UNITED KINGDOM: Referendum
At stake in this Referendum:
A referendum to adopt an alternative vote (AV) electoral system.
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II
Head of Government: Prime Minister David CAMERON **
Assembly: United Kingdom has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the House of Lords with 693 seats* and the House of Commons with 646 seats**.
* Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
Description of electoral system:
The Queen is hereditary.
The Prime Minister is elected by parliament to serve a 5-year term.*
In the House of Lords, 526 members are appointed by the monarch and 92 members are hereditary *. In the House of Commons 659 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**
** Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister.
* The Queen formally appoints life peers based on a recommendation from the Prime Minister. The right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act. However, 92 members will remain until the next stage of the Lords reform process.
** Starting with the 2005 parliamentary term, the number of Scottish constituencies in the UK parliament was reduced by 13 to restore parity with English seats after the 1999 Scottish devolution. The House of Commons consequently shrank to 646 seats.
Main provisions in the Referendum:
A referendum to introduce an the alternative vote (AV) electoral system "At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?" Welch description: Ar hyn o bryd, mae’r DU yn defnyddio’r system “y cyntaf i’r felin” i ethol ASau i Doe’r Cyffredin. A ddylid defnyddio’r system “pleidlais amgen” yn lle hynny?
Electoral Requirements
An absolute majority of voters must vote "Yes"
Population and number of registered voters:
Population: 61,113,205 (July 2009 est.)
Registered Voters: 45,315,669 ( 2009 )
For more information on the UK's electoral system, please visit the IFES Election Guide.
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The Guardian: Women in politics: Progressive decline
This week could and should have marked a transformation in the politics of the United Kingdom. The elections to English councils, to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies, and above all the AV vote, taken together, add up to a Super Thursday.
It should also have been the moment when it became clear that women belonged at the heart of devolved politics. It could have been a truly progressive moment. The souring of the promise of electoral reform, and the probable demolition of a new politics, have many different sources – but both warn of the daunting conservatism of British political culture and its institutions.
To read the full article, please visit The Guardian.
The Guardian: Women in politics: Progressive decline
This week could and should have marked a transformation in the politics of the United Kingdom. The elections to English councils, to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies, and above all the AV vote, taken together, add up to a Super Thursday.
It should also have been the moment when it became clear that women belonged at the heart of devolved politics. It could have been a truly progressive moment. The souring of the promise of electoral reform, and the probable demolition of a new politics, have many different sources – but both warn of the daunting conservatism of British political culture and its institutions.
To read the full article, please visit The Guardian.