Electoral reform group says 'thousands' of Exmouth votes will be wasted

AN electoral reform campaign group is calling for proportional representation to replace the first past the post voting system.

Make Votes Matter claims that 34,804 votes cast in Exmouth and Exeter East Constituency will "make no difference" to the General Election outcome.

According to analysis by Make Votes Matter, 70.3% per cent of Exmouth and Exeter East’s votes cast on July 4 are likely to count for nothing — either because they went to a losing candidate or because they were surplus votes for the winner.

Analysing data for each constituency from Electoral Calculus, researchers at Make Votes Matter found that under the First Past the Post voting system, nearly 22 million people could see their votes "wasted" across the UK.

A statement from Make Votes Matter said: "Only 27.4 per cent of an expected 30.3 million votes look set to have any impact on the result, with over half of voters projected to be left with an MP they did not support.

"At the 2019 election, the Electoral Reform Society identified seven seats in which more than 90 per cent of votes were wasted.

"This new analysis suggests that in the upcoming election, that number may increase to 25, with a remarkable 145 seats where more than 80 per cent of votes go to waste.

"The First Past the Post system also means that votes for certain parties effectively count for more than votes for other parties.

"Make Votes Matter’s analysis of the polling data suggests Labour would receive just over 13.5 million votes nationally to elect 485 MPs, meaning on average, it would take around 28,000 votes to elect each Labour MP.

"By contrast, the Green Party are projected to receive over 1.25 million votes but have just two MPs, meaning they would need 628,000 votes per MP.

"Conservative MPs, meanwhile, would each be worth 117,000 votes. Reform UK fared worst of all parties, with the seat level data suggesting they would receive over 2.5 million votes but not a single MP."

A spokesperson for Exmouth and Exeter East’s local Make Votes Matter group, said: “Under First Past the Post, too many voters are left unrepresented. More than half of voters at the next election can expect to end up with an MP they didn’t vote for, while many others will simply end up padding out comfortable majorities in safe seats. That’s not democracy, that’s a distortion of the people’s will.

“Politics is broken. Fixing it starts with a system where Parliament accurately reflects the way the country votes and where every voice is heard.”