... until the February 1974 election, which demonstrated the over-representation of the two major parties and the under-representation the Liberals. Since then, the campaign to change has attracted support from a number of Labour politicians and it is a central part of Liberal Democrat policy.2 The present electoral system ignores many factors including the number of candidates and abstentions. If there are 4 candidates it would still be possible for one party to win the seat with 25% + 1 vote of those that voted. In 1979, 203 candidates were elected with less than half the vote.3 Nationally, 1931 was the last occasion that an elected Government received over 50% of votes and in 1974, Labour were elected with just over 39% of the popular vote.4 The system lacks proportionality with no direct link between the votes cast for a party and the seats won. In the 1997 general election, the ...

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