We call this democracy?

800px-UK_popular_vote.svg (1)
Image thanks to Kanguole

Once again we are to be governed by a minority party.

In the mother of all parliaments we have a voting system that allows the minority to be in power. In living memory, no party has been elected that has had more than half of the popular vote. The Conservatives nearly made it in 1955 with 49.7% and you need to go back to 1931 for any party to have obtained a true majority. Again it was the Conservatives with 55.5%. 

This is not a single party issue however. For example, in the 2005 election in which Labour won, only 61.4% of the electorate voted and nearly two thirds of people did not vote for the winners.

The position is highlighted excellently by the position in Scotland after this year’s general election where the Scottish National Party secured 83% of the seats in the country with 45% of the vote.

Add this to an unelected Head of State and an unelected Upper House, an established church and what we have in Great Britain is not democracy. We need a new electoral system.

Year Con Vote Seats % Turnout % that didn’t vote for the winning party
2019 Con 43.6 365 67.3 56.4
2017 Con 42.3 317 68.7 57.7
2015 Con 36.8 330 66.1 63.2
2010 Con 36.1 306 65.1 63.9
2005 Lab 35.2 356 61.4 64.8
2001 Lab 40.7 412 59.4 59.3
1997 Lab 43.2 418 71.4 56.8
1992 Con 41.9 336 77.7 58.1
1987 Con 42.2 376 75.3 57.8
1983 Con 42.4 397 72.7 57.6
1979 Con 43.9 339 76 56.1

 

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