First Past the Post would have given the AfD nearly every seat in Saxony-AnhaltThere has been much coverage in recent days of the outcome of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, which lies in eastern Germany. It is unusual for regional elections in other countries to generate such debate...Posted 10 Sep 2026
How Scotland’s Holyrood elections work will work this MayThe 2024 General Election in Scotland was a one-sided affair. Scottish Labour won 35.3% of the vote in Scotland and 64.9% of the available seats. While the SNP came a narrow second place on 30%...Posted 23 Apr 2026
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
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
Is the Scottish Parliament designed to stop a majority?As we approach the next Scottish parliamentary election, there’s a familiar narrative creeping into the conversation: that the system of proportional representation used in Holyrood is somehow ‘designed to stop a majority.’ It’s a catchy...Posted 15 Oct 2025
Fairer results and real representation: 25 years of PR on the London AssemblyToday marks 25 years since the London Assembly was formally launched. This means, a quarter of a century ago, the people of London gained a new voice – and an ability to elect their new...Posted 03 Jul 2025
Exploring the proportional outcome of Germany’s 2025 Federal electionWith around 84.5 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous country in western Europe. A German Federal election, where representatives are elected to the Bundestag (Germany’s national parliament), is therefore always an important event. From...Posted 24 Feb 2025
How does proportional representation work?Proportional representation (PR) is not a voting system in itself. Instead, it’s the idea that seats in parliament should reflect the proportion of votes cast; something which can be achieved through a variety of electoral...Posted 05 Sep 2024
How the 2024 election could have looked with proportional representationAnd the results are out. This election has the biggest difference ever between how we voted and the MPs that now represent us. This was the first election ever where four parties got over 10%...Posted 05 Jul 2024
How many countries around the world use proportional representation?This article was updated in November 2025. Proportional representation is the most popular form of democracy for countries in the world today. Proportional Representation isn’t one electoral system though, it’s the simple idea that the...Posted 20 Mar 2023