More than 70% of the people who voted on Thursday…

[CurlewKate]

didn’t vote Reform.

Oh that is a more positive way to look at things. Thank you for that thought OP.

Yes, but how will that translate to a multi party landscape. Will the protest parties be the 2 main ones with FPTP still working or the winner in each constituency get around 20% of the vote and, as we know, the winner takes all. No matching votes to seats. Our system really works with 2-3 parties and this is a big headache and tactical voting will probably let in yet another party that’s pretty awful - the Greens.

We now don’t accept parties with a broad church membership - we like more extreme factions that express collective anger. I’m depressed.

Yes, that's slightly comforting.

So am I. But the statistic made me slightly less depressed!

That makes me feel a little better

Come on, OP - reform got the biggest vote share.. There's a limit to how you can spin that..

Yes which is why we really need to change our voting system. First past the post does not accurately represent how most people vote.

I’m not spinning it. Just pointing out a statistic.

You might want to take a look at this video:

It clearly highlights the flaws in the FPTP system, including how situations develop where majority rule happens with a minority of voting share.

Plus, it uses animals, so it's easier for you to understand.

and Labour won the last general election with 33% of the votes, aka ‘massive landslide’

That's brilliant. The animals will definitely make it easier for some people to understand.

Do you know what the turnout was OP? I read somewhere it was low but I can't find it now.

That’s often the case with first past the post and constituencies. We need electoral reform and proportional representation.

True, but sometimes that’s a good thing!

How can an electoral system that gives a result that most people didn't vote for, ever be considered a good thing in a democracy?

OK it may favour the Party you support on one occasion but it could equally favour the Party you are most against on another occasion.

Well don’t get too excited as Labour polled only 33.7% of the vote in the last election and still won.

@WallaceinAnderland Turnout was around 40%. Less than a GE by a long way. So who kept their powder dry? Who got their maximum vote out? We don’t know! 20% of 40% might be the tip of an iceberg or the maximum!

This is good news but I'm very scared for 2029.

I'm a civil servant with disabilities and if I can't work from home it's likely I can't work, at least not without having no life at all outside of work. It's a scary thought.

Yep.

Yes, but 30 percent did, and with 5 parties it was enough to take it.

the galling thing is line up those reform voters and ask them to explain the reform policies and most of them would not have a fucking clue whay they voted for.

The vast majority in my area didn't vote Reform and I knew they wouldn't, but still they managed to come second in a lot of wards because the left vote was split almost equally 3 ways. I ended up voting Green just to stop Reform, as it seemed to be what people were doing. Even on my walk to the polling station I was still deciding. Turnout was between 40-59% in my area depending on ward.

The winning party doesn’t need a majority % though in our current system.

They just need a bigger %than anyone else. So a 30% share could still be a win if the other 70% is divided between lots of other parties to the extent that no-one else has 30%.

Turnout was higher by 8% or 9%

That’s the problem, though, with these arguments about electoral reform. It comes down to discussions about which party it does or does not benefit and why it might be a good thing if the result doesn’t reflect the voting.

If the reality of people’s votes is not reflected in the result, then that’s not democracy and there should be no pretense that people either want or actually live in a democracy because it’s a deliberately and blatantly skewed system. Not only is it demonstrably unfair, it feeds into the feelings of resentment and mistrust that are already at dangerous levels. Those feelings, themselves, already skew people’s voting.

@Safarisagoody
Line up the green voters or the Lib dem voters and they also wouldn't have a clue what they are voting for.
I read the Lib Dem manifesto yesterday and there isn't a single clear policy.
It says things like help everyone reach their potential and enable businesses to thrive. Who doesn't believe this? It doesn't mean anything.
I have also read the Greens manifesto. Do people who vote green know that they want to end formal testing in secondary schools-so does this mean children won't get GCSEs or A-levels? Do people know that the Greens want to give up nuclear weapons-have they considered that the outcome will be that we just get nuked by Russia and Iran? Do people know the Greens are anti-semitic? Do people know the Greens want to just open our borders and let everyone who wants to come here in? Do people know the Greens want to stop the police being able to stop and search? If the Greens got in-the UK would be in total anarchy.