Country Studies / THE ELECTORIAL SYSTEM

THE ELECTORIAL SYSTEM

Parliamentary constituencies

Britain is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. Each constituency is a geographical area; the voters living within the area select one person to serve as a member of the House of Commons. The average number of electors in each constituency in England is about 70000; in other parts of Britain the average numbers are slightly lower.

The system of voting.

The simple majority system of voting is used in parliamentary elections in Britain. The means that the candidate with the largest number of votes in each constituency is elected, although he or she may not necessarily have received more than half the votes cast.

Voting is secret ballot.

Voters.

Who may vote

All British citizens may vote provided they are aged 18 years or over and not legally barred from voting. Subject to the same conditions, citizens of other Commonwealth countries and the Irish Republic who are resident in Britain may also vote at parliamentary elections. All voters must be registered as resident in a constituency on a specified date. British citizens living abroad may register to vote for up to 20 years after leaving Britain. British citizens who are working overseas as British Government employees also have the right to vote, regardless of how long they have been abroad.

Voting in elections is voluntary. On average about 75 per cent of the electorate voters.

Who may not vote

The following people are not entitled to vote in parliamentary elections:

• Peers, and peeresses in their own right, who are members of the House of Lords;

• Foreign nationals, other than citizens of the Irish Republic Resident in Britain;

• People kept in hospital under mental health legislation;

• People serving prison sentences;

• People convicted within the previous 5 years of corrupt or illegal election practices.

Postal and proxy voting

Voters who are likely to be abroad at the time of an election – for example, on holiday or business – or who are unable to voter in person at the pooling station, may apply for postal or a proxy vote.

Candidates

Any person aged 21 or over who is a British citizen, or citizen of another Commonwealth country or the Irish Republic, may stand foe election to Parliament, providing they are not disqualified.

Those disqualified include:

• People who are bankrupt;

• People sentenced to more than one year’s imprisonment;

• Clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church;

• Members of the House of Lords;

• A range of public servants and officials, specified by law. They include judges, civil servants, full-time members of the armed forces and police officers.

Opinion polls

As surveys of the views of the public? Opinion polls play a major part in the general election campaign process. Their findings are much discussed by the media and influence the parties’ campaigns.

During general election campaign almost all the national newspapers commission their own opinion polls. The media also report polls which relate to particular regions, groups of marginal constituencies and individual seats. In addition the major parties pay for their own private polling.

Manifestos

All Britain’s main political parties publish manifestos during general election campaigns. Such publications are the result of a considerable amount of work by senior party members in the period before elections are announced, and are intended to tell the electorate what the party would do if it formed the next government; they therefore cover party policy on a range of matters.

Manifestos are usually launched by each of the parties at press conferences in the first week or so of the campaign. They have titles which are in the form of slogans, designed to sum up thwe parties’ messaged.

Election agents and local parties

Each parliamentary candidate must appoint an election agent, and by the end of the period of the nomination of candidates the name and address of the agent must be given to the returning officer.

Agents are responsible for running the campaign and, in particular, for controlling expenses in line with the legal restriction on election campaign expenditure.

Canvassing

Canvassing involves local party workers visiting the homes of voters and asking them whether they intend to vote for their party’s candidate. During the campaign canvassing can provide candidates and their helpers with an indicate ion of people’s preferences.