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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

13. The United Kingdom Parliamentary Voting System Referendum of 2011

Author : Andrew Blick

Published in: The Palgrave Handbook of European Referendums

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

On 5 May 2011, voters across the United Kingdom (UK) took part in a referendum that posed the question: ‘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?’ Of a total electorate of 45,684,501, 19,165,730 took part, a turnout of 42%. They were required to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. The ‘No’ option won, by 19,165,730 (67.9% of those voting) to 13,013,123 (32.1%) (Mortimore and Blick 2018: 448). This episode was significant for a number of reasons. It was important from the point of view of the establishment and operation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition formed the previous May (Adonis in 5 Days in May: The Coalition and Beyond, Biteback, London, 2013; Bogdanor in The People and the Party System: The Referendum and Electoral Reform in British Politics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011; Seldon and Snowden in Cameron at 10: The Verdict, William Collins, London, 2016).

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previous chapter The 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement Referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
next chapter The Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014
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Metadata
Title
The United Kingdom Parliamentary Voting System Referendum of 2011
Author
Andrew Blick
Copyright Year
2021
Book
The Palgrave Handbook of European Referendums

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55802-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-55803-1

Copyright Year: 2021

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55803-1_13