Scotland’s Parliament still has too much First Past the PostWhen the Scottish Parliament was created, it was built to be different to Westminster. A system designed to reflect how all Scots voted, not just who comes first in each area. Scotland uses what is...Posted 25 Mar 2026
Is it possible to opt out of political leaflets through the letterbox?Written by Thomas Worth In the months leading up to elections, voters are often inundated with all sorts of literature from political parties and candidates. From leaflets to surveys, or even sudoku puzzles, political parties...Posted 19 Mar 2026
Why Holyrood’s voting system still favours larger partiesEveryone knows that First Past the Post favours the largest party. At the last Westminster election, Labour managed to turn 34% of the vote into 63% of parliament – a full 29 percentage points more....Posted 24 Feb 2026
What can the Effective Number of Parties tell us about First Past the Post?Written by Thomas Worth The results of the 2024 General Election were the most disproportional in British political history. The current Labour government was elected on just 33.7% of the vote, but took 63.2% of...Posted 19 Feb 2026
Why voting isn’t like drinking or smokingI’m pretty glad that 12-year-olds aren’t allowed to drive buses. We have age restrictions on many things for pretty good reasons in the UK, and preventing children from careering down the high street in a...Posted 19 Jan 2026
Why First Past the Post leaves most of us without voice in parliamentWe live in a country where each constituency has a single MP. Yet for most people this means the MP who “represents” them in parliament doesn’t share their politics, didn’t win a majority of the...Posted 15 Jan 2026
How First Past the Post turns politics into tribal warfarePoll after poll and headline after headline in the U.K may leave you with the impression of a country more divided than ever. This is never more obvious than in the seemingly daily polling notifications....Posted 10 Dec 2025
Forced to make a tactical vote? We shouldn’t have to vote for the least bad optionEvery election, millions of us head to the polling station in a conflicted state of mind – should I vote for the party I most believe in, or should tactical considerations come into play? Often,...Posted 20 Nov 2025
How First Past the Post lets people with fringe views slip through the netBritain’s First Past the Post system was designed for a two-party age. One that pretty much everyone agrees we no longer live in. Yet even when most people voted for one of the two big...Posted 13 Nov 2025
Why Electoral Commission independence mattersThis week, a new report from Spotlight on Corruption highlighted the impact of Electoral Commission independence to the UK’s democratic standing. The report lays bare just how far the UK has slipped since ministers were given...Posted 30 Sep 2025