One in four seats have been held by the same party since the Second World War, according to new analysis by the Electoral Reform Society (ERS).
The research reveals that 103 Conservative seats and 26 Labour seats have been held since at least 1945.
The ERS says this reveals the First Past the Post system means the majority of seats can be predicted. In 2010, the campaign group predicted the final result for 364 seats, and only got two of the results wrong.
‘There are hundreds of electoral deserts where the same party has got in since the war, and all voters lose out as a consequence,’ said Katie Ghose, chief executive of the ERS.
‘It’s no wonder people feel alienated by politics when many feel their vote for another party simply won’t count. With a quarter of seats not changing hands since the Second World War, voters become disillusioned and other parties focus their efforts elsewhere in the hyper-marginals. That’s no way to run a democracy.’
The ERS is calling for the introduction of a proportional voting system to make elections more ‘competitive’.
