The effects of electoral reform on party campaigns, voters and party systems at the local level: from single member plurality to the single transferable vote in Scotland

Abstract

ABSTRACT Local electoral reform is important because local politics is a ‘missing link’ in understanding how electoral reform impacts upon political behaviour. This article discusses this question through examination of Scotland where the single transferable vote (STV) was introduced in 2007. This had consequences for party competition, how voters used their preferential ballot and local party system fragmentation. The article examines data from three rounds of STV local elections between 2007-2017, before comparing them with local elections under SMP. The first section applies debates regarding electoral reform and party systems to local elections. Sections two and three outline the electoral reforms implemented from 2007, and set out some expectations about voter and party behaviour. The fourth part examines local party candidate strategies, before the fifth section discusses voting behaviour under the STV system. The sixth section reflects on whether this has increased party system fragmentation at local level.