The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (c. 1) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provision for the holding of a referendum on whether to introduce the Alternative Vote system in all future general elections to the UK Parliament and also made provision on the number and size of parliamentary constituencies. The bill for the act was introduced to the House of Commons on 22 July 2010 and passed third reading on 2 November by 321 votes to 264. The House of Lords passed the Bill, with amendments, on 14 February 2011, and after some compromises between the two Houses on amendments, it received Royal Assent on 16 February 2011.
Provisions The act brought together two different constitutional aims of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition: The Liberal Democrats had long promoted an alternative to first-past-the-post elections and so the act legislated for the holding of a national referendum on whether to introduce the Alternative Vote system for the UK Parliament in all future general elections. Prior to the election, the manifestos of both coalition parties stated that they wished to reduce the number of Members of Parliament from 650: the Conservatives' target figure was 585; the Liberal Democrats' target was 500; the act set the future number of constituencies as 600. The Act also aimed to fulfil a Conservative aim to reduce the over-representation of Scotland and Wales, relative to the remaining English constituencies. The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 later delayed implementation of the changes to the number of constituencies until at least 2018, resulting in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections being held without the boundary changes.
Part 1 – Voting Systems for Parliamentary Elections
Part 1 of the act comprises sections 1 to 9. Section 1 sets out the question to be put to voters, in English and Welsh. Section 4 sets out provisions associated with the date of the Referendum, whereby the date for the poll and one or more 2011 United Kingdom local elections, 2011 Scottish Parliament election, 2011 National Assembly for Wales election or 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election will be taken on the same day. Section 9 set out amendments to the Representation of the People Act 1983 if the vote was "Yes". These included that the voter puts numbers 1, 2, etc against as many candidates' names as desired; how the count is conducted (instant run-off); and how the returning officer records the count.
The referendum The act legislated for a referendum to be held in the United Kingdom on whether to introduce the alternative vote electoral method of electing Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons in all future UK general elections on Thursday 5 May 2011. The referendum would be conducted by the Electoral Commission and overseen by an appointed chief counting officer (CCO) and a deputy chief counting officer (DCCO) who would declare the final result for the United Kingdom. The Electoral Commission is the public body under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 that was given the task to raise public awareness ahead of polling day, and to oversee the conduct of the referendum.
Referendum question The question that appeared on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate under the act was (in English):
In Wales, the question on the ballot paper also appeared in Welsh:
permitting a simple YES / NO answer (to be marked with a single (X)).
Original proposed question
The original proposed question in English was:Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill as introduced (House of Commons Bill 63 of Session 2010–12).
In Welsh:
permitting a simple YES / NO answer (to be marked with a single (X)).
This wording was criticised by the Electoral Commission, saying that "particularly those with lower levels of education or literacy, found the question hard work and did not understand it". The Electoral Commission recommended a changed wording to make the issue easier to understand, and the government subsequently amended the Bill to bring it into line with the Electoral Commission's recommendations.Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill as passed by the Commons (House of Lords Bill 26 of Session 2010–12).
Voting areas Under the provisions of the act, the designation of a "voting area" (also known by some as "Counting areas") on the day of the referendum was to be overseen by "Counting officers" (CO) who were to declare the results of their local areas within the United Kingdom and Gibraltar is as follows:
A district in England for which there is a district council A county in England in which there are no districts with councils (Unitary authority) A London borough The City of London (including the Inner and Middle Temples) The Isles of Scilly A constituency of the Scottish Parliament in Scotland A constituency of the National Assembly for Wales Northern Ireland
There were a total of 440 voting areas. 326 in England, 73 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and a single area for Northern Ireland.
Regional counts The act also provides provision for the results from the "voting areas" to fed into twelve "regional counts" to be overseen by "Regional counting officers" (RCO) which were appointed in the following areas and declared the results for their areas as used under the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 but with the exception of Gibraltar which did not participate in the referendum:
East Midlands (40 voting areas) East of England (47 voting areas) Greater London (33 voting areas) Northern Ireland (1 voting area) North East England (12 voting areas) North West England (39 voting areas) Scotland (73 voting areas) South East England (67 voting areas) South West England (37 voting areas) Yorkshire and the Humber (21 voting areas) Wales (40 voting areas) West Midlands (30 voting areas)
The regions each declared their results once all local voting areas had declared their local results late on Friday 7 May 2011. There was no provision under the act for any national or regional recounts by the Chief Counting Officer and Regional Counting Officers.
