Lesson Starter Why was STV introduced? Explain the relevance of the phrase ‘like turkeys voting for Christmas’ (this was said by some Labour members after they accepted STV for council elections) Give one reason to show how STV may be more democratic than FPTP. Outline how STV works.

Success Criteria Outline how STV works List and explain the advantages and disadvantages of STV.

About the Single Transferable Vote (STV) What will I learn?

Why STV? Reform of local government was on the agenda at the Scottish Parliament. In 2007, Local councillors became full time and salaried, rather than part-time, dependent on expenses. Attempt to ‘professionalise’ the job of councillor- broaden access in gender, race and age. Whether it was true or not many thought councillors were ‘in it for what they could get’ such as expenses.

Why STV? The voting system was also changed, away from the traditional ‘first past the post’ (FPTP) to the Single Transferable Vote (STV) STV favoured voting system of the Liberal Democrats. It was their non-negotiable price for joining the Coalition Government.

Why STV? Many Labour councillors were furious at their parliamentary colleagues, referring as the deal as ‘turkeys voting for Christmas’-why? Relied on the imperfect voting system- FPTP traditionally favours the big parties.

How does it work? In FPTP the voter has one vote and votes by placing an “X” next to the candidate of choice. IN STV the voter has more than one vote. Rather than placing an “X” to the candidate of choice, the voter will have a number of choices, ranking the candidates in order of preference 1, 2, 3 etc. So, the voter can choose not just between parties but also within them.

How does it work? Members are elected once they pass a certain number of votes, known as a quota. Finding the winners An STV election proceeds according to the following steps: Any candidate who has reached or exceeded the quota is declared elected. If a candidate has more votes than the quota, that candidate's surplus votes are transferred to other candidates. Votes that would have gone to the winner instead go to the next preference listed on their ballot. If no one new meets the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and that candidate's votes are transferred. This process repeats until either a winner is found for every seat or there are as many seats as remaining candidates.

How does it work? In most of Scotland’s authorities, the major political parties will field a number of candidates on the voters’ ballot papers. So, a voter, if he/she wishes, could give a candidate of a party the number 1, but give a candidate from another party the number 2.

Advantages The voter is more empowered. A person who sees himself/herself as a Labour voter does not have to vote for Labour’s nominated candidate as there may be more than one Labour candidate. So, one Labour candidate who the voter may not like may not get a vote but another candidate from the same party may get the vote.

Advantages In local elections, especially, where the personal factor matters; council candidates often live locally and will have a word of mouth reputation, STV provides an incentive for elected officials to work hard and puts more power in the hands of the voter. No safe seats- cannot become complacent.

Advantages Better representation- STV constituencies are bigger and voters have more than one representative. Most of us have three councillors who represent us and they are usually from different political parties. Coalition councils are more likely. After the 2012 result In Edinburgh city council Labour and SNP are in coalition. Ended Labour’s dominance in councils.

Disadvantages Multi members confine voters ‘Where does the buck stop?’ More than one elected representative- who is responsible? Coalitions can lead to instability Like AMS, coalitions can be formed, and the voters could be unhappy about the result. Edinburgh city council- Labour and SNP.

Disadvantages The Count Process is long, results cannot be announced the same night as voting. Confusing ballot papers Large multi-member constituencies mean ballot papers can get quite long. Ranking can be difficult. Can affect turnout- local government elections averages 50% turnout- compared to 65% in general elections

Lesson Starter 1.Give an advantage of STV which is also a disadvantage of FPTP. 2.Give an advantage of FPTP which is also a disadvantage of STV.