Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

The present First Past the Post system used for elections in the UK has many flaws. There are many criticisms of it mainly because it does not provide Proportional Representation. The Electoral Reform Society is a pressure group set up in an attempt to prompt a referendum to change the voting system for Westminster. Electoral reform was also a feature in the Labour Party’s 2001 election manifesto, in which it stated “we will review the experience of the new systems and the Jenkins Report to assess whether changes might be made to the electoral system for the House of Commons”. Electoral Reform is clearly an issue that has been in the spotlight recently. The results of the 2001 general election attracted further criticism of the current system. Labour won a large majority with a minority of the votes. There was the worst voter turnout ever (59%) especially in constituencies where a party holds a safe seat. There were nearly 18million votes wasted on losing candidates and on surplus majorities. Half of the MPs were elected with the support of less than 50% of voters. Labour voters in the South of England were left unrepresented in the House of Commons and smaller parties were denied any voice, with the Liberal Demo