Why Do So Many Parties Use Transferable Voting For Their Leadership Elections?

26th March 2023

with the SNP leadership vote result almost here. You may like to understand the voting system being used. A short article from the Electoral Reform Society explains it well.

The 27th of March sees the announcement of the results of the SNP leadership election. As we wrote a few weeks ago, the SNP uses the Alternative Vote to elect their leader - and they're not alone. Every major party in the UK uses something like the Alternative Vote to elect their leader. When you look at the other options, it’s quite clear why.

Those interested in the finer details of electoral systems may be confused by Scottish press coverage which has said the election will be via the Single Transferable Vote (STV). STV is a form of proportional representation used to elect groups of people, such as the councillors in a Scottish ward, so it is a system that Scottish voters already understand.

Read it HERE