electoral system: UK

In England, elections have been used as a parliamentary process since the 13th century. The secret ballot was adopted in 1872 and full equal voting rights won for women in 1928. All registered members of the public aged 18 and over may vote in parliamentary elections. The British House of Commons is elected for a maximum of five years; the prime minister can call a general election at any time.

The calling of an election - the election writ The royal proclamation announcing the dissolution of Parliament and the summoning of a new Parliament is the authorization for the writs for a general election. The decision to dissolve Parliament is made by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Under the Parliament Act 1911 the maximum duration of a Parliament is five years.

A general election normally takes place within 21 days of a dissolution, although the announcement that the prime minister intends to advise a dissolution may take place several days before the date of dissolution. Vacancies in the House of Commons between general elections are filled by means of by-elections.

Between 1715 and 1911 the maximum duration of a Parliament was seven years and between 1694 and 1715 it was three years. Parliament may, however, extend its own life by act of Parliament, but such an act must have the consent of the House of Lords. In this way the life of Parliament was extended in both world wars. In practice, general elections are normally held at less than five-year intervals, much depending on political circumstances, notably when the incumbent prime minister thinks an election will be most to their party's advantage. On average, since 1900 elections have been held between every three and four years. On two occasions in the 20th century two elections have been held in one year: in 1910 and 1974.

By-elections A writ for a by-election is issued by the clerk of the Crown on receipt of the Speaker's warrant. When the House of Commons is in session the Speaker's warrant is issued following the passing of a motion moved by the chief whip of the party to which the former MP belonged. When the House is in recess the Speaker issues a warrant when two MPs (one of whom is usually the chief whip of the former MP's party) certify that a seat is vacant, but the Speaker cannot do so if the vacancy is caused by the insanity of the sitting member, nor where the sitting member has accepted the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds (resigned). Such vacancies must wait until the House is in session. In all cases except where the former member was an Independent, the date of the by-election is determined by the party to which they belonged.

A by-election must be held not less than 11 or more than 21 days after the issue of the writ. In practice, the time between a seat becoming vacant and the by-election being held is often prolonged while the party which held the seat awaits an opportune moment to hold the election. For example, the Newcastle-under-Lyme seat remained vacant for nearly nine months in 1969. During a Parliament of normal length there are likely to be between 15 and 25 by-elections.

Nomination of candidates The House of Commons consists of 659 members, each representing a single-member constituency. Uncontested elections are now rare, the last at a general election occurring in 1950. Each candidate must be nominated by a proposer, a seconder, and eight other electors. In practice, the overwhelming majority of candidates are nominated by political parties. Furthermore, the majority of the party candidates are nominated by the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties, although since the 1970s the Welsh and Scottish Nationalist parties have fought all or most of the constituencies in Wales and Scotland respectively. Each candidate must place a deposit with the returning officer for the constituency and this sum is forfeited if the candidate fails to poll a certain proportion of the total number of votes cast.

Election campaigns and expenses The election expenses of each candidate are strictly controlled. The purposes of election expenses are also strictly controlled and all expenses must be declared and published. All election literature must include the name and address of the publisher (usually the candidate's election agent) and of the printer. Each candidate is allowed, however, to send one electoral communication (usually his electoral address) free to every elector in the constituency.

These provisions apply to the election campaigns of individual candidates; they do not apply to the nationwide campaigns conducted by the parties. There are, however, restrictions on the number and duration of election broadcasts on radio and television by agreement between the parties and the broadcasting authorities. Any party with 50 or more candidates secures a share of broadcasting time. Parties may not purchase broadcasting time at all and it is an offence to purchase time on foreign radio stations. There is no restriction, however, on the purchase of advertising space in newspapers and other journals, nor on advertising hoardings. All broadcasts, newspaper, and other advertisements must support the interests of the party generally, otherwise they will be counted against the election expenses of a particular candidate.

Corrupt practices In earlier times British elections were notoriously corrupt, but the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872 and the passing of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act 1883 have virtually eliminated corruption. A person found guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice is disqualified from voting for five years in a parliamentary election. In contrast to the rest of the UK, however, examples of personation (the impersonation of voters) and intimidation have been fairly common in Northern Ireland.

The parliamentary franchise To qualify as an elector in a parliamentary election in a particular constituency a person must be resident in that constituency on the annual qualifying date (10 October), be a British citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, of at least 18 years of age (21 before 1969), and not be subject to any legal disqualification. The latter includes peers, other than Irish peers, convicted persons detained in penal institutions, people found guilty of corrupt or illegal practices, and, in practice, people detained voluntarily or otherwise in a mental hospital.

The electoral register is compiled annually and comes into force on 15 February following the qualifying date of 10 October. Lists of electors are publicly displayed to enable voters to ensure that their names have been included. Provision is also made for people who will attain the age of 18 during the life of the register to be included on the register and to vote at any election held after they are 18.

Electors who are unable to vote in person because of their occupation (including members of the services), physical incapacity, or change of address, may apply for a postal or proxy vote. Postal or proxy votes are not available to electors absent from the constituency on holiday. Each elector is entitled to a single vote and may not vote in more than one constituency, although it is not illegal to be on the electoral register in more than one constituency, provided the residential qualifications can be satisfied. Prior to 1950, however, plural voting existed in that some electors lived in constituencies that returned two MPs and each elector had two votes. Moreover, university graduates were entitled to vote in elections for MPs representing university seats and owners of business premises were entitled to vote in the constituency in which the premises were located as well as in the constituency in which they resided.

