THE 2005 GENERAL ELECTION AND THE 'NULL MP': A NEW APPROACH TO ELECTORAL REFORM1

Abstract

At the 2005 General Election the Labour Party won an overall majority of Parliamentary seats but won the votes of less than a quarter of the electorate. Such an outcome may raise concerns about the democratic legitimacy of the government. The introduction of the Null MP electoral system would solve this ‘legitimation crisis’: every abstention would be counted as a vote for a Null candidate, who, if elected in the usual first-past-the-post way, would be assumed to vote against all legislation introduced by the government. Very different outcomes would have resulted had this electoral system been in place at the last two General Elections.