This is a lively and authoritative account by a leading political journalist and former MP of how the British electoral system works. It is addressed primarily to intelligent voters, but also to students of political science, government and British Constitution at universities, colleges and schools. It answers central questions such as: When are elections held? Who can vote? What happens on polling day? And how does one become an MP? It explains clearly how and why constituency boundaries have to be altered, how the parties are organized, how campaigns are conducted, the role of the media, how reliable opinion polls are and what happens at by-elections. This completely revised and up-dated edition deals also with local elections, referenda and elections to the European Parliament and describes clearly the main features of other electoral systems, including the main variations of proportional representation. The annexes contain a mass of electoral statistics and a thorough bibliography.

This title is a revised and extended replacement for the same author's text on Elections and Voting Behaviour in Britain in the same series. The book provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of electoral politics today and of its evolution in the post war period. Two entirely new chapters focus on electoral reform and on the main theoretical approaches to the study of elections and voting.

Did Labour's landslide victory in 1997 mark a critical watershed in British party politics? Did the radical break with 18 years of Conservative rule reflect a fundamental change in the social and ideological basis of British voting behaviour? Critical Elections brings together leading scholars of parties, elections and voting behaviour to provide the first systematic overview of long-term change in British electoral politics.

How do British elections work? What about local elections and by-elections? How are candidates chosen? What has been the impact of changes introduced by the present government? How can an ordinary voter play his or her part? And why do so few people vote these days? Dick Leonard, a political journalist and former MP, and Roger Mortimore, an opinion pollster, cover all aspects of British elections in this updated edition of the standard work, including comprehensive tables of statistics and results.

The British General Election of 2019 is the definitive account of one of the most consequential and controversial general elections in recent times, when Boris Johnson gambled everything calling an early election to 'Get Brexit Done', and emerged triumphant. Drawing upon cutting-edge research and wide-ranging elite interviews, the new author team provides a compelling and accessible narrative of this landmark election and its implications for British politics, built on unparalleled access to all the key players, and married up to first-class data analysis. The 21st volume in a prestigious series dating back to 1945, it offers something for everyone from Westminster insiders and politics students to the interested general reader.

Originally published in 1972, this edition includes expanded sections on class and voting and elites and participation in modern democracy. Many popular misconceptions - about the militancy of party activists, the relations between MPs and constituents, the role of TV and the fairness of the electoral system - are critically examined. Equally important is the review of representational theories, from Greek to Victorian, in the light of what we know today about the workings of Parliament, the role of pressure groups and the mixture of rational and irrational motives in human behaviour. A range of twentieth century critiques, including those of Robert Michels, Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl and Peter Bachrach is presented. Wherever possible, British experience is compared with that of the USA, continental Europe or the Commonwealth.