General election 2015
The UK electoral system now decisively favours the Conservatives
The previous Coalition government attempted to redraw the boundaries of the UK’s Parliamentary constituencies in order to remove a perceived bias against them, and towards the Labour Party. Though contentious, it was reckoned that the system made it harder to win a majority for the Conservatives than it did for Labour. Tim Smith argues that […]
The 2015 General Election was free, but not necessarily fair
The 2015 election result shows just how absurdly unfair our voting system is. To change it we need political pressure from a movement for democratic renewal outside of Parliament, argues Peter Evans. Similar PostsStrategic voting in the 2015 general election: why Liberal Democrats didn’t vote for their own partyIn the 2015 General Election campaign, politicians […]
The UK is at a constitutional crossroads and major change is needed if it is to work effectively
The The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law undertook a major Review of the implications of devolution as it is developing for the UK as a whole. Here, Alan Trench summarises the main findings of the report, and highlights its specific proposals for a Charter of the Union, a reformed system of funding, and […]
The contest in Bradford West shows British democracy in all its technicolour glory
A passionate contest in Bradford West, which pitted the incumbent Respect party MP George Galloway against the Labour Party’s challenger Naz Shah was one of the highlights of Britain’s 2015 general election. Parveen Akhtar tells the remarkable story of the election from a changing city. Similar PostsPolitical parties need to take greater responsibility for Pakistani and […]
The 2015 General Election shows why we need a ‘None of the Above’ option on ballot papers
The 2015 General Election saw a Conservative majority government returned (albeit on a minority of the vote) for the first time since 1992. While the First Past the Post electoral system may be disproportionate and antiquated, Jamie Stanley of the None of the Above campaign argues that a more pressing matter is introducing a ‘None […]
Three more years of Cameron – but it will be a rocky road ahead
Confounding the pollsters and the pundits, voters in England have given David Cameron another three years as Prime Minister, collapsed the Liberal Democrats to a shell and dashed the Labour elite’s dream of edging back into power via a minority government. Patrick Dunleavy unravels what was and was not historic in the 2015 general election results. Similar […]
The election has transformed Scottish politics, and created a context where another referendum is possible
The SNP have swept the electoral map in Scottish, winning all but three seats. With a Conservative government south of the border, Craig McAngus argues that the ‘significant change’ threshold put on another referendum by the SNP may now have been breached. The SNP have won 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats. This is an unprecedented […]
Follow the LSE’s General Election 2015 live-blog
Democratic Audit UK Managing Editor Sean Kippin and Research Assistant (and Democratic Dashboard lead) Carl Cullinane are joining with our LSE colleagues Joel Suss, Cheryl Brumley, Stuart Brown, Jack Blumenau, and Chris Gilson to bring you up to the minute coverage of tonight’s General Election count, on the LSE General Election blog. Click here to […]
The exit poll in 2010 was almost exactly correct, but what is it, and how does it actually work?
At 10pm on election day, the ballots will close, and the counting will begin. It may be many hours before it becomes clear which party has the most seats in the new parliament, and many days until we know which parties will form the next government. However, shortly after the 10 o’clock deadline, broadcasters will release […]
First-Past-the-Post means that many constituencies are foregone conclusions, so how much power do voters really have?
Of the many indicators of various kinds hosted on the constituency pages of the Democratic Dashboard , none gets such a reaction as the Voter Power Index. In this article, Carl Cullinane explains how, because of the UK’s First Past The Post electoral system, some voters come to wield far more influence than others. Not […]
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