report defines as people either voting for a losing candidate or providing surplus votes to a winning candidate – shows the system is both "archaic and divisive" and "leaves millions disenfranchised and forces millions more to feel that they have to vote for a 'lesser evil' – instead of who they really support."
But Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett said that the current system was preferable to the alternatives because it tended to return the result the electorate wants, the BBC reports.
"One of the virtues of our present system is that the British people understand it, they know how to work it. In 2010 they didn't like any of us and they didn't give any of us a majority," she said.
"But in 2015 they said 'hang on a minute, we'd rather have a majority government of one or the other, than a mess'."
Click on infographic to expand
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The problem with 'Cool Girl Lit'
Talking Point Has the ultra-popular book genre gone too far in 'commodifying' women's vulnerability?
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off' tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Mary Poppins tour: 'humdinger' of a show kicks off at Bristol Hippodrome
The Week Recommends Stefanie Jones and Jack Chambers are 'true triple threats' as Mary and Bert in 'timeless' production
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off' tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Men in Gray suits: why the plots against Starmer's top adviser?
Today's Big Question Increasingly damaging leaks about Sue Gray reflect 'bitter acrimony' over her role and power struggle in new government
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Who will replace Rishi Sunak as the next Tory leader?
In Depth Shortlist will be whittled down to two later today
By The Week UK Last updated