It occurs to me that my American readers may not be fully conversant with the British electoral system, and may consequently not understand how such a small percentage of the population can elect a government.
The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. Each constituency elects its own member of parliament. There are 533 constituencies in England, 59 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland. The population in each constituency averages 72,200 in England, 67200 in Scotland, 68,300 in Northern Ireland and 56,000 in wales.
In each constituency, any number of candidates can run for office. As an example, the Cities of London and Westminster constituency at the last election had an electorate of 63,700. The turnout was 67.1%. The winning conservative candidate received 17,049 votes, The other five candidates combined received 25,674 votes, as follows Liberal Democrats 13,096, Labour 11,624, Green Party 728, Christian Peoples Alliance 125 and Liberals 101.
So, in effect, the winning conservative candidate received 39.9% of the votes cast, but it represents only 26.7% of the electorate. But as he received more votes individually that the other candidates he is declared the winner. Not only that, but he is said to have a Majority of 3,953, because that’s how many more votes he received than the next candidate. The fact that other candidates received 10,625 more votes is not even considered in what is called the ‘first past the post’.
Within this system, someone could have a Majority of 1 and still be elected. So when you run this kind of arithmetic across 650 constituencies, that is how 20% of the population can elect a governing party. The leader of the elected party is then chosen as the Prime Minister. Each party elects its own leader in different ways.
The Conservative Party Leader is chosen from a short list of two, which is determined by a series of votes by Conservative Members of Parliament through nominations by other members and a series of elections whitling the choice down to two. The whitling down process is achieved by eliminating the candidates with the fewest votes after each election. The whole of the Conservative Party membership then elects the leader from the two remaining candidates.
As to the Labour Party, these are the current rules:
Summary Nominations
If a vacancy arises: A candidate needs to be
nominated by 10% of the total number of MPs in the Parliamentary
Labour Party (PLP) and either:
• 5% of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) Or
• At least three affiliate organisations (two
of which must be trade unions) which represent a
minimum of 5% of the affiliated membership. If
an incumbent is challenged:
• A candidate needs to be nominated by 20% of
the combined total of MPs prior to the
annual session of Party conference. An
incumbent is not required to be nominated and is automatically on the ballot.
Voting
The General Secretary of the Party is the
returning officer. The precise voting eligibility criteria are defined by
Labour’s National Executive Committee. The freeze date for eligibility to vote
shall be not less than 2 weeks after the approved timetable is announced and
not less than 3 weeks before the deadline for receipt of ballot papers, with no
qualifying period of membership prior to the freeze date Eligible party
members, affiliates and registered supporters each have one ballot. Voting is
by preferential ballot. Candidates are ranked 1,2,3 etc. The winner must secure
over 50% of the valid votes counted. If no winner achieves over 50% on the
first count, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and
the second preferences from their voters are redistributed. If no candidate
receives over 50% of the votes after second preferences are taken into account
subsequent counts are conducted, with the lowest polling candidate eliminated
and their ballots redistributed in accordance with second (or third, fourth
etc) preferences from their electors’ ballots.
Liberal Democrat leadership elections officially use the single transferable vote system, but they are effectively conducted under the alternative vote, as there is only one winner. All party members are entitled to vote under a one member, one vote method.[15] Candidates must be an MP, and must be nominated by at least one other Liberal Democrat MP. Proposed candidates must also have 200 supporters across 20 or more local parties, including the Young Liberals
As to general elections, whichever party has 326 or more members elected is the party whose leader is asked to form a government by the sovereign. Thus it is the leader of that party who becomes Prime Minister. At present there are about 485000 members of the Labour Party, 180000 members of the conservative party, 115000 members of the Liberal Democratic party, and 12500 members of the Scottish National Party.
On those numbers, the current Prime Minister was
chosen by 0.26% of the population of the United Kingdom. One quarter of one
percent of the people of this country have chosen its Political Leader. Were
the labour party in government it would not be much better at just over two
thirds of one percent. It should be noted that Boris Johnson was elected leader and consequently prime minister, without there having been a general election. It was purely a leadership matter with the resignation of Teresa May. A general election followed much later.
Not even the anomalies of the electoral college in the United States can create such figures.
The electorate of the United Kingdom operate under the illusion, when they go to the polls, that they are electing the leader of the country, yet the Prime Minister’s name only appears on one ballot, the ballot in his own constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. (Boris did in fact win 52% of the vote in his constituency, and although he claims a majority of 7210, his actual majority is 2515.)
I find it difficult to understand how this country can call itself a democracy when its electoral system is so disconnected with what actual democracy means.
de·moc·ra·cy (dĭ-mŏk′rə-sē)
n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies
1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.
The majority has clearly never ruled, and consequently any elected representative not so elected is hardly representative. As a result this is not a political or social unit with a democratic government and the common people of this country are more likely to be considered as a source of infection rather than power.
About the only principle the British claim to really value is item five on the above list, and although it is held as the foundation of the rule of law, it is very fragile in its adherence.
This country’s clinging to its antiquated and hideously anti-democratic system of electing representative government is an outrage. The hypocrisy of public service as jobs for the boys and girls in the right percentile is a disgrace. Its claim as one of the world’s leading democracies is a sham. It is a counterfeit of what it professes to be.
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