McDougall's occasional blog
By: McDougall Trust
Our key observations plus some questions arising from the UK EU Referendum and US Presidential election
Promoting public understanding
of electoral democracy
McDougall is the independent charitable trust that promotes public understanding of electoral democracy.
McDougall Trust exists to advance knowledge and understanding of, and research into, the forms, functions and development of electoral democracy.
McDougall has developed a longstanding focus on representative institutions, voting systems and elections, whether in government at local, regional, national and international level, or in other bodies, such as political parties, companies, trade unions, community groups, charities and other voluntary organisations.
McDougall's Main Activities, through which its purposes are carried out either directly or via arrangements with others, are:
REPRESENTATION Journal of Representative Democracy is McDougall Trust's unattributed peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in association with Taylor & Francis, see: Representation | Taylor & Francis Online (tandfonline.com);
Archives and other collections : maintaining McDougall's collections of historic archives, pamphlets, books, personal correspondence and other materials on representative democracy including elections and electoral issues (this contains the Enid Lakeman electoral studies library).
In late 2023 the Trust was pleased to reach an agreement to deposit the archive collection at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. It is not currently available to the public, pending sorting and cataloguing work.
Encouraging, supporting, or providing :
McDougall's potential audiences include policy makers, legislators, election organisers, election monitors, researchers, political scientists, historians, teachers, academics, pollsters, students, reformers, campaigners, activists, journalists, commentators, leaders, members, selectors, candidates, all those in institutions and associations that aspire to democracy or use election processes, and anyone interested in how democratic societies are - or could be - governed.
McDougall Trust - Promoting public understanding of electoral democracy.
McDougall Trust is independently run and funded. It welcomes legacies and other donations in support of its charitable work.
www.mcdougall.org.uk
The 2024 UK General Election: Results, Issues and a Commentary regarding Electoral Democracy:
Less a Landslide than Implosion and Fragmentation
Contrary to many comments it’s not so much a Labour landslide (e.g. The Guardian headline on 5 July: “Labour landslide”) but more an implosion of the Conservative vote combined with fragmentation of parties. Thus, Labour won 63% of all seats i.e. almost double their 34% of the vote while turnout was modest at 60%, in fact down nearly 7% on 2019.Conversely the Conservative vote share at 24% exceeded their share of seats (19%) by 5% yet it almost halved from 43% of the vote in 2019 to 24% this year.
Our key observations plus some questions arising from the UK EU Referendum and US Presidential election
