Explain and evaluate the first-past-the-post electoral system.

First-past-the-post is the electoral system used for the UK General Election. The UK is divided into constituencies and each citizen gets one vote. The candidate in each constituency with the most votes becomes the MP. This is a majoritarian electoral system. An advantage of the first-past-the-post system is that it is simple and easy for citizens to understand because everyone casts just one vote. There is also a strong MP/constituency link which means that an MP is representing the issues of a specific area and citizens have a specific person to pressure and hold accountable. First-past-the-post also tends to result in a single party government which can make passing laws easier. This is supported by the fact that there have only been two coalitions since World War Two- in 1974 and in 2010.
There are, however, disadvantages to the first-past-the-post electoral system. MPs only have to gain a simple plurality to win, not a majority, so many MPs do not have the support of a majority of their constituents. This undermines their mandate. It also leads to a disproportionate outcome which generally favours larger parties. For example, in the 2019 General Election the conservatives won 56.2% of the seats, despite gaining just 43.6% of the votes. With first-past-the-post votes for smaller parties are often wasted which leads to tactical voting, where people vote for larger parties rather than the party they most agree with. This further undermines the mandate of elected MPs. A proportional electoral system would lead to a more representative election outcome, however this would make coalitions significantly more likely.