The poll The conduct of the election in each constituency is the responsibility of the returning officer, whose duties are usually carried out by a local government official. Since the general election of 1918 polling or voting has taken place in all constituencies on the same day. Prior to this, polling was spread over three to four weeks. Since 1935 polling day has always been a Thursday and more recently by-elections have been held on Thursdays. This is regarded as the most convenient day of the week, since it allows for the maximum number of days in the last week of the campaign, without encroaching on the following weekend, bearing in mind that the counting of votes in some constituencies does not commence until the day after polling.

Voters are provided with polling cards which direct them to specified polling stations located in different parts of the constituency. The polling stations open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. Since the Ballot Act 1872 voting has been secret and, in the privacy of a polling booth, the voter records a vote by placing a X against the name of the candidate of their choice. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order on the ballot paper and a description of each candidate, of up to six words, is included. This provision was introduced in 1969 and enables candidates to state which party they represent. Prior to 1969 party labels were not allowed on the ballot paper. The voter then places the ballot paper in a ballot box and, after the close of the polls, all ballot boxes are sealed and taken to a central location in the constituency to be counted. The electoral system or method of counting votes in Britain is known as the simple plurality or ‘first-past-the-post’ system, since the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins the election in that constituency.

In many constituencies the counting begins as soon as the polls have closed and the first results of a general election are usually known little more than an hour after the polls have closed. Results continue to be declared throughout the night, but in many rural constituencies counting does not begin until the following day. Which party has won the general election by winning most seats in the House of Commons is usually clear in the early hours of the morning, unless the overall result is very close. Indeed, with the aid of computers, forecasts of the final outcome are made as soon as the first results are declared. Television commentators were able to predict Labour's landslide victory in the May 1997 general election within minutes of the polls closing.

Stringent rules ensure the secrecy of the vote and the accuracy of the count. Ballots over which there is some doubt as to the intention of the voter are carefully scrutinized and the returning officer may declare certain papers ‘spoiled’ or invalid. In the event of a close result or where a candidate is in danger of losing his or her deposit because he or she has failed to secure the required minimum number of votes cast, a candidate may demand a recount, and in some cases several recounts may occur. In the event of a tie the winner is, in theory, chosen by lot. As soon as the result is known the returning officer publicly announces it and in due course is required to return the election writ, endorsed with the name of the successful candidate, to the clerk of the Crown.

Disputed elections If it is alleged that the elected candidate is disqualified from sitting in Parliament, or that a candidate has engaged in bribery, corruption, or intimidation of electors, or that people ineligible to vote have voted in the election, the case is referred to an election court. This consists of two High Court judges who may, according to the evidence, declare the election void or declare the candidate with the next highest number of votes elected. In the past, disputed elections were not uncommon, but they are now comparatively rare and are mostly concerned with alleged disqualification of the successful candidate.

Effects of the first-past-the-post system The simple first-past-the-post system of voting has an important effect on elections since it is possible in a given constituency for a candidate to be elected with only a relative majority of votes (although he or she is the candidate with the most votes, the combined votes of all other candidates may be greater in number). This can, of course, only occur where there are three or more candidates, but since this is not uncommon, such results are not rare. Furthermore, too heavy a concentration of votes in particular areas may result in a party winning only a few constituencies, but with large majorities; conversely, too wide a dispersal of votes may result in a party winning few seats, but securing a large national vote.

These two factors mean that the relationship between votes and seats is not proportionate, but is distorted, usually in favour of the party which wins the election, sometimes in favour of the two largest parties, and almost always at the expense of minority or third parties. Thus at no general election since 1935 has the winning party won an absolute majority of the votes cast, yet, with the exception of February 1974, the winning party has always had an absolute majority of the seats in the House of Commons. It would be wrong to conclude, however, that Britain has a two-party system because of its electoral organization. The two-party system is the product of complex social and historical forces, of which the electoral procedure is only a part. Proposals for the introduction of a system of proportional representation (PR) have been resisted by both the Conservative and Labour parties, since it is largely they who would suffer most by its introduction, and favoured by the minor parties, especially the Liberal Democrats, since it is they who would be its main beneficiaries.

Electoral behaviour in Britain Electoral behaviour in Britain is characterized by a considerable degree of homogeneity and the movement of support (or swing) from one party to another at a general election is usually maintained fairly uniformly over the whole country. The rise of the Welsh and Scottish Nationalists, especially the latter, has modified this situation to some extent, but it is not clear how far support for these parties is tactical (calculated to have a maximum impact on the position of the two major parties in a given constituency) as opposed to genuine support for nationalist policies. A further characteristic is that the electorate is fairly evenly divided between the two major parties, so that both parties have a reasonable expectation of winning the next election, and no system of ‘ins’ and ‘outs’, by which one party is more or less permanently in power and its rival more or less permanently in opposition, has developed.

Each of the major parties commands the solid allegiance of about 30% of the electorate, while the Liberals command perhaps 8-10%, the nationalists a much smaller figure (although larger within their respective areas), leaving 30% of the electorate as ‘floating voters’. It is the votes of this 30%, coupled with the determination of the ‘solid’ party voters to turn out, which determines the outcome of elections in Britain.