## Understanding the First Past the Post (FPTP) Electoral System## Understanding the First Past the Post (FPTP) Electoral System ### Specification: * AQA Component 3.1.2.2: Elections and referenda: debates and issues surrounding the performance of different systems used in parliamentary elections * Edexcel Component 1, 3.3: Electoral system analysis: the impact of the electoral system on the government or type of government appointed; the impact of different systems on party representation. ### Background: The First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system is used in the United Kingdom’s parliamentary elections. It awards a seat to the candidate who receives the most votes in each constituency, regardless of the overall share of the vote received by their party. ### Potential Distortions under FPTP: Opinion polls suggest that the 2024 general election could produce a significant disparity between vote share and seat allocation. This is due to FPTP’s tendency to favor parties with geographically concentrated support. ### Arguments for FPTP: Defenders of FPTP argue that it promotes stable government by encouraging voters to support a single party. However, the article challenges this claim, pointing to cases where FPTP can lead to distorted election results and governments that do not reflect the overall will of the electorate. ### Alternative Electoral Systems: The article raises the possibility that the 2024 election results could fuel demands for a move to proportional representation (PR), which aims to ensure that the share of seats won by parties is more proportional to their vote share. PR systems are often associated with more fragmented parliaments and coalition governments. ### Questions: AQA Politics Paper 1: Evaluate the view that the First Past the Post system has a distorting effect on British election results. You must consider this vision and the alternative to it in a balanced way. Edexcel Politics Paper 1: Analyze how the First Past the Post electoral system impacts the composition and effectiveness of the British government. Consider both its advantages and disadvantages in this regard.
This article, handpicked by a teacher with suggested questions, is part of the Financial Times’ Free School Access Programme. Details/registration here.
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Specification:
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AQA Component 3.1.2.2: Elections and referenda: debates and issues surrounding the performance of different systems used in parliamentary elections
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Edexcel Component 1, 3.3: Electoral system analysis: the impact of the electoral system on the government or type of government appointed; the impact of different systems on party representation.
Background: What you need to know
If opinion polls are correct, the 2024 general election could see a record difference between vote share and seats won by the main political parties. Labor can win a huge majority of seats with 41 percent of the vote. The Liberal Democrats could win up to 50 seats with a lower share of the vote than Reform UK, who are likely to win a handful of seats.
This is because the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system favors parties whose support is geographically concentrated. The article also addresses the claim that defenders of FPTP often make, namely that it promotes stable government.
A crushing defeat for the Conservatives and Reform UK could fuel demands from the right to move to proportional representation — a cause until now associated with Liberal parties. Likewise, a victorious Labor Party will have little incentive to change the voting system.
Click on the link below to read the article and then answer the questions:
Brace yourself for the most distorted election result in British history
Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 1
Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 1
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Evaluate the view that the First Past the Post system has a distorting effect on British election results.
You must consider this vision and the alternative to it in a balanced way. (30 points)
TIP: Remember that both AQA and Edexcel require you to study three general elections: one before 1997, the 1997 election itself, and one since 1997. The 1983 election, mentioned in the article, is an excellent example of how FPTP skews produces elections. outcomes. Once the results are in, you can use 2024 data as a post-1997 example.
Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School
