The Liberal Democrats are currently in talks with the Tories about making a pact, without which the Tories will have no clear majority in Parliament. The biggest stumbling block to these talks is probably Electoral Reform: For the Lib Dems it’s a must have whilst for the Tories, it’s a must not. So why are the two parties at such odds on this issue? Well take a look at the election results:
Total Votes: 29,653,638
Total Seats: 649 (One outstanding)
| Party | Votes | Seats | % Votes | % Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cons | 10,706,647 | 306 | 36 | 47 |
| Lab | 8,604,358 | 258 | 29 | 40 |
| LibDem | 6,827,938 | 57 | 23 | 9 |
| UKIP | 917,832 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
So, the Tories clearly won with 36% of the vote but it earned them 47% of the seats. Conversely the Lib Dems took 23% of the vote but only got 9% of the seats. Is it any wonder the Lib Dems want Electoral Reform and the Tories don’t! As for UKIP (Bless), they took 3% of the vote but got no seats at all.
Now lets say we had a proportional system of representation. Based on the votes cast, this is how the seats would have been distributed.
| Party | Votes | Seats | % Votes | % Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cons | 10,706,647 | 234 | 36 | 36 |
| Lab | 8,604,358 | 188 | 29 | 29 |
| LibDem | 6,827,938 | 149 | 23 | 23 |
| UKIP | 917,832 | 20 | 3 | 3 |
To sum it up, the Tories secured a seat for every 35k votes they received but the Lib Dems required 120k votes for each of theirs. As for UKIP, they just plunged into a black political hole with their 917k votes not securing them a single voice in the Commons.
This strikes me as a ridiculous system, devised by those who seemingly benefit the most from it.