Scots voted tactically in ‘winner takes all’ system
Scotland is shifting back towards “multi-party politics” while England goes the other way, according to voting reform campaigners.
The general election in June brought more seat changes in Scotland than any other region or nation, a report by the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) has found.
There are now fresh calls for a change in the electoral system to reflect this in Scotland or risk a “lottery election”, with slim victories meaning many seats under the current firstpast-the-post (FPTP) system hinge on just a handful of votes.
Scotland returned four of the UK’S ten smallest majorities in the general election.
Willie Sullivan, ERS Scotland director, said: “As voters wake up to the failures of FPTP they are increasingly taking on the complex task of trying to game the system to make it reflect their wishes.
“Electors should be able to vote for parties they agree with on the broad sweep of policy, instead of feeling the need to vote tactically based on one significant issue such as independence or Brexit because they fear ‘winner takes all’ dominance.”
Labour won 27 per cent of the votes cast in Scotland but got just 12 per cent of the seats, while the SNP won 37 per cent of the votes but returned almost 60 per cent of the seats, according to ERS research.
The report also said “huge swings” meant 21 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies changed hands.
The ERS is demanding a change to a proportional system, such as the single transferable vote used in Scotland’s local elections.