Proportional Systems: AMS, STV, Regional List

This lesson examines the proportional and hybrid electoral systems used in parts of the UK and their key features, advantages, and disadvantages.

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Why Study Proportional Systems?

Although FPTP is used for UK general elections, several other systems are used across the UK:

System	Where Used
Additional Member System (AMS)	Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd, London Assembly
Single Transferable Vote (STV)	Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish local elections
Regional List	Former European Parliament elections
Supplementary Vote (SV)	Was used for London mayoral elections (now FPTP)

Understanding these systems is essential for comparing approaches to representation and evaluating proposals for reform.

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Additional Member System (AMS)

AMS is a hybrid system that combines FPTP with a proportional element.

How It Works

1. Each voter has two votes:
   • First vote: for a constituency candidate (elected by FPTP)
   • Second vote: for a party list (regional/list seats allocated proportionally)
2. The list seats are allocated to compensate for the disproportionality of the constituency results
3. This produces a more proportional overall result than FPTP alone