David Cameron and Ed Miliband: after the parliamentary UK, one of the two men will be appointed Prime Minister. The Conservative and Labour clashed throughout a virulent campaign and stayed neck-and-neck in the polls until the final straight. But why the names of Nigel Farage (Ukip), Nick Clegg (Lib-dem), Nicola Sturgeon (Scotish National Party), Natalie Bennett (Green) or Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) they are never mentioned for this post?
First of all because, like France, the British political landscape consists of two historical heavyweights who traditionally attract a majority of votes the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, strong of between 150 and 200 000 members each. In addition, some parties are present only on a small area: the SNP is limited to the borders of Scotland, representing 59 seats of 650, and therefore has no chance of winning.
A necessary concentration of the vote
But the specificity of the British electoral system, uninominal majority in a single round ( First Past The Post ) makes the task even more difficult for smaller parties. On May 7, each of the 650 UK constituencies will elect its deputy. It is then the party that wins the majority of votes in the Commons -the lower house of Parliament-or who manages to form a coalition to achieve this, which can form a government.
“In each constituency, the candidate who receives the most votes wins. The challenge for small groups is to achieve enough votes to concentrate on some constituencies for win seats, “said Sarah Pickard, lecturer at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. In short: the voters have a little bit everywhere is useless, it is better to have a lot in a given location. “This leads to situations where voters will vote for the party that has a chance of beating him they like less rather than for the party they like the most,” said the teacher.
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