Starmer's victory based on first past the post

June 30, 2026

Jack’s analysis of Albanese’s weaknesses is pretty good, but comparisons with Starmer’s demise need to recognise a fundamental difference between the Australian and British electoral systems.

In the 2024 election Starmer’s government won 33.7 per cent of the votes. Only just under 60 per cent of eligible voters actually voted. So 33.7 per cent of 60 per cent is only just over 20 per cent of voters in the UK gave him such a stunning majority.

You might ask how this is possible? There are two fundamental reasons, the first of which is first past the post which means that the party with more votes than any other party wins government, no matter how small the percentage of voters who voted for it. The second is non-compulsory voting, which tips the democratic balance even further towards bizarre outcomes. It is fundamentally that which might put Nigel Farage into the PM’s position post the next election.

To top it all off Labour under starmer won nearly 600,000 fewer votes than Corbyn in 2019 and over three million fewer votes than Corbyn in 2017. Yet Corbyn lost and Starmer won in a landslide You’d have to see that as a dysfunctional voting system!!