THE 2005 GENERAL ELECTION AND THE 'NULL MP': A NEW APPROACH TO ELECTORAL REFORM -super-1 (original) (raw)

The paper discusses the legitimacy crisis faced by the UK government following the 2005 General Election, where a party secured a majority in Parliament despite receiving only 35% of the popular vote. It critiques the effectiveness of reallocating seats under proportional representation as a solution, suggesting that the root issue lies in low voter turnout, which resulted in the governing party representing less than 22% of the electorate. The authors propose a new electoral approach termed the 'Null MP' to address these concerns.