proportional representation – The NEN

Council: Lorna Slater calls for Labour and Lib Dems to reject Tory alliance

The Scottish Greens co-leader and Lothian MSP, Lorna Slater, has called for Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors in Edinburgh to work together with other progressive parties, rather than lining up in an alliance with the Tories.

Her call comes as Edinburgh Councillors vote to form an administration. This week the membership of the Edinburgh Green Party voted to support a draft coalition agreement with SNP councillors and will take the proposal to today’s Council meeting.

Scottish Greens MSP Lorna Slater said: “The last 24 hours have seen Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians in Westminster and Holyrood taking a stand against the cruel and out of touch Tory government and rightly calling for the Prime Minister to resign.

“We are living in a cost of living crisis and thousands of people across our city are struggling to make ends meet. The Tories do not have any solutions, and are actively making it worse. Energy bills are skyrocketing and the Tory solution is more cuts and austerity.

“This month’s election saw the Conservatives losing half of their councillors and thousands of votes in Edinburgh. Many people across our city will be shocked to see Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors lining up in alliance with the Tories to form an administration.

“It is time for progressive parties to work together and build on the achievements that were made over the last term. That is why, even at this late stage, I am urging Edinburgh’s Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors to work with us, rather than lining up with the Tories.

“We must grasp this crucial opportunity to build the fairer, greener city that our communities voted for.”

The SNP is the biggest party in Edinburgh, returning 19 councillors at this month’s elections.

The SNP has ran Edinburgh with the support of Labour in a so-called ‘Capital Coalition’ for ten years, but Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar ruled out any further coalitions in the run up to the local government elections.

Speaking after Labour launched it’s manifesto for the council elections, Mr Sarwar was emphatic: “And I think it’s right for us to say we shouldn’t be picking and choosing which is the good versus the bad. Both are bad for our country. Both are decimating local communities. And therefore I think it’s right that we see no formal coalition with the SNP or the Tories.”

That seemed clear enough – but it now appears Mr Sarwar actually ruled out coalitions with the SNP, but finds partnerships with the Tories quite acceptable? For some disgusted Labour supporters that really is a step too far.

Mr Sarwar denies misleading voters.

5th MAY ELECTION RESULTS (62 councillors elected)

SNP – 19

LIB – 13

LAB – 12

GRN – 10

CON – 8

The council meeting takes place this morning at 10am. We will know who will be running our city later today.

How Thursday’s elections for the Scottish Parliament will work

On 6 May voters across Scotland will be called to elect 129 members of the devolved Scottish Parliament for the sixth time in its history (writes Electoral Reform Society’s FEDERICO SCHOLARI).

The Scottish Parliament passes laws on crucial areas of local government, including health, education and transport- as well as some influence on tax and welfare benefits.

Anyone with a Scottish address, registered to vote and aged 16 and over is eligible to vote.

In 2015, Scotland championed the votes at 16 campaign by lowering the voting age to 16 to extend the franchise, allowing more than 100,000 young people to have their say in both parliamentary and local council elections.

Voting system

Elections for the Scottish Parliament employ the Additional Member System (AMS), which uses a mix of First Past the Post (FPTP) and Party List proportional representation.

73 constituency MSPs are elected from the Westminster-style FPTP ballot paper. The candidate with most votes is elected for each constituency, irrespective of vote share.

56 ‘list’ MSPs (the so-called additional members) are then added from a second ballot paper that includes a list of parties. Additional members are added based on the number of seats a party has won in the first ballot versus their overall vote share, in order to make parliament more proportional and match how voters preferences.

A proportional compromise?

The second ballot paper ensures greater representation, which compensates for the ailments of FPTP. The proportional element is intended to override any disproportionality created by the majoritarian nature of the constituency seats, providing a more proportional parliament while also keeping a single local MSP.

General Elections 2019 (FPTP) vs. Scottish Parliament Elections 2016 (AMS)

Our 2019 report on General Elections shone a light on those voters left voiceless due to disproportionate voting systems- with Scotland delivering some of the most disproportionate results across the UK for Westminster elections.

Under pure FPTP, the Scottish National Party performance was highly disproportionate, with a 22 percentage point increase in seats for an eight-point increase in votes. Some precarious victories occurred, with slim majorities in seats where more than two parties had substantial support.

Contrarily, the 2016 parliamentary elections saw the most proportional results to date under the AMS, which is a substantial improvement over pure FPTP. If the Scottish Parliament elections were conducted under FPTP we’d see one-party domination across Scotland with supporters of the other parties losing out.

Voting Intentions

The most recent polls show the SNP -currently in power- boasting a considerable lead over both Conservatives and Labour. The only notable change from the 2016 elections results sees the Greens gaining some ground over Lib Dems.

Differing areas of political debate include the potential for a new referendum for Scottish independence, post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change policies and more.

The Alba Party

There has been much talk of the launch of Alex Salmond’s pro-independence party, seen by many as an attempt to ‘game’ the AMS system to secure a disproportionate result in favour of pro-independence parties.

Alba, which is only contesting list seats, is pitching itself to pro-independence SNP voters who, due to the SNP’s dominance in the constituency seats, might see their list vote wasted.

But if Alba succeeded in this it’s not because they gamed the system but because enough voters supported them. if a party is popular enough to pick up a decent level of support on the List vote and gain seats, like the Greens did in 2016 and look like doing again, then it isn’t really ‘gaming the system’. The system is designed to provide fair representation for supporters of parties who would not be properly represented under FPTP.

Polls show that it is far from certain that Alba will receive enough support to pick up List seats but ultimately that is a matter for the voters of Scotland to determine, one way or the other.

A more representative system

As Scottish voters prepare to go to the polls in May they can do so knowing that their vote will count and the parliament elected will be representative – a luxury most voters in England don’t have at this election.

And now, after 20 years of PR in Scotland surely it’s time Westminster caught up and ensured that voters in England could vote with the same peace of mind.

Leith Walk By-Election tomorrow

The last few doors have been knocked, the final leaflets have been posted through letterboxes … now it’s up to the voters of Leith Walk:

Leith Walk constituents will go to the polls to elect two councillors for the ward tomorrow (Thursday 10 September).

There are 25,526 Leith Walk residents registered to vote in the election, which takes place in one of the most densely populated areas in Scotland.

Under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system – a form of Proportional Representation – voters use numbers to rank the 10 candidates in order of preference rather than just using a single cross. Voters can express ‘preferences’ for as many or as few of the candidates as they wish.

This will be the first time in Scotland that an STV by-election has been needed to fill two vacancies in the same ward.

Andrew Kerr, Returning Officer for The City of Edinburgh, said: “This by-election will allow the residents of the Leith Walk ward to play a part in Edinburgh’s democracy, choosing two elected members to represent them and their interests on the City Council. I look forward to working with the electorate to make sure the process runs smoothly.

“Voters should remember that STV allows them to vote for as many candidates they like, numbering choices in order of preference.”

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on 10 September. There are 11 polling places in the ward, details of which can be found on polling cards and the Council website.

Votes will be taken to the Council HQ where the candidates and their agents will watch them counted electronically as soon as the polls close at 10pm.

Full details of candidates are also available on the Council website.

Find out more about the Single Transferable Vote system.

Leith Walk By-Election: In numbers

11 polling places

19 polling stations

3996 postal votes issued

2 councillors to be elected

10 candidates

25,526 eligible voters – about 7% of the city’s electorate

210 books of ballot papers (100 in each)

40 polling staff, including presiding officers and poll clerks.