Key learning points

1. There are two main voting systems: first-past-the-post and proportional representation.
2. Advantages of first-past-the-post are: it produces a clear winner. However, winners might have little public support.
3. Advantages of proportional representation include fairer representation. However, it can lead to coalition governments.

Keywords

• Election - the voting process to select a person for a public position

• General election - when the citizens of a country (the electorate) vote to elect a new government; a general election in the UK happens at least every five years

• Constituency - the specific geographical area that is represented by each Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons

• First-past-the-post - the voting system used in the UK to elect members of some local councils and Members of Parliament, whereby the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins

• Proportional representation - an electoral system where political parties get a number of seats in Parliament that matches the percentage of votes they receive in an election

Common misconception