The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election provided lots to talk about. An alarming, and overlooked, implication is for our voting system.

In 2015, the SNP had 53% of Holyrood seats – only a slight overshoot, given its 44% of votes at the previous election. At the same time, it had 95% of Scottish Westminster seats, on 50% of the vote. Scotland’s additional member electoral system shelters the formation of its devolved governments from the worst of first-past-the-post. But the constituency by-election highlighted that around half Holyrood’s seats come through first-past-the-post. The top three candidates were only 5% apart. Around 70% of votes were against each of them and a few votes could have re-ordered them.

It matters for........

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