During a parliamentary vote, voters choose a person to represent them in the House of Commons. Usually, candidates are from political parties but they can also be independent. Once elected, MPs take part in debates and propose new laws as well as raising issues that affect Cheltenham.
In a parliamentary system, the people do not directly elect their head of state or Prime Minister but instead they choose the leader of the party that most voters belong to. This allows political parties to cooperate to form government. This means a majority of the members of parliament are likely to share the same beliefs and ideas. The head of state has a veto but this is rarely used in practice and the parliament can override this with a simple majority vote.
The bulk of parliament members are elected in a general election using a plurality or first-past-the-post voting system where the candidate who receives the most votes is elected. The remainder are elected through a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system whereby some representatives are selected from single-member constituencies (SMCs) while others are chosen through party lists. The overall MMP delegation is then calculated to ensure a proportional representation of the total number of votes cast.
The term of a parliament is five years but it can be dissolved at any time before its expiry by the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister. If the parliament is dissolved then another election must be held within three months through a process called a by-election.
About the Author
