Chapter 5 Web links to data sets

Chapter five: Winning and losing elections

  1. Elections and parties

Devolution has seen the four nations of the UK have distinctive political systems. Each legislature is dominated by different parties, and the more proportional voting systems are producing coalition and minority governments, which are the norm in such places. This link contains key graphs and statistics which discuss this difference between the four nations.

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/devolution-at-20/elections-and-parties

  1. Donations and loans

Elections are expensive. This data from the Electoral Commission is very insightful, showing key statistics, such as party funding breakdowns.

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/financial-reporting/donations-and-loans/view-donations-and-loans/donations-accepted

  1. UK election statistics 1918-2021: A century of elections

This briefing paper contains an overview of UK elections dating all the way back to 1918. This is a good read when considering how electoral systems differ within the UK’s four nations, and how in turn electoral outcomes differ in terms of predictability. The graphs offered in this briefing paper are especially useful as they make it easy to spot trends of turbulence or equally periods of stabilised party support.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7529/

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