How the winner-takes-all voting system has turned on Labour and the Tories

How the winner-takes-all voting system has turned on Labour and the Tories31 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSir John CurticeProfessor of politics at the University of StrathclydeBBCUnder the first-past-the-post electoral system, the candidate or candidates with the most votes in each seat are elected. It is used in the UK at general elections and in local elections such as the ones just held in England.An alternative is a system of proportional representation under which some attempt is made to distribute seats to reflect the popularity of parties. Both the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd in Wales use systems of proportional representation.First-past-the-post has long been regarded as a friend of the Conservative and Labour parties.It makes it difficult for small parties whose vote is evenly spread geographically to win seats. This helps to keep potential challengers to the Conservatives and Labour out of the House of Commons. Indeed, because that is the case, voters may be reluctant to vote for them in the first place.Getty ImagesFirst-past-the-post is used in both general elections and local elections in England, such as in the contest in BarnsleyHistorically, the system has also given whoever is the victor in the electoral battle between Conservative and Labour a boost in seats. The two parties thus both get the chance of securing a period of untrammeled majority government rather than having to negotiate the rocky shores of minority or coalition government.However, Thursday's election results raise questions about whether first-past-the-post will continue to benefit the Conservatives and Labour in future. Rather, they have shown that the system is colour blind in how it operatesThe results confirmed that Britain has now entered an unprecedented era of multi-party politics. According to the BBC's projected national share, if the whole country had had the chance to vote in a local election on Thursday Reform would have come first with 2...