Changing biases in the operation of the UK's electoral system, 1950–97 |
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| Authors: | David Rossiter,Ron Johnston,Charles Pattie,Danny Dorling,Iain MacAllister,& Helena Tunstall |
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| Affiliation: | School of Geographical Sciences,University of Bristol, Bristol, UK,;Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK,;Department of Politics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK |
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| Abstract: | The biased outcomes of recent British general elections, whereby the two main parties (Conservative and Labour) would have achieved different percentages of the seats in the House of Commons for the same percentages of the votes cast, are explored, using a method of bias decomposition developed by a New Zealand political scientist. Overall, the situation changed markedly between 1950 and 1997: the biases in the system strongly favoured the Conservatives in the 1950s and early 1960s, but Labour in 1992 and 1997. Examination of the seven components of the bias measure shows that most of these moved in Labour's favour over the 50-year period, with a major shift between 1992 and 1997 because of the greater geographical efficiency of the Labour party's vote at the latter date: reasons for this are suggested. |
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