The whole system, including the direct election of independents is called F2PTP-IND. The voting system is called F2PTP (First Two Past the Post), the system we use now is called FPTP (first past the post.
We vote in 650 individual constituencies meaning we then have 650 MPs. This number isn’t set in stone, in fact many believe there are too many, certainly too many for the number of actual seats available in the House of Commons chamber, but for now 650 it is.
FPTP means winner takes all. That’s means most people don’t get the MP they voted for and because of that, people tend to vote for one of the two parties they believe are the only ones who can form a government. Even though each of these 650 constituency elections are quite separate from each other, everyone knows that the party that wins most of them will form the government.
Many people vote against the party they least like, by voting for the other one.
As a result, over 80% of all our votes go to the Labour Party or the Conservative Party because people know that small parties cannot win enough seats to form a government. As a result, most people’s votes don’t count.
Under the newly proposed voting system F2PTP, winner and second place get elected. Constituencies are larger and have two MPs each, not just one. Additionally, the MPs would then vote with all the votes they received in the election. Combining these things means that real representation is vastly broadened.
Your MP uses your vote every time they vote. Your vote lives for the entire Parliament. Hence The Living Vote.
