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Is First Past the Post Undemocratic?

The Houses of Parliament
Photography of Richard Johnson

Dr Richard Johnson

Senior Lecturer in Politics

The First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system, used to elect British MPs and English local government representatives, is commonly criticised for being ‘undemocratic’. We challenge this idea by examining how FPTP holds up against other features of democracy, such as voter clarity and government accountability. It finds these features are more easily found in FPTP than in proportional representation (PR) systems, suggesting criticism of the system is unwarranted.

Who should read this brief?

This brief is tailored to MPs and campaigners for electoral reform. The purpose of this briefing is to introduce alternative democratic arguments in the debate about electoral reform, informed by polling data on aspects of the present electoral system prized by voters.

 

The Houses of Parliament

Is First Past the Post Undemocratic?

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All electoral systems involve trade-offs. First Past the Post cannot deliver proportionality, but it performs better than most other electoral systems on clarity in choice of government, a single member constituency link, equality of MPs, and democratic accountability.
— Dr Richard Johnson

About the researcher

Dr Richard Johnson

Dr Richard Johnson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at QMUL. He is editor (with Yuan Yi Zhu) of Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom (Hart, 2023) and Strengthening the Political Constitution (Policy Exchange, 2025). He is author (with Mark Garnett, Gavin Hyman) of Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922 (Polity, 2024).

Be the next author

Are you an academic at Queen Mary and want to share your research insights in a brief? Email Evie Edwards, Impact Engagement Officer, evie.edwards@qmul.ac.uk

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