UK Politics Thread

They also don't use PRSTV, they use the D'Hondt system based on party list. You only get to mark an X against the party of your choice.

So say there's a ten seat constituency (like SE England) and the vote breakdown is, theoretically and it won't be, as follows:

Brexit Party 31%

Labour 30.5%

Tories 18%

Lib Dem 7.5%

Green 6.5%

Change UK 4.5%

UKIP 2%

The seats will go as follows:

Seat 1: Brexit Party as the biggest vote takers, they get the first seat (then Brexit Party 31/2 = 15.5%),

Seat 2: Labour as Labour 30.5, Tories 18, Brexit 15.5, Lib Dem 7.5, etc, (then Labour 30.5/2 = 15.25%),

Seat 3: Tories as Tories 18, Brexit 15.5, Labour 15.25, Lib Dem 7.5, (then Tories 18/2 = 9%),

Seat 4: Brexit Party as Brexit 15.5, Labour 15.25, Tories 9, Lib Dem 7.5, (then Brexit Party 31/3 = 10.33%),

Seat 5: Labour as Labour 15.25, Brexit 10.33, Tories 9, Lib Dem 7.5, (then Labour 30.5/3 = 10.17%),

Seat 6: Brexit Party as Brexit 10.33, Labour 10.17, Tories 9, Lib Dem 7.5, (then Brexit Party 31/4 = 7.75%),

Seat 7: Labour as Labour 10.17, Tories 9, Brexit 7.75, Lib Dem 7.5, (then Labour 30.5/4 = 7.625%),

Seat 8: Tories as Tories 9, Brexit 7.75, Labour 7.625, Lib Dem 7.5 (then Tories 18/3 = 6%)

Seat 9: Brexit as Brexit 7.75, Labour 7.625, Lib Dem 7.5, Tories 6, (then Brexit Party 31/5 = 6.2%)

Seat 10: Labour as Labour 7.625, Lib Dem 7.5, Brexit Party 6.2, Tories 6.

That's Brexit Party x 4 on 31% of the vote, Labour Party x 4 on 30.5% of the vote and Tories x 2 on 18% of the vote, with 20.5% of the population voting for parties that get no seats.

The absence of transfers etc removes the strength of the votes for the smaller parties: a combined vote of over 20% gets no seats, while a vote of 30.5% for Labour gets four seats. It's a flaw in the D'Hondt system that still encourages people to vote for bigger parties and away from smaller ones. Indeed, on the figures above, the combined vote of the Greens, Change UK and Lib Dems is higher than the Tories, yet the Tories get 2 seats and those three parties get none.

It is an argument for PRSTV. In D'Hondt, a vote for a big party counts far more than a vote for a smaller one; in PRSTV, every vote has closer to an equal weight.