Voting systems explained
First Past the Post is a terrible system for electing governments. But what voting system should replace FPTP in the UK?
First Past the Post doesn't work well at any level
FPTP limits voter choice and leads to suboptimal results, whether we're talking about a club committee, a national parliament, or anything in between.
But what voting system should replace FPTP? Below, we explain several systems that have been proposed - almost all of them are in use in different parts of the world.
What do we want from a new voting system?
Before examining the detail of potential new systems, let's take a moment to discuss what we might want from a voting system. Some things may be obvious - for example, we want a system where parties win seats broadly in proportion to the votes they gained. But in fact there are many important considerations.
First Past the Post (FPTP)
FPTP is used in the UK for elections to Westminster and for local elections in England. Here's why we believe FPTP has to go.
How would a more proportional system fix things?
Replacing FPTP - the key contenders
List Systems
Additional Member System (AMS)
Supplementary vote (SV)
Alternative vote (AV)
Alternative Vote Plus (AV+)
Single Transferable Vote (STV)
Other voting systems
Some voting systems which are in use across the world didn't make it onto our "key contenders" list. You'll find details below.
