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New Zealand’s MMP electoral system: how does it work?

New Zealand actor Jack Buchanan explains how MMP works in this music video created in partnership with the New Zealand Electoral Commission. Politics in New Zealand can look to outsiders to be much like politics...

Posted 14 Oct 2020

New Zealand MMP song

Is there proportional representation in Scotland?

For most of the 20th century, every election in Scotland was conducted under the First Past the Post system, from elections of MPs to local councillors. Much like in the rest of the UK, this...

Posted 05 Sep 2019

Compared to Westminster, the Scottish Parliament is very proportional

Which European countries use proportional representation?

Of the 43 countries most often considered to be within Europe, 40 use some form of proportional representation to elect their MPs. The UK stands almost alone in Europe in using a ‘one-person-takes-all’ disproportionate voting...

Posted 26 Dec 2018

Which countries in Europe use PR_

How does proportional representation work in Germany?

[Note: Germany updated their voting system for the 2025 election, and introduced new rules. You can find out about that in our article on the election] Elections to Germany’s Bundestag – Germany’s House of Commons...

Posted 18 Dec 2018

Proportionality and fairness makes this an improvement on Westminster

New Zealand election: Citizens make the most of fair votes

Saturday saw New Zealand go to the polls for its eighth election since they ditched the broken first past the post system and adopted Mixed-Member Proportional representation (MMP) in 1993. Mixed-Member Proportional is a variant...

Posted 27 Sep 2017

New Zealand parliament