Elections in Britain Today

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 1-4

3. When Elections are Held

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 5-11

4. The Voters

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 12-23

5. Constituencies

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 24-39

6. Political Parties — National

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 40-68

7. Political Parties — Local

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 69-78

8. Candidates

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 79-99

9. The Campaign in the Constituencies

   • Dick Leonard

   Pages 100-114

10. The National Campaign

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 115-129

11. Polling Day

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 130-139

12. By-Elections, Local Elections, Euro-Elections and Referenda

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 140-154

13. Opinion Polls

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 155-164

14. How People Vote

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 165-183

15. How Much Does it Cost?

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 184-191

16. An Evolving System

    • Dick Leonard

    Pages 192-196

17. Back Matter

    Pages 197-237

    PDF

An account of the ways in which the British electoral system works, this book answers central questions such as when are elections held and what happens on polling day? Also examined are issues such as why constituency boundaries are altered, how parties are organized and the role of the media.

• campaign
• constituency
• election
• elections
• Electoral
• Electoral System
• local election
• Single Transferable Vote
• voter

Dick Leonard is an historian, journalist and author and a former Labour MP. For many years he was Assistant Editor of The Economist, and headed their office in Brussels, where he was later also correspondent of The Observer. He also worked for the BBC, and contributed regularly to leading newspapers across the world. His publications include The Economist Guide to the European Union, Elections in Britain, A Century of Premiers: Salisbury to Blair; Nineteenth Century British Premiers: Pitt to Rosebery and Eighteenth Century British Premiers: Walpole to the Younger Pitt.

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