Elections in Britain Today: A Guide for Voters and Students

Description

This is a lively and authoritative account by a leading political journalist and former MP of how the British electoral system works. It is addressed primarily to intelligent voters, but also to students of political science, government and British Constitution at universities, colleges and schools. It answers central questions such as: When are elections held? Who can vote? What happens on polling day? And how does one become an MP? It explains clearly how and why constituency boundaries have to be altered, how the parties are organized, how campaigns are conducted, the role of the media, how reliable opinion polls are and what happens at by-elections. This completely revised and up-dated edition deals also with local elections, referenda and elections to the European Parliament and describes clearly the main features of other electoral systems, including the main variations of proportional representation. The annexes contain a mass of electoral statistics and a thorough bibliography. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-4 When Elections are Held....Pages 5-11 The Voters....Pages 12-24 Constituencies....Pages 25-41 Political Parties — National....Pages 42-75 Political Parties — Local....Pages 76-86 Candidates....Pages 87-108 The Campaign in the Constituencies....Pages 109-123 The National Campaign....Pages 124-139 Polling Day....Pages 140-150 By-Elections, Local Elections, Euro-Elections and Referenda....Pages 151-166 Opinion Polls....Pages 167-177 How People Vote....Pages 178-196 How Much Does it Cost?....Pages 197-205 An Evolving System....Pages 206-211 Back Matter....Pages 212-253