UK 2010 General Election Results
The results are from the election on 6th May 2010 when 649 of 650 polls were conducted. The poll for Thirsk and Malton was delayed due to the death of a candidate. The results were updated on the 28th May 2010 when the result of the Thirsk and Malton poll was announced.
How Would the Alternative Vote System Change the Result
Much has been said, in the press and by politicians. Labour offered an immediate implementation of the Alternative Vote System. The Conservatives offered a referendum on the Alternative Vote System.
This web page will give an overview of what the Alternative Vote (AV) System is. This should not be confused with AV+ (AV Plus) or PR (Proportional Representation). There is an interactive calculator that shows the effect of AV on the result of the 2010 UK General Election.
How the Alternative Vote System Works
The same constituency boundaries are used and voters would elect one person to represent them in parliament, just as we do now. However, rather than marking an 'X' against their preferred candidate, each voter would rank their candidates in an order of preference, putting '1' next to their favourite, a '2' by their second choice and so on. If a candidate receives a majority of first place votes, he or she would be elected just as under the present system. However if no single candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the second choices for the candidate at the bottom are redistributed. The process is repeated until one candidate gets an absolute majority. The alternative vote is not actually a proportional system, but a majoritarian system. It looks most similar to the current electoral system.
For more information about the Alternative Vote (AV) System see Electoral Reform Society Web site.
In the 2010 UK General Election, 34% of MPs had more than 50% of the constituency vote. These constituency MPs would not have been affected by AV. To see which political parties returned MPs with more than 50% of the vote - see the number of MPs with more than 50% of the vote page.
How the Calculator Works
In this scenario, it is assumed that any redistributed votes:
- from candidates lower than third place are evenly distributed to the first and second placed candidates
- from the third placed candiate are redistributed as
- x% to the first placed candidate
- y% to the second placed candidate
- z% discarded
The votes from candidates lower than third place, that are evenly distributed to the first and second placed candidates, do not change the election result as the difference in votes (the "majority") between the first and second placed candidates remains unchanged. Thus the first placed candidate maintains their majority over the second placed candidate.
The votes from the third place candidate that are discarded (z%) do not change the election result as the difference in votes between the first and second placed candidates remains unchanged. The only way to reduce, eliminate or reverse the majority of the first placed candidate is for more votes to be tranfered from the third placed candidate to the second placed candidata (y%) than are tranfered from the third placed candidate to the first placed candidata (x%). It is immaterial what the actual values of x% and y% are. All that matters is the difference between them. This calculator allows different values to be set for y%-x%.
Number of Constituencies Affected by the Alternate Vote System
| Results Affected |
First-Past-the-Post Positions | Elected using AV | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | ||
| 9 | Conservative | Labour | Liberal Democrat | Labour |
| 4 | Conservative | Liberal Democrat | Labour | Liberal Democrat |
| 6 | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrat | Conservative |
| 6 | Labour | Liberal Democrat | Conservative | Liberal Democrat |
| 2 | Liberal Democrat | Conservative | Labour | Conservative |
| 2 | Liberal Democrat | Labour | Conservative | Labour |
| 1 | Sinn Fein | Independent | Social Democratic & Labour Party | Independent |
MPs returned under the Alternate Vote System
| Party | First-Past-the-Post MPs | Constituencies Lost due to AV | Constituencies Gained due to AV | Net Gain(+)/Loss(-) due to AV | AV System MPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 306 | 13 | 8 | -5 | 301 |
| Labour | 258 | 12 | 11 | -1 | 257 |
| Liberal Democrat | 57 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 63 |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
| Scottish National Party | 6 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Sinn Fein | 5 | 1 | -1 | 4 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Social Democratic & Labour Party | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Alliance Party | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Green | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Speaker | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
 | |||||
| TOTAL | 650 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 650 |
Go to the "2010 General Election home page.
