The Make My Vote Count group revealed that over 70% of votes were ‘wasted’ in the 2005 election. By wasted, they mean votes that went to losing candidates or were surplus to the needs of the winning candidate.

I thought that I would do the same calculation for the 2010 general election. The result? 71.2% of all votes cast were wasted.

Because those surplus votes for winners don’t move up to a regional count, as they do under Regional Top-Up and other PR systems, they are essentially wasted. Just 28.8% of votes cast actually elected someone.

Key facts:
29,653,638 votes cast in the election
15,683,974 votes for losing candidates (52.9%)
13,969,664 votes for successful candidates.
8,550,440 votes for second place candidates.

21,102,549 total wasted votes (allowing for a 1 vote majority)
8,551,089 votes actually used to elect people