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Specification:

• AQA Component 3.1.2.2: Elections and referendums: debates and issues around the performance of different systems used in parliamentary elections

• Edexcel Component 1, 3.3: Electoral system analysis: the impact of the electoral system on the government or type of government appointed; the impact of different systems on party representation.

Background: what you need to know

If opinion polls are accurate, the 2024 general election could see a record mismatch between vote share and seats won by the main political parties. Labour may win an enormous majority of seats on 41 per cent of the vote. The Liberal Democrats may win up to 50 seats on a lower share of the vote than Reform UK, who are likely to win a bare handful of seats.

This is because the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system favours parties whose support is geographically concentrated. The article also engages with the claim often made by defenders of FPTP that it promotes stable government.

A devastating defeat for the Conservatives and Reform UK may fuel demands on the right for a switch to proportional representation — a cause hitherto associated with liberal parties. By the same token, a victorious Labour party will have little incentive to change the voting system.

Click the link below to read the article and then answer the questions:

Brace for the most distorted election result in British history

Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 1

• Explain and analyse three effects of the First Past the Post electoral system on the outcome of elections in the UK. [9 marks]

Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 1

• Evaluate the view that the First Past the Post system has a distorting effect on UK electoral outcomes.

  You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way. [30 marks]

  TIP: Remember that both AQA and Edexcel require you to study three general elections: one from before 1997, the 1997 election itself, and one since 1997. The 1983 contest, mentioned in the article, is an outstanding example of the way in which FPTP produces skewed outcomes. Once the results are known, you can use data from 2024 as your post-1997 example.

Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School