Overview

Parliament would have two types of MPs who would be equal in every way apart from the manner in which they are elected. There would be the same total number of MPs as we have currently.

One type would be Constituency MPs (CMPs) who are elected exactly as MPs are elected under the first-past-the-post system now, just for slightly larger constituencies. Then, for each region of Britain (South West, London etc.), there will be ‘top-up’ Regional MPs (RMPs) who are allocated in proportion to the votes each party received in that region.

Voting takes place just as it does now – voters select a single candidate, or party, to vote for, knowing that nearly every vote counts. Every vote is counted towards the Regional MPs.

Regional Elections

The Regional Top-Up system is based on the use of the 11 European electoral regions in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland which already uses an alternative voting system. These follow county boundaries and are a reasonable and known division of the country.

Constituency and Regional MPs

There will be 508 Constituency MPs and 138 Regional MPs. The constituency MPs are elected exactly as they are now, on a first-past-the-post basis in their constituency. Each constituency will be roughly 22% larger than the existing constituencies.

For each region, all of the unsuccessful candidates are put on a list in order of the percentage of the vote they received in their constituency. This means that the most locally popular candidates will be at the top of the list.

The Regional MP seats are allocated by running the d’Hondt formula over all votes cast in each region. Candidates are elected from each party in the order they appear on the newly created party list.

This has four main advantages:

1. Regional MPs are still elected in the single constituency where they stood, and thus are also ‘constituency’ MPs. They are elected, and unelected, by local voters. This means that many constituencies will have two MPs from different parties.

2. There are no party lists of cronies; only the candidates most popular with the public are elected.

3. Using the regional system, rather than a national system, means that ‘regional’ parties like Plaid Cymru, the Scottish Socialists and the English Democrats can be properly represented.

4. It is possible for two high quality candidates from a constituency to both be elected if they are popular enough.

Party Voting

In order to ensure that every vote counts, any party that stands candidates in one third (1/3) or more of the constituencies in a region will also appear on every ballot paper for the region. This allows voters to vote for a party even where there is no local candidate; all such votes automatically move to the regional ‘pool’ where they will count towards a Regional MP.

This system provides the maximum possible choice for voters, and also gives a result that properly represents the political sentiment of the country.

Distribution of MPs

This is a guide to how the Regional MPs would be distributed within each region. For the moment, the numbers are simply based on double the number of MEPs for each region, which works out roughly in proportion to both the population and the number of MPs.

Voting system

Voting takes place in exactly the same way as it does now. Voters place an ‘X’ next to their favoured candidate, or party where there is no local candidate.

Although there is no change required in the physical method of voting, the way in which voters use their vote would change considerably. Firstly, because votes for losing candidates are reused to elect the Regional MPs, there will be less emphasis on the ‘two-horse race’ contests that distort the current system in many constituencies.

Secondly, because every vote counts, more people will be willing to cast a vote, especially in formerly ‘safe’ seats. Increasing voter turnout is one of the primary aims of the political class at the moment.

The proportional distribution system

The primary requirement of a proportional representation system is to ensure that every party that has earned enough votes has some level of representation. By ‘enough votes’ we mean the absolute minimum percentage of the vote that should give an elected representative under a totally proportional system. In the West Midlands, for example, where there are 59 MPs, any party receiving 1.7% of the vote should have an MP elected in that region.

There are four steps in distributing the Regional MP seats:

1. Add up all of the votes (and party votes where there was no local candidate) for each party across the region.

2. Create a list of unsuccessful candidates for each party in order of the percentage of the vote achieved locally.

3. Calculate the minimum percentage of the vote needed for a single represenative (1.7% in the West Midlands). Discount any parties that didn’t reach the minimum percentage from the rest of the calculations.

4. Assign the Regional seats using the d’Hondt system (same as in the European elections).