Politics - Elections

Parliament can run for a maximum of five years – it needs to be dissolved by the Queen before an election, and it can be dissolved at any time. If the government no longer has the majority or they lose a vote of confidence in the Commons then an election can be triggered.  An example of this is Jim Callaghan, who lost by one vote in 1979 (winter of discontent), he was then followed by Margaret Thatcher. The coalition government has passed a law fixing the date of elections every five years, the next occurring on May 7^th 2015. Up until now the Prime Minister fixed the date of elections. It has been a tradition to hold them on a Thursday since 1935.

 In order to vote you have to be on the electoral register in your constituency. You’re not automatically on the register even if you pay council tax. Around 45 million people are on the electoral registers. Citizens overseas can vote, but less than 15,000 of the estimated 5.5 million people actually do. There has been a big rise in the number of postal votes, 15% of all votes cast in 2005 were postal.

Who can’t vote?

·         Anyone under the age of eighteen.

·         Members of the House of Lords.

·         European Union citizens.

·         Citizens of any other country apart from the Irish Republic and Commonwealth countries.

·         People serving a sentence in prison. (However this is set to change)

Representation of the People Act:

·         1918- Men over 21 and women over 30.

·         1928- Universal suffrage- all adults over 21.

·         1969- All adults over 18.
You have the right to vote but it is not compulsory.

Who can stand in an election?
Any citizen over eighteen.

How do you win?
First Past the Post – whoever gains a majority on the constituency is elected. This means that national voting percentages are not reflected in the number of seats. Therefore the election comes down to marginals because most votes in safe seats are wasted. Labour won half the seats in 2005 but only had 35% of the vote. This has led to people voting tactically, trying to stop the party they dislike most rather than voting for their first choice.
Each candidate must give a deposit of £500 which is returned if they get at least 5% of the votes cast. Spoilt ballots, such as ones with no markings or too many markings are disqualified. There will be a recount if the vote is very close.