Author Archives: Crispin Allard

Crispin Allard

How FPTP caused the catastrophic vote to leave the EU

By Crispin Allard | Tue 6th September 2016 - 8:53 am

The EU Referendum demonstrated the extent to which the “First-Past-The-Post” (FPTP) system has allowed politicians to become distanced from the people they purport to represent and has contributed to a sense of powerlessness amongst large sections of the UK population.

Three key effects of FPTP were at work:

  1. Safe Seats
  2. Distorted election results
  3. Distorted politics

1. Safe seats:
Under FPTP, safe seats (where a change in the party holding the seat would only happen in very unusual circumstances) account for the majority of parliamentary constituencies.

An MP in a safe seat does not need to worry about getting re-elected; he or she does not have to listen to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 33 Comments
Crispin Allard

Opinion: It’s time to prioritise electoral reform for local government

By Crispin Allard | Thu 30th May 2013 - 11:16 am

As Liberal Democrats, we all know First Past the Post is a terrible voting system. But in this year’s local elections it has sunk to new depths.

With the arrival of genuine four-party politics in England, the proportion of votes that actually make a difference to the result has reached an all-time low. And of the 16 county councils that returned a single party majority, not one of those ruling parties gained a majority of votes – in fact most got less than 40%.

This is not just a dry academic point or a moan about unfairness. It makes a real …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 22 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Jana
    Very encouraging - let’s hope this is the first signs of an emerging trend...
  • Mick Taylor
    @TristanWard. I have never been Mike my entire life. Please don’t take it upon yourself to unilaterally change my name...
  • David Le Grice
    Oddly the article leaves out the full context of the Kirklees result. This was a lib dem ward prior to the may elections which reform gained from us. So winnin...
  • David Warren
    Delighted to have contributed to the win in Almondbury by making several hundred phone calls to voters. Winning Here!...
  • Tristan Ward
    @ Mike , yes an encouraging night....