Electoral systems · Notes

650 single-member constituencies; one cross per voter; the candidate with a plurality (most votes, not a majority) wins the seat. The party able to command the confidence of the Commons forms the government.

Strengths (2019 Pearson mark scheme)

• Strong and stable government - for decades, with only a few minor blips, single-party governments able to carry out their manifesto and be held accountable at the next general election.
• MP-constituency link - relatively small constituencies give every voter one clear, accessible representative.
• Clear and easy to understand - few spoiled ballots; results come fast.
• Keeps out extremist parties - their support is rarely concentrated enough to win seats.

Weaknesses (2019 Pearson mark scheme)

• Wasted votes damage legitimacy and discourage turnout - governments and MPs gain election with less than 50% of the vote and exercise majority power on a minority vote.
• Adversarial politics - a binary, winner-takes-all Parliament that negates the need for compromise.
• Extremes of policy change - incoming governments are driven to reverse their predecessors' work.
• Votes are not equal - safe seats and geography decide outcomes, deterring supporters of smaller parties.

The hybrid used in Scotland since 1999 and Wales 1999-2026. Each voter has two votes: one for a constituency member elected under FPTP, one for a party on a regional list elected under closed-list proportional rules. The list seats are top-up seats - allocated to correct the disproportionality produced by the FPTP half, so the chamber as a whole comes closer to the vote share.

• Strengths: keeps a local constituency member while correcting unfairness; lets voters split their two votes between parties; produces chambers where smaller parties win seats in line with support.
• Weaknesses: creates two classes of member (constituency and list); the closed list puts candidate order in the hands of party leaders; coalition or minority government is the norm, with policy settled by post-election negotiation.

STV - Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish councils

Multi-member constituencies. Voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3 and so on - across parties and within them. A candidate is elected on reaching the Droop quota; surplus votes from elected candidates and the votes of eliminated candidates transfer to next preferences until every seat is filled.

• Strengths: highly proportional; the widest voter choice of any UK system; very few wasted votes; suits power-sharing - the reason it was chosen for Northern Ireland.
• Weaknesses: complex counts; large multi-member areas dilute the single-MP link; coalition government is built in.

SV - mayors and PCCs until 2022

A majoritarian system for single-winner posts. The voter marks a first and a second choice; if no candidate has a majority of first choices, all but the top two are eliminated and second choices are added on. The winner has a broader mandate than a plain plurality - but a second choice only counts if it is for one of the top two. The Elections Act 2022 replaced SV with FPTP for these posts from 2024.

On the government appointed (P1.3.3.b)

FPTP usually delivers single-party majority government - often a manufactured majority: 43.6% became a majority of 80 in 2019; 33.7% became a majority of 174 in 2024. AMS and STV deliver coalition, minority or power-sharing government as the norm. But the 2022 mocks mark scheme notes the strain on FPTP's promise: the 2010-15 coalition and the 2017 confidence and supply agreement with the DUP show it can no longer guarantee single-party rule.

On party representation (P1.3.3.c)

FPTP rewards concentrated support and punishes spread support - in 2024 the SNP's 2.5% won more seats than Reform UK's 14.3%. At Westminster the system works in the interests of two parties, with vast numbers of safe seats (2022 mocks MS); in the devolved regions, multi-party systems have operated for decades, and the mark scheme attributes that directly to the different voting systems. By votes, 2024 was genuinely multi-party (six parties above 6%); by seats, FPTP still produced a single-party landslide.

On voter choice (P1.3.3.c)

FPTP offers one cross and, in safe seats, a result known in advance - which the 2019 mark scheme links to discouraged turnout and which drives tactical voting. AMS gives two votes that can be split; STV gives a full ranking, even between candidates of the same party. The counterweight: choice brings complexity, and closed lists hand power over candidate order to parties.

• Marks: 30, split AO1 10 / AO2 10 / AO3 10. The topic appears at Q1 (source) or Q2 (essay).
• Two views, weighed. Balance means both views are weighed - not that the answer fence-sits. A one-sided answer is capped at Level 2.
• On Q1, work from the source. AO2 and AO3 marks are only awarded where analysis and evaluation relate to information in the source; outside evidence earns its place only when it develops a source point.
• Pair the points. Each paragraph pairs an argument with its opposing argument and ends with an interim judgement - not all-agree-then-all-disagree.
• Themes, not systems. Structure by theme (government, representation, the voter), running the systems against each other inside each one.
• Use post-2024 evidence. Contemporary examples are preferred, and for 2026 sittings the 2024 election material is essential.
• Conclusions justify. Answer the question with reasons; do not list the paragraph themes again.