Transcript The AMS in Scotland - Greenfaulds High School

THE AMS IN SCOTLAND
What are its advantages and disadvantages?
AIMS OF PRESENTATION
This presentation looks at
• How the Additional Member System (AMS) voting system
works in Scotland
• Advantages of AMS
• Criticisms of AMS
AMS VOTING SHOULDN’T BE COMPLICATED
Voters place an “X” on
the constituency ballot
paper for the
party/individual they
want to voter for
Voters then place an “X”
on the regional ballot
paper for the party they
want to vote for
Should be dead simple..
VOTERS HAVE TWO TYPES OF MSP
Claire
Baker, Lab
A Constituency MSP
Example of Helen Eadie
(Lab),Cowdenbeath
Annabelle
Ewing,
SNP
Murdo
Fraser, Con
John
Park, Lab
Liz Smith,
Con
Willie Rennie,
Lib Dem
Richard
Simpson,
Lab
Several Regional “list”
MSPs, example of
Mid-Scotland and Fife
ADVANTAGE 1: GIVES SMALLER PARTIES A CHANCE?
The AMS gives smaller parties a chance of
representation.
In Scottish elections small parties and
independents have all been elected.
Surely this is only fair?
If 5% of voters vote Green, why should the
Greens not have 5% of the representation?
GOOD FOR SMALL PARTIES?
But the AMS is not always “good for small parties”. It depends
on how popular they are.
The ‘rainbow parliament’ of 2003 has failed to be replicated
since.
In 2011 the Greens were squeezed out by the rise of the SNP.
The Scottish Socialists imploded as its leader, Tommy
Sheridan, formed a breakaway party after his court
appearance.
In 2011, the expected resurgence of George Galloway’s
political career failed to materialise after he failed to get elected
on the Glasgow list.
BUT GOOD FOR THE CONSERVATIVES!
Arguably, the AMS saved the Scottish Conservatives
from political extinction.
It is one of the great ironies of Scottish politics that
the Conservatives originally opposed both the
Scottish Parliament, and its voting system!
In 1999, all 18 of the Conservatives MSPs were from
the second, List vote. There were none elected from
the FPTP constituencies
In 2003, the Conservatives managed to have three
MSPs elected from constituencies, but the other
fifteen were from the second, List vote. In 2007, Only
four of the 17 Conservative seats are from FPTP
constituencies.
In 2011, there was a slight decline in support, but still
enough votes there to enable the Scottish
Conservatives to be the 3rd largest party in the
Scottish Parliament with 15 MSPs.
ADVANTAGE 2 AN END TO ONE PARTY DOMINATION?
In 1999 and 2003 Scottish Parliament
elections, Labour won the most seats but
did not have an overall majority. Labour
and the Liberal Democrats entered into a
coalition to run Scotland
In 2007, the SNP won the most seats and
again did not have an overall majority. It
could not agree on terms for a coalition
with the Liberal Democrats and has
governed as a minority government on an
issue by issue basis.
BUT NOT ANYMORE!
Party
In 2011, for the first time since devolution,
the SNP which won a record 69 seats,
securing a majority of 3 over all the other
combined MSPs.
Constituency
MSPs
Regional
MSPs
Total
(2007 figure in
brackets)
(2007 figure
in brackets)
(2007 figure in
brackets)
SNP
53 (21)
16 (26)
69 (47)
Labour
15 (37)
22 (9)
37 (46)
Politics is often full of ironies.
Cons.
3 (4)
12 (13)
15 (17)
In Scotland, a voting system designed to
produce coalitions, has produced a
majority government.
Lib
Dems
2 (11)
3 (5)
5 (16)
Green
0 (0)
2 (2)
2 (2)
1(1)
1 (1)
This means that the SNP Scottish
Government no longer needs the support
of other parties to pass legislation.
In the UK, a voting system which
traditionally delivers majorities, has
produced a coalition government!
Other
0 (0)
ADVANTAGE 3: VOTERS CAN CHOOSE WHO THEY WISH
TO ENGAGE WITH
Claire
Baker, Lab
Annabelle
Ewing,
SNP
John
Park, Lab
Liz Smith,
Con
Helen Eadie (Lab)
Constituency MSP
Cowdenbeath
Murdo
Fraser, Con
Willie Rennie,
Lib Dem
Richard
Simpson,
Lab
Regional “list” MSPs
Mid-Scotland and Fife
BUT, ARE THERE TURF WARS?
MSP turf wars.
Do List MSPs tread on the turf of constituency MSPs,
who think of themselves as
the real MSP?
"Personally I would not weep any tears if the
list system was done away with. I regard list
MSPs as a breed, as an under-employed
waste of space. They have no constituency,
they have no role and they are not elected by
anyone."
Former Labour Minister, Brian Wilson
ARE SOME VOTERS UNREPRESENTED?
There are some voters in
Scotland who, because of the
AMS, find their views
completely unrepresented.
Malcom Chisholm, MSP,
Labour, Edinburgh North
For example, if you voted SNP
in Edinburgh North (12,263 did),
you would have nobody elected
who represented your views:
your Constituency MSP would
be Labour (Malcolm Chisholm)
left.
There are no SNP List MSPs in
the Lothians region, despite
110,953 people voting SNP.
WHAT ABOUT “UNELECTED” MSPS?
Should an MSP resign or die, the AMS does not
allow for by-elections for List MSPs.
So, the political party can choose whoever it
wants to become the new MP.
Someone who was never presented to the voters.
June 2007.The SNP’s
Stefan Tymkewycz
stands down.
So Shirley-Anne Somerville
replaced him!
In June 2007, SNP MSP Stefan Tymkewycz stood
down as an MSP just months after being elected
to Holyrood.
He was replaced by Shirley-Anne Somerville as a
Lothians list MSP. While Shirley-Anne Somerville
may well be an excellent MSP, the fact remains
that she, personally, was not elected by the voters
of the Lothians!
The same was the case with the SNP’s Anne
McLaughlin who replaced Bashir Ahmad as
Glasgow list MSP when he died in 2009.
Bashir Ahmad
Anne McLaughlin