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Why single-party governments under First Past the Post fail to get things done

For all the talk of “strong government,” the reality of single-party rule under First Past the Post (FPTP) often looks anything but. Behind the scenes, these governments can be paralysed by internal battles, faction against...

Posted 29 Oct 2025

The real fights aren’t across the floor of the Commons but inside the ruling party itself

Latest YouGov poll shows multi-party Britain breaking the voting system

If there were a general election tomorrow, who would form the next government? It sounds like a simple question if you have access to the latest polls. But when the latest YouGov poll, released on...

Posted 28 Oct 2025

Britain deserves an electoral system that treats voters with respect

How First Past the Post helped apartheid take hold in South Africa

South Africa’s history shows how an electoral system can change everything. Sometimes, democracy’s biggest dangers aren’t coups or revolutions, but the quiet impact of the rules that decide who wins power. The First Past the...

Posted 14 Oct 2025

The danger of choosing a voting system that works for you today

We all have a party we lean toward. Maybe we’ve stuck with them for decades, maybe our loyalties shift with the times. But when it comes to how we elect our parliament, our choices shouldn’t...

Posted 08 Oct 2025

Distorting mirror of first past the post

First Past the Post could catapult Reform UK into government

A new YouGov MRP poll, published on 26 September 2025, provides another snapshot of the chaotic democratic outcomes being caused by First Past The Post (FPTP) in our era of multi-party politics. Although only a...

Posted 02 Oct 2025

Small changes in support result in wildly different outcomes

How many votes did Labour get in 2024?

On election night in 2024, the headlines celebrated a Labour landslide. Crowds cheered, pundits predicted a bold new direction, and the idea of a strong majority government dominated the conversation. But as the confetti settled,...

Posted 25 Sep 2025

Labour won a commanding majority, even though two-thirds did not vote for the party

Councillors keep winning with less than a third of the vote – what can England and Wales learn from Scotland?

Each week, usually on a Thursday, a number of local council by-elections take place around Britain. As with UK parliamentary by-elections, these take place when a representative either resigns or dies and there is a...

Posted 23 Sep 2025

Support for proportional representation hits record high according to new research

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has, this week, published the latest findings from their British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey. The survey has been conducted almost every year since its launch in 1983 and...

Posted 25 Jun 2025

“60% of the British public support proportional representation”

Are we going to see Mayors elected with even lower levels of public support in 2025?

Four Combined Authority mayors will be elected on 1 May 2025, but changes to the rules could see mayors taking power with little public support locally. Voters are going to the polls in the following...

Posted 24 Apr 2025

Mayors could be elected with the backing of fewer than 30 percent of voters

First Past the Post has played havoc with Canadian federal elections

Earlier this year, we wrote about Justin Trudeau’s regret at failing to deliver electoral reform during his near decade as Canada’s Prime Minister, despite first coming to power with a manifesto commitment to end First...

Posted 24 Apr 2025