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A Democratic Deficit? The 2005 Election. John Curtice Strathclyde University. The Result. The Result in Scotland. The Records. Second lowest turnout since 1918 First time Labour has won a majority for third time in a row Lowest ever vote share for a majority government
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A Democratic Deficit? The 2005 Election John Curtice Strathclyde University
The Records • Second lowest turnout since 1918 • First time Labour has won a majority for third time in a row • Lowest ever vote share for a majority government • Lowest ever vote for Con and Lab combined • Highest vote for GB Others since 1918
And a few more • Biggest ever drop in votes for a Lab govt. • More than twice as many LD gains from Lab (11) as in whole post-war period (5). • First ever period of Lab govt in which LD vote has risen. • Most LibDem MPs since 1923. • More non-nationalist GB others (3) elected than at any time since 1945.
Scottish Records • Lib Dems in top two for first time since 1910 • Conservatives come fourth for first time ever • Combined vote for Con and Lab lowest since 1910
The Questions • Why did so few people vote? • Why did so few vote Labour (or Conservative) • How did Labour win so many seats?
A democratic deficit? • The electorate held Labour to account for its ‘failures’ • But their ability to do so was constrained by the working of the electoral system • And a one-sided contest with no choice failed to mobilise voters again.