Electoral Reforms Uk

ESSAY

The debate over electoral reform is a longstanding one. It has been around for decades and in true terms it is a debate over whether the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system should be scrapped for a new one or not. The issue is of the most importance to political parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Green party who feel that they are suffering at the hands of the current majoritarian system known as FPTP. They argue that the first-past-the-post system not only makes the party with the most votes victorious but it makes them dominant throughout the political scene of the country which hurts the real representation of the rights and interests of the people and parts of the nation who do not support or agree with the policies and Manifesto of the winning party. These political parties have spoken against the current electoral system with the chants of “fair voting” and perhaps, their loud chants might have finally been heard as illustrated by the 2010 elections. However, the legitimacy of the demand for electoral reform can be questioned. It can be argued that the effort to make the opinions of every citizen count is in reality a step to get into power and stay there. Political parties such as the Liberal Democrats could only be looking to take the political dominance from the hands of the political giants and keeping it for their own use instead of putting an end to it.

Dwelling on the demerits of the current electoral system can lead one to believe that the current system needs to be changed yet the other systems are by no means perfect either. The alternatives to FPTP do not guarantee to have a significant impact on the election results. Studies have shown that the Alternative Vote (AV) system, which looks to be the preferred replacement for FPTP in the case of an electoral reform, would not have had much impact on the outcome of the 2010 general elections (Travis 2010). According to the data compiled by the Electoral Reform Society, the...