It was Russell Brand Wot Won It
Now the dust is settling on the general
election and we are all bracing ourselves for a right wing onslaught we must
remember that the Tories did not win a majority. The first past the post system
delivered them power as it has for the majority of the last 100 years. If
seats were given on a proportional basis then the parliament would look like
the chart below.
2015 election results if all the votes were distributed
equally across the 650 seat parliament. UKIP and the Conservatives would have
322 seats, 1 seat short of a majority. (Sinn Fein's 4 seats are abstentions as
they do not sit in the commons).
If all the electorate that did not vote
was counted and apportioned seats then the result would look like the chat
below.
2015
election results if all the Abstainers were counted and the seats left empty in
a 650 seat parliament.
The Abstainers would be the largest
block but as they would not sit or vote and the rest of the parties would, 214
seats would be the winning post instead of 323 at the moment. Again UKIP and
the Conservatives would be 2 seats short of a majority.
Unfortunately whichever way you look at it the progressive parties are in the minority, but only just, with a large block of people who don't take part.