Since 1998 the UK has used a form of proportional representation, a closed list system, to elect Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to conform to methods used by the other members. Britain was divided into 12 multi-seat geographically based constituencies (had previously been 87 single seat constituencies) varying in population size and in number of candidates. The party names are listed on the ballot paper, with voters being allowed to place a cross against their chosen party. The seats are divided between parties in proportion to the number of votes they receive (after the votes are counted a quota is calculated). Beforehand, each party draws up a ranked list of candidates. So, if a party wins three seats then the top three candidates on their list are appointed. The eligibility rules for voting and standing in European election are extremely similar to those for a general election, except that the embers of the church can stand as MEPs and candidates must be nominated by 30 people and pay a fee of £5000 to stand, although they need 5% of the vote or quarter of the quota to get it back. There are also spending limits for candidates. The single transferable vote is still used in for European elections in Northern Ireland.
To elect the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly a hybrid system is used, the Additional member system. The two countries are divided into single seat constituencies. Voters mark a cross against a named party candidate for that constituency with the candidate receiving the plurality of votes taking a seat. As well as this, there are top-up seats that are voted for using a closed list system, in Scotland these amount to 43% of the total seats and in Wales 33%. On the ballot papers, voters also choose a party from a list. These top up seats are allocated by dividing the number of list votes a party has received by the number of constituency seats won, + 1. The party with the highest score receives the first top-up seat. This calculation is repeated until all top up seats are allocated, with each top-up seat a party gains being added to their constituency seats in the formula to allow the top-up seats to partially counter disproportionality in the constituency voting.
How have Proportional Voting Systems affected party representation in the UK elections?
On June 13th 1999 Britain held European Elections using a closed regional list system, splitting the country into 11 multi-member constituencies, rather than the first past the post system.
The Conservative Party came out on top, gaining 41.4% (36 seats) of the seats available with a 34..2% share of the vote. Labour achieved 26.8% of the vote winning a third of the 97 seats available. The Lib Dem’s won 10 seats, receiving only 0.6% less share of seats then merited by the 12.1% share of the votes they received. Minor parties picked up individual seats and even two or three that they probably would not have won in a single seat plurality system.
Although this result may look to have benefited the Tories, the real benefactors of the change in system were Labour and the Liberal Democrats. In the 2001 election the winning party, Labour, won achieved approximately 50% more seats than proportional to the votes they obtained with the second party winning 20% less and the Lib Dems 65% less than proportional. Therefore the increase in proportionality has gained Labour and the Lib Dems a significantly larger share of representation in the European Parliament than they were likely to had the previous system been used, at the expense of the Conservative Party.
The elections for the Scottish Parliament are elected using a proportional system. The Additional member system combines first past the post with additional top up seats that are won using a formula that aim to correct disproportionality in the f.p.t.p. results. Using only the first past the post system Labour would have won 72.6% of seats despite only winning 38.8% of the vote. The SNP would have received only 9.6% of seats despite having only 10% less of the total vote than Labour. The Tories would have won no seats despite a 15% share of the vote. The Lib Dems would have gained 2%more seats than representative of their 14.2% share of the votes.
However, Labour won only 3 top up seats giving them 43.4% share of the total seats (5% more than proportional). They increased SNP seats by 400% and gave the Tories 18 seats. Overall, all parties bar Labour won a share of seats roughly within 2% of being proportional.
The same system was used o elect representatives for the Welsh assembly, except with a lower proportion of top-up seats. Labour’s 67.5% of constituency was reduced to 46.7% of total seats, in comparison to 37.6% of constituency votes. Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives won almost a proportional number of seats compared to the number of votes they received after they gained 40% each of the top up seats.