Franchise The right to vote in the referendum applied to UK residents who are British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens, in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Representation of the People Act 2000. Members of the House of Lords were able to vote in the referendum. Citizens of other EU countries resident in the UK were not allowed to vote unless they were citizens of the Republic of Ireland, Malta or Cyprus. The same Acts permitted UK nationals who had lived overseas for less than 15 years to vote. Voting on the day of the referendum was from 0700 to 2200 BST (Western European Summer Time). Also under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 2000 postal ballots were also permitted in the referendum and were sent out to eligible voters some three weeks ahead of the vote. The minimum age for voters in the referendum was 18 years, in accordance with Representation Acts (above). A House of Lords amendment proposing to only make the result of the referendum valid if the national turnout was higher than 40% was defeated in the House of Commons.
Referendum result
The result was declared by Chief counting officer (CCO) and the then chair of the Electoral Commission Jenny Watson on Saturday 7 May 2011 after all 440 voting areas and the 12 regions of the United Kingdom had declared their results on a national turnout of 42%.electoarlcommission.org.uk, 7 May 2011 The decision by the electorate in all four countries was a decisive "No" to adopting the alternative vote system in all future United Kingdom general elections.
+ National referendum results (without spoiled ballots): Yes: 6,152,607 (32.10%) No: 13,013,123 (67.90%) ▲
Results by counting regions Region Electorate Voter turnout, of eligible Votes Proportion of votes Yes No Yes No East Midlands 3,348,469 42.8% 408,8771,013,864 28.74%71.26% East of England 4,263,006 43.1% 530,1401,298,004 29.00%71.00% Greater London 5,258,802 35.4% 734,4271,123,480 39.53%60.47% North East England 1,968,137 38.8% 212,951546,138 28.05%71.95% North West England 5,239,323 39.1% 613,2491,416,201 30.22%69.78% Northern Ireland 1,198,966 55.8% 289,088372,706 43.68%56.32% Scotland 3,893,268 50.7% 713,8131,249,375 36.36%63.64% South East England 6,288,366 43.1% 823,7931,951,793 29.68%70.32% South West England 4,028,829 44.6% 564,5411,225,305 31.54%68.46% Wales 2,268,739 41.7% 325,349616,307 34.55%65.45% West Midlands 4,093,521 39.8% 461,8471,157,772 28.52%71.48% Yorkshire and the Humber 3,835,075 39.9% 474,5321,042,178 28.52%68.71%
Results by constituent countries Country Electorate Voter turnout, of eligible Votes Proportion of votes Yes No Yes No England 38,323,528 40.7% 4,786,53210,724,067 30.86%69.14% Northern Ireland 1,198,966 55.8% 289,088372,306 43.68%56.32% Scotland 3,893,269 50.7% 713,8131,249,375 36.36%63.64% Wales 2,268,739 41.7% 325,349616,307 34.55%65.45%
AV Repeal The alternative vote system provisions within the act were repealed following the decisive "No" vote in the referendum on 8 July 2011 via a Statutory Instrument.The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (Repeal of Alternative Vote Provisions) Order 2011 SI 2011/1702
Part 2 – Parliamentary Constituencies
Part 2, comprising sections 10 to 13, amends the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 including replacing Schedule 2 to introduce changes to the boundaries and number of UK constituencies, and the processes for their review. The changes for constituencies include:
Reducing the number of constituencies in the House of Commons from 650 to 600. Specifying that each constituency will be wholly within one of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. (All existing constituencies already fulfil this requirement.) Requiring the electorate of constituencies to be within 5 percent of a "United Kingdom electoral quota" (which is the national average of the number of voters per constituency, calculated after four "protected constituencies" have been removed from the equation). This electorate requirement overrides considerations of local geographical and political boundaries with the following exceptions: The two island constituencies of Orkney and Shetland and Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) are explicitly preserved. Two constituencies for the Isle of Wight. (This was an increase from the single constituency that existed up until this point.) Constituencies covering more than may be lower in electorate than 5 percent below the national average. (Of the current constituencies, this would apply only to the Highland constituency of Ross, Skye and Lochaber.) Where the difference between the electorate of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom electoral quota multiplied by the number of seats allocated to Northern Ireland exceeds one third of the United Kingdom electoral quota, then the electorate of Northern Irish constituencies shall be: No less than whichever is the lesser of the difference between the average electorate per seat in Northern Ireland and 5% of the United Kingdom electoral quota and 95% of the United Kingdom electoral quota. No more than whichever is the greater of the difference between the average electorate per seat in Northern Ireland and 5% of the United Kingdom electoral quota and 105% of the United Kingdom electoral quota. No constituency may be larger than . A specific allocation method between the four nations of the United Kingdom. The four boundary commissions of the United Kingdom are to conduct constituency reviews before 1 October 2013 and before 1 October of every subsequent fifth year. The Boundary Commission for England may consider the boundaries of the regions used for elections to the European Parliament in its processes.