Advantages and Disadvantages of First Past the Post System.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of First Past the Post System

The simple plurality system, commonly known as the First Past the Post System (FPTP), was designed in 1885 by the Conservatives and the Liberals to ensure that radical parties would not win any seats in parliament. Just over 650 single member constituencies send one MP to parliament, from all across the UK. The number of candidates has no bearing on the result of the election as the candidate with the greatest vote is the winner, even if the majority do not vote for the winner.

One of the greatest advantages of the FPTP is that it tends to give the larger proportion of the total seats than its proportion of the votes, with the largest party usually having a clear majority. This ensures that the need of a coalition government tends to remain low, which is an advantage as coalition governments usually require a lot of negotiation and deals before a government can be formed. Moreover, FPTP ensures that the voting system is both easy to understand and simple to operate.

Another advantage of the system is that every constituency gets an MP that looks after the