英国选举制度 英文

发布网友 发布时间：2022-04-20 15:59

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热心网友 时间：2023-06-22 01:26

The British Electoral System

Britain's system is often called a 'First Past the Post System' or a 'simple majority' system.

To win a constituency a candidate requires a 'Plurality of votes' - this means that he or she needs to win more votes than any other candidate. (A 'majority' system would mean that they would need more votes than all the other candidates put together)

All British Citizens are entitled to vote (and they each have only the one vote with which to elect a candidate). They must be over the age of 18 and registered on the electoral roll. Citizens of Commonwealth countries or the Republic of Ireland who are resident in the UK can vote. British citizens living abroad can vote for up to 20 years after leaving the UK.

The following are not eligible to vote: -

Members of the House of Lords
Patients detained under the mental health act
Sentenced prisoners (over one year)
People convicted within the last 5 years of corrupt or illegal electoral practises

Constituencies

There is a lot of internal migration within the UK; therefore the Boundary Commission is formed to review and periodically re-draw constituencies. Each one should have roughly the same population. The Boundary Commission decides any changes roughly every 10 - 15 years, it is an independent body chaired by the speaker of the House of Commons.

By the 1997 election: -

8 new constituencies
418 constituencies had changed significantly
76 constituencies had minor changes
Such changes are often controversial and prior to the '97 election many felt that the boundary changes help the Conservative vote. This turned out to not be the case.

Scotland and Wales are over represented in terms of seats (this stems back to an agreement made in 1944.)

General Elections

These must occur within 5 years of the last election, although the government can call an election at any time. Prime Ministers usually therefore try to call an election at a time advantageous to them and their party (i.e. an economic up-turn).

A general election is called when the queen dissolves parliament on the advice of the P.M.

Candidates

These have to be aged 21 or over - they must be British Citizens or citizens of a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland. The following cannot be candidates: -

Bankrupts
Sentenced Prisoners (more than a year)
Clergy (Anglican & Catholic)
Members of the House of Lords
Judges
Civil Servants
Armed Forces
Police
Candidates must pay a deposit of �0, which is returned to those who get 5% or more of the vote.