Despite the Labour party winning an unprecedented majority of 174 - the largest any party in the UK has achieved since 1832 the party’s share of the vote only increased by 1.7% to 33.8%; hardly a winning endorsement. Turnout was approximately 60% which is the lowest since 2001. The LibDems who have regularly campaigned for PR may now be changing their tune. Due to the nature of how the party’s support is clustered in particular geographical areas the LibDems they have disproportionately from FPTP. The LibDems polled 3,499,933 or 12.2% of vote and received 71. Reform UK in contrast has it support thinnly spread across the UK. The party polled 4,091,549 or 14.3% but on won four seats.
It’s crazy how it’s an almost Blair-style majority, and yet if you look at the numbers it’s more of a Conservative loss than a Labour win.
Standard FPTP things, I guess.
Oppositions don’t win elections, governments just lose them.
I don’t think that’s always true, but it’s true in this case.
Plaid Cymru, Greens and Reform party each having 4 seats despite having a 2000% gap in votes is kind of hilarious.
Even if I’m happy with the result and changing the system would afford far-right crazies a little bit more power, we still need to change the FPTP system.
Workers Party with 0 seats. Maybe Galloway will finally disappear for good now.
Sadly, he’s a complete chancer and opportunist, so he’ll creep his way back somewhere no doubt.
I loved Neil Kinnock’s reaction on the BBC last night when the news came in of Galloway losing in Rochdale.
We can but hope but the chancer will be back… sadly.
The LibDems who have regularly campaigned for PR may now be changing their tune. Due to the nature of how the party’s support is clustered in particular geographical areas the LibDems they have disproportionately from FPTP. The LibDems polled 3,499,933 or 12.2% of vote and received 71.
Yeah this is nonsense. The Lib Dems still got a smaller % of the seats (11.3%) than they did of the votes (12.2%). They’re getting better at navigating the electoral reality of FPTP but it is still disadvantaging them. They’re not about to give up a century-long campaign for voting reform because in one election in one year, FPTP was only somewhat unfair to their voters…
A huge majority that relies on a large number of marginal wins. They have 5 years to build those individual wins into secure wins.
