The Electoral Reform Debate

This lesson examines the debate about whether the UK should reform its electoral system, drawing together the arguments for and against replacing FPTP with a more proportional system.

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The Current Situation

The UK uses FPTP for general elections but uses proportional or hybrid systems for:

• Scottish Parliament (AMS)
• Welsh Senedd (AMS)
• Northern Ireland Assembly (STV)
• London Assembly (AMS, though recently changed)
• Scottish local elections (STV)

This creates an unusual situation where different electoral systems coexist within the same country.

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The Case for Electoral Reform

1. Fairness and Representation

FPTP produces grossly disproportionate results. In many elections, the governing party has won a majority of seats with well under 50% of the vote:

Election	Governing Party	% Vote	% Seats
2005	Labour	35.2%	55.1%
2019	Conservative	43.6%	56.2%
2024	Labour	~33.7%	~63.4%

A proportional system would ensure that seats more accurately reflect votes.

2. Reducing Wasted Votes