New report shows ‘dramatic’ boost to voters’ voice with fairer voting systems in Scotland, Wales and London

A new report from the UK’s leading pro-democracy group has revealed a huge contrast between elections for the proportionally-elected  Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and London Assembly compared to the House of Commons, with voters securing a ‘fair votes bonus’ in representation across the board when using PR.

Here to Stay: Two Decades of Proportional Representation in Britain from the Electoral Reform Society celebrates two decades of proportional representation in Britain showing clearly the benefits of PR over Westminster’s broken electoral system.

It finds that in Scotland, Westminster results there are four times more disproportionate of voters’ choices as at Holyrood, which uses a proportional system. The researchers found a similar picture on the London Assembly and Welsh Senedd.

The report marks the anniversary of the Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997 on July 31st, which paved the way for PR-elected devolved government in Scotland and Wales. July 31st also marks Make Votes Matter’s ‘Make Noise for PR’ day of action – shining a light on the failings of the one-party voting system at Westminster [1].

It features endorsements of proportional representation from figures including Labour’s Clive Lewis MP, Green AM Caroline Russell, former Welsh Deputy First Minister Baroness Randerson, and Cllr Dave Dempsey, the Conservative opposition leader of Fife council. Here to Stay has been backed by 650 voters in Wales, Scotland, and London.

Testimony of voters in each of these areas emphasises how voters can feel much more engaged in the democratic system when they feel their vote counts.

It comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel mooted plans to impose First Past the Post for mayoral and PCC elections in England and Wales, a policy the ERS says would ‘turn the clock back’ on democracy [2].

The ERS is calling for a shift from ‘one party takes all’ results at Westminster to a proportional system such as the Single Transferable Vote [3], which lets voters rank candidates by preference in multi-member constituencies.

  
Key findings: 

Scotland – Westminster results are four times more warped/disproportionate as Holyrood

• Across the last seven UK general elections, the largest party has won on average 75 percent of Scottish seats with just 43 percent of the votes.  

• Across the six Scottish Parliament elections during the same period, the average seat share for the largest party is a much fairer 45 percent of seats, having received 37 percent of regional list votes. 

• The average difference between overall seat share and regional list vote share for the largest party across Scottish Parliament elections is just 8 points, versus almost four times that - a ‘staggering chasm’ of 32 points  between seat share and vote share - for Westminster FPTP elections. 

Wales – Westminster results are nearly twice as warped/disproportionate as the Senedd

• Across the last seven UK general elections, the leading party has on average got over 71 percent of seats, based on just 44 percent of votes cast – a disproportionality score (DV) of 27 points 

• Across the six Senedd elections held in the same period, the largest party has won 48 percent of seats, having received 34 percent of regional list votes, producing a more balanced and representative Senedd 

• The mean difference between vote share and seat share for the largest party across Senedd elections is just 15 points - roughly half the DV score of 27 for Westminster FPTP elections 

London – Westminster results are nearly three times as warped/disproportionate as the Senedd

• Across the last seven UK general elections, the largest party has won on average 66 percent of London seats on the basis of just 46 percent of votes.  

• Across the six London Assembly elections during the same period, the average result for the largest party is a much fairer 42 percent of seats, having received 35 percent of regional list votes. 

• The mean difference between vote share and seat share for the largest party across Assembly elections is just 7 points versus 20 for Westminster FPTP elections. 

The UK-wide disproportionality score in 2019 was 16 – meaning Scotland’s PR Holyrood result was half as warped (with a similar finding for the London Assembly). Further new data available in the report.

The ERS predicted with 100% accuracy the result in the majority (56%) of England’s seats – 300 of them – before polling day, at the 2019 General Election. “For the 16 million-plus voters in these seats, it may have felt like there was barely an election happening at all,” the ERS notes [4]. Around 14.5 million voters were unrepresented across the UK – i.e. they didn’t pick the one winner in each seat. The ERS says it’s a marked contrast to proportional representation in the devolved areas.

Dr Jess Garland, Director of Policy and Research, Electoral Reform Society said: 

“After more than two decades of proportional representation being used for elections to devolved bodies in each nation of Britain, it is clearer than ever that Westminster’s First Past the Post system is an outdated anomaly. 

“This report shows how PR produces much fairer outcomes in Scotland, Wales and London than Westminster’s warped First Past the Post system. PR gives voters real representation and the comfort of knowing that their vote will count. 

“It’s clear that English voters are being left behind, short-changed by our electoral system and, all too often, they see their votes cast aside on the scrap heap come election time .

“It’s time England and Westminster caught up. Reform is long overdue to ensure that all elections in the UK are run via proportional representation and First Past the Post is consigned to history.” 

[Quotes from Scottish and Welsh ERS Directors, and voters, available on request] 

Clive Lewis MP  (Labour)  said: 

“We can learn so much about the success of PR in Scotland, Wales and London. Giving all voters a voice and having politicians that work together to get things done is a far cry from the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster.  

“A lack of democracy in the U.K. has led us to climate breakdown and a second gilded age of hoarded wealth and power. We need more democracy, not less if our politics is to be made fit for the decades to come. Yet our electoral system is out of sync with the culture and people it's supposed to serve and represent.” 

Cllr Caroline Russell AM (Green) said: 

“PR would bring a diversity of voices into Westminster. When I stand up in the Islington Council chamber, I represent somewhere between 17 and 19% of Islington residents – but I’m just 2% of the seats in the chamber. In the London Assembly – I stand with other Greens, and we have among that body a proportionate presence.”  

Cllr Dave Dempsey  (Conservative)  said: 

“Using PR in Scotland removes the need for voters to vote for something they don't want, to stop them getting something they want even less. There aren’t all that many who want to go back to before the 2007 switchover to PR.”   

Former Welsh deputy first minister Baroness Jenny  Randerson  (Lib Dem)  said: 

“As a politician in a PR system, you are all looking over your shoulder - because there’s other people picking up your caseload, picking up campaigns and so on. You have to try harder to be successful.”  

ENDS  
 
Notes to editors  
 
Embargoed link available here:   https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Here-to-Stay-Two-Decades-of-PR-in-Britain.pdf
   
[1] https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/make-noise-for-pr 

[2] Home Secretary plans: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-london-mayor-voting-b1818148.html  

[3] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/single-transferable-vote/

[4] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-2019-general-election/