Relative Majority Vote

In the May 1997 elections, the Labour Party got only 43.4 percent of all votes, but won almost two-thirds of the seats in the Lower House. That is the result of the English majority vote. What would result in the filing of lawsuits with the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany is considered completely normal in England. Five years ago, the Conservatives benefited from it: quite significantly, they acquired more than half the seats with just 41.9 percent of the vote. The system is simple: The candidates run for election in their constituencies and the one who wins the most votes wins that seat. This is called the relative majority vote or first-past-the-post system, or even winner-takes-it-all - probably the most appropriate expression, because the votes of the other candidates simply go 'down the drain'.

Differences between Conservatives and Labour

In earlier times, much earlier, when the King still had some say, the Tories supported the landed aristocracy and identified themselves with the Church and the Crown. Today, with Tony Blair holding the reins, they are even more conservative than in those former times. The opponents of a united Europe are on the upsurge, but their manifesto does not contain much more than this simple opposition. The Conservatives are the party with the most members - but the members currently do not have much to say. Actually, they really should have been able to elect their leader in 1997. However, due to shortage of time, a decision was made to elect the leader using the old factional selection process. The popular candidate of the members was Kenneth Clarke, but William Hague became the new leader of the Tories and he has turned his party just a little more to the right.

"What's the difference between New Labour and Conservative?" is a popular question asked in England. The answer: the leader of New Labour is better looking. By adopting classically conservative topics and modes of operation, New Labour has actually moved towards the centre. Privatisation is no longer a swearword, 'law and order' is considered necessary by many leftists. By reducing the value-added tax on heating oil, promoting work programmes for youth and by ratifying the European Social Charter, New Labour is also covering the traditional leftist areas. Under Blair, Labour became more modern, more realistic, more pragmatic - and therefore, New Labour.

The other parties are gearing up

The Liberal Democratic Party could be considered to be the losers of the majority vote system. In the last elections, they had half the number of votes as the Conservatives (16 percent), but not even a tenth the number of seats (they had 20 seats). Earlier, however, the Liberals had benefited from this system: before the Labour Party entered the political arena, the Liberals were the second largest party in the country. In the 80's, the Liberals tried, by means of an alliance with the Social Democratic Party, to return to old times - and were not successful. In 1987, both parties merged to form the Liberal Democratic Party. Its fundamental political outlook has not changed much since the 17th century: economic liberalisation, religious and political tolerance, individual rights and freedom. Its current leader is Paddy Ashdown.

The regional parties won 23 seats to the House of Commons 1997 elections. The Scots won six and the Welsh four - an expression of their new self-confidence. The regions want to retain their own cultural identity and do not want Mother England to dictate all the rules to them any more. Devolution is one of the most-discussed words concerning reforms of the political system in the United Kingdom. The previous Prime Minister, John Major, was not in favour of more self-determination for the individual regions. The Welsh and the Scots completely rejected him and his party in the subsequent elections - since then the Tories have become a purely English party.

Lunatics and millionaires

Although Labour and the Conservatives could sit firmly in the saddle in England because of the way the election laws are framed, there are smaller parties which provide some variety. The shining example is the Monster Raving Loony Party with its "Screaming Lord Sutch". Since 1963, the Loonatics have been fighting every conceivable election and by-election, but with very little success so far. Sir James Goldsmith, who has since passed away, was somewhat more serious: he had put up 20 million pounds for the last election to help his Referendum Party win more influence. He wanted to "free" Great Britain from the clutches of Europe. Despite all that money, he was not successful.

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