{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\cocoartf1038\cocoasubrtf360 {\fonttbl\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Helvetica;} {\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;} \paperw11900\paperh16840\margl1440\margr1440\vieww9000\viewh8400\viewkind0 \pard\tx566\tx1133\tx1700\tx2267\tx2834\tx3401\tx3968\tx4535\tx5102\tx5669\tx6236\tx6803\ql\qnatural\pardirnatural \f0\fs24 \cf0 Britain's election system "archaic"\ \ A report by Britain's Electoral Reform Society finds that the May general election was the most disproportionate in history. Under a list - based system of proportional representation, as used in elections to the European parliament, the outcome would have been very different\ --------------------------------------------------------------\ ALL SEATS WON (May 7 election) \ \ First - past - the - post method\ \ 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350\ \ Conservative 331 Labour 232 1 UKIP 8 Lib Dem 56 SNP 1 Green other 21\ \ Across all parties, 331 of 650 MPs were elected on under 50% of vote, and 191 with less than 30% of vote\ --------------------------------------------------------------\ PARTY LIST SYSTEM\ \ Proportional representation \ \ 242 208 80 47 30 20 23\ \ European parliament uses D'Hondt method, that allocates seats in proportion to parties' share of vote\ \ UK's First - past - the - post method sees candidate with highest number of votes, but not necessarily majority of electorate, elected\ -------------------------------------------------------------------\ Source: Electoral Reform Society\ \ words 158\ \ \ \ \ }