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Report puts electoral systems under the microscope

10 March 2010

With the prospect of a hung Parliament increasing, Oxford Professor Iain McLean has co-authored a timely report which examines the pros and cons of changing the British electoral system for electing MPs and asks what system should be used for an elected second chamber.

'Choosing an Electoral System', published today by the British Academy, identifies the characteristics of the main types of electoral system and their variations now used around the world, and discusses their implications for the electorate and political parties.

The report establishes three criteria against which electoral systems should be judged: whether they produce a parliament whose members represent particular territorial constituencies; whether their outcomes are commensurate with the concept of proportional representation; and whether the electorate is able to choose candidates within as well as between parties.

The research report, prepared for the British Academy, aims to provide an accessible, non-technical introduction to electoral systems, how they operate and their outcomes relative to those criteria and trade-offs.

For a long time first-past-the-post has been the method for electing MPs, but a number of different electoral systems have been introduced in the UK in recent decades. They include elections for the European Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies, the London Assembly, the Mayor of London and local governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

While voters who use these different systems generally appreciate their nature and are able to apply them with little difficulty, the report aims to provide voters with more insight into the variety of voting systems on offer. Social scientists have conducted a great deal of research in this area. That body of work is summarised in the report as part of the Academy's programme of bringing the results of academic research into the public domain. 

Professor Iain McLean, from the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University and Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), said: 'Politicians talk a lot of nonsense about electoral systems. They decide which system suits their party, and cast around for arguments in support of that system. The people deserve better. So I am very grateful that the British Academy commissioned this report.'

The research report was prepared by Professor McLean in collaboration with Professor Simon Hix, Professor of European and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Professor Ron Johnston FBA, Professor of Geography at the University of Bristol; with research assistance from Angela Cummine, a doctoral student in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University.

To arrange an interview with Professor Iain McLean, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280534 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for Editors:

Full report is available at http://www.britac.ac.uk/templates/asset-relay.cfm?frmAssetFileID=9194

  • In their 2005 election manifestos, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both called for the House of Lords to become wholly or largely elected. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has now promised that the same commitment will appear in the next Labour manifesto. Unless one of the parties backtracks, the commitment will therefore appear in the 2010 manifestos of all three major parties. The House of Commons has voted for either an all-elected Lords or an 80 per cent elected Lords, and rejected all other options as to the composition of the Lords, in its last round of votes on the subject. The (unelected) Lords themselves have voted to remain unelected.

    As to the Commons, the House itself voted in February 2010 in favour of a referendum, to take place in 2011, on replacing the current 'first-past-the-post' electoral system by the system known as Alternative Vote (AV). Other referendums are possibly on the horizon, including one on the constitutional future of Scotland.