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The UK's voting system is "broken" and can no longer be relied on to deliver stable single party government, according to a think tank.
A report from the institute for public policy research (ippr) published today finds that last year's general election result was determined by less than 450,000 people, fewer than two per cent of voters.
The report says the FPTP system of electing MPs to Parliament is "broken" and unfit for modern elections that are no longer a contest between just two main parties.
It argues that with the rise of smaller parties and the increasing concentration of the Labour and Conservative votes in their respective heartlands, the voting system makes single-party government less likely.
And the report highlighted that, under the present system, Labour needs only a three-point lead to secure a Commons majority at a general election while the Tories need an 11 point lead.
The ippr report said: "UK voters are fed up with a two-party politics which FPTP is struggling to sustain but which still militates against the electorate's desire for greater pluralism.
"In short, Britain has over the last 30 years evolved into a multi-party system which retains an electoral system designed for only two parties."
The publication comes ahead of the May 5 referendum on replacing first-past-the-post (FPTP) with the alternative vote (AV) system, under which voters rank candidates in order of preference.
The referendum was a crucial part of the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
While the Conservatives largely oppose replacing the current first-past-the-post system and the Lib Dems support it, Labour appears split on the issue.
High profile names within the party such as David Blunkett and Margaret Beckett oppose it while the leader, Ed Miliband, is supportive.
ippr director Nick Pearce said: "Britain now has a broken voting system that needs to be fixed. Unless first-past-the-post is reformed, the UK will be left with a voting system that neither delivers fair representation nor single-party government.
"The last election result was not an aberration but a reflection of long-term changes in voting patterns across the UK which significantly increase the likelihood of more hung parliaments in the future. Britain has evolved into a multi-party system, but it still has an electoral system designed for only two parties."
Article Comments
I don't agree with the comment that it is broken!
The first past the post system (or the alternative vote) will provide the 650 MP's (preferably this will be much less in the future) that the electorate decrees. It is the single party concept that is broken and unnecessary in this day and age.
John Charlesworth
4th Jan 2011 at 7:05 pm
The Senior Citizens Party (www.seniorcitizensparty.org.uk) fully supports the view of the IPPR that the UK election system is broken and unfit for purpose.
For six years we have consistently argued for proportional representation using the highly successful Scottish and Welsh Additional Member System which ensures that the number of seats allocated genuinely represents the number of votes cast.
It is also the only system which combines the traditional FPTP system for each consituency and yet ensures genuine proportional representation.
At the moment we have a ludicrously broken system with AMS for Scotland and Wales, Single Transferrable Vote (STV) in Northern Ireland, yet the English, who make up 85% of the population are condemned to the archaic FPTP system which guarantees the continuation of the two-party dictatorship and ensures that votes in 80% of all constituences are a complete waste of time and energy.
All UK citizens should have the same voting system and it must be genuinely proportional.
Grahame Leon-Smith
4th Jan 2011 at 1:29 pm
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