Should Proportional Representation Be Used In UK Elections?
Proportional representation is the representation of all parties in proportion to their popular vote. Various forms of proportional representation exist, such as a Party List System. The Closed List System is designed for multi-member constituencies – in effect a whole city, region or even country could be one constituency. Each party submits a list of candidates for a constituency, but electorate only vote for party. Seats allocated to each party in accordance with proportion of vote received. Then candidates allocated to seats, working down the list from the top.
There are three main types of proportional systems we can use. The first is the Single Transferable Vote (STV). The main features of a STV are that political parties are able to put up as many candidates as there are seats to fill in each constituency. Another feature is that candidates are elected if they only achieve a quote of votes. This quota is calculated on the basis of the Droop formula. Votes are also counted firstly according to preferences. If any candidate achieves the quote, additional votes for him or her are counted according to second or subsequent preferences. If this still leaves seats unfilled then candidates with the fewest votes are dropped out and his/her votes are redistributed according to the second or subsequent preferences.