Synopses & Reviews
From Votes to Seats is a study of the 14 general elections held between 1950 and 1997 in Britain. Arguing that the British electoral system treats political parties disproportionately, the authors show that the amount of bias in those elections results substantially increased over the period, benefiting Labour at the expense of the Conservatives. With the use of imaginative diagrams, this book examines the electoral process in detail, illustrating how it operates, while stressing the important role of tactical voting in the production of recent election results.
Synopsis
The British electoral system treats parties disproportionately and differentially. This original study of the fourteen general elections held between 1950 and 1997 shows that the amount of bias in those election results increased substantially over the period, benefiting Labour at the expense of the Conservatives. Labour's advantage peaked at the 1997 general election when, even assuming there had been an equal share of the votes for the two parties, it would have won 82 more seats than its opponents. This situation came about because of different aspects of two well-known electoral abuses - malapportionment and gerrymandering. With the use of imaginative diagrams the book examines these processes in detail, illustrating how they operate and stresses the important role of tactical voting in the production of recent election results.
About the Author
Ron Johnston is Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol.
Charles Pattie is Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield.
Danny Dorling is Professor of Geography at the University of Leeds.
David Rossiter is Research Fellow in the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol.
Table of Contents
From Votes to Seats: Disproportionality, Seats, Votes, Ratios and Vote Types * Biases between the Two Mail Parties * Bias and the Boundary Commissions * Variations in Turnout and their Impact on the Outcome * Wasted and Surplus Votes: Campaigning and Increased Vote Effectiveness * Tactical Voting: Increasing Vote Effectiveness Even More * Towards Reform