The United Kingdom is just shy of a population of 64 million 2015.

65.8%  Voted in England
65.7% Voted in Wales
71.1% Voted in Scotland
58.1% Voted in N. Ireland

66.1% UK of the population Voted.  Leaving 42.3% that did not vote either because they were to young or not registered to vote or could not be bothered. 

The election in 2015 had an 86% probability of producing the least proportional outcome in more than 70 years.

This is what happened: With First Past the Post AND what should have happened under Proportional Representation (PR)

UK vote share after 650 of 650 seats

Party	SEATS     %                                    SEATS    Difference
CON	325        36.9                    CON           240           -90
LAB	232        30.4                    LAB            213           -19
UKIP	1            12.6                    UKIP            83           +82
LD	12          7.9                       LD              53            +41
SNP	56          4.7                      SNP            37             – 19
GRN	1           3.8                       GRN            24.             +23

– there would be 27 seats between Labour and the Tories, not 83

– Ukip would have 83 MPs not 1

– the Greens would have 24 MPs, not 1

Voting under proportional representation WOULD take the Tories out of control, but they would still be the biggest party.

There is a huge discrepancy between the SNP’s 56 seats and Ukip’s 1 seat.

Yet Ukip have received 3.7 million votes, and the SNP 1.4 million.

First-past-the-post means you can get a lot of MPs with not much of a share of the vote.So England currently has an electoral system that can’t even allocate the MPs in the same order as the popular vote, let alone in proportion…
The difference is even starker when you look at the DUP. They have recorded less than 200,000 votes, but have 8 seats.
The Tory government would NOT have got a majority under proportional representation.

First-past-the-post is and should be groaning and swaying under the strain for change.

The present voting system is designed for two blocs: a government and an opposition.

You can see it in the layout of the Commons chamber.

But over the past five years England has moved from a two-and-a-quarter party system to a five or six party system. The old argument for first-past-the-post – that it boosts the larger party and so provides stable government – no longer applies.

There are further peculiarities with the English voting system.

There are six types of elections in the United Kingdom: United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections, mayoral elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

First-past-the-post is used to elect MPs to the House of Commons and for local elections in England and Wales.

The Alternative Vote is used to elect the majority of chairs of select committees in the House of Commons. The AV is also used for the election of the Lord Speaker and by-elections for hereditary peers.

The Supplementary Vote system is used to elect the Mayor of London and other elected mayors in England and Wales.

The SV system is very similar to the AV system.

Under SV, voters are limited to a first and second preference choice. A voter marks a cross in one column for their first preference candidate and another cross in a second column for their second preference (if they wish to do so).

The Single Transferable Vote system is used to elect the Deputy Speakers in the House of Commons. STV is also used for electing the Northern Ireland Assembly, local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland and European Parliament elections in Northern Ireland.

The Additional Member System is used to elect the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the London Assembly.

The Closed Party List system is used to elect Members of the European Parliament, with the exception of Northern Ireland which uses Single Transferable Vote.

Furthermore.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 provides for general elections to be held on the first Thursday in May every five years.

Can I vote for a new Prime Minister?

No.

You can only vote to elect your local MP in a general election. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen, who is guided by constitutional conventions.

The Queen has a special relationship with the Prime Minister, the senior political figure in the British Government, regardless of their political party.
Although she is a constitutional monarch who remains politically neutral, The Queen retains the ability to give a regular audience to a Prime Minister during his or her term of office.

The Queen gives a weekly audience to the Prime Minister at which she has a right and a duty to express her views on Government matters. If either The Queen or the Prime Minister are not available to meet, then they will speak by telephone.

However, there are two provisions that trigger an election other than at five-year intervals:

A motion of no confidence is passed in Her Majesty’s Government by a simple majority and 14 days elapses without the House passing a confidence motion in any new Government formed.

A motion for a general election is agreed by two-thirds of the total number of seats in the Commons including vacant seats (currently 434 out of 650)
Previous to this Act, the Prime Minister could call a general election at any time within the five-year period and not all Parliaments lasted the full five years.

The Sovereign’s assent is required to all bills passed by Parliament in order for them to become law. Royal Assent (consenting to a measure becoming law) has not been refused since 1707.

Archbishops and bishops are appointed by The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, who considers the names selected by a Church Commission. They take an oath of allegiance to The Queen on appointment and may not resign without Royal authority.

The Queen is Sovereign is Head of the Armed Forces.

She is also the wife, mother and grandmother of individuals either having served, or are currently serving, in the Armed Forces. The Queen holds the position of Colonel-in-Chief of numerous regiments in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth.

There is only one occasion on which Parliament meets without a Royal summons, and that is when the Sovereign has died.

Civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law.

There you have it.

I predicted in a previous post prior to the election that this election would be the last using First Past the Post and the result would see the end of the United Kingdom as it is known.

No system is perfect.

The disadvantage of PR is that it can produce very uncertain results as recently in Belgium, and the whole thing is stitched up behind closed doors without the public being involved.

There is no doubt that the opportunity for a new Youth Party is now presenting itself. Let’s hope there is some Britain with Talent to take up the mantel before 3000.

There are five years of turbulent political territory to negotiate in or out the the EU.

Politics is supposed to be for everyone so you might not have known that;

Concurrent with the general election is a poll to decide Britain’s national bird. Tens of thousands have voted in the online poll for their favorite from a list of 10, including the barn owl, blackbird, blue tit, hen harrier, kingfisher, mute swan, puffin, red kite, robin and wren.

The winner of the pecking order is expected to be named Friday, around the time results from the parliamentary election appear.

Pub Landlord Al Murray Says it all;