Labour lost ~8,000–12,000 votes
Despite maintaining 55.1% vote share, Labour's absolute number of votes dropped by between 8,000 and 12,000 compared to the previous election.
Where this was said
How the STV Vote Count Works: Quotas, Surpluses and Transfers
At 22:10 · chapter starts 13:20
David Grech walks through the STV count process with the patience of a teacher and the rigour of an analyst. He introduces the Droop quota — total valid votes divided by seats-plus-one, then add one — and explains why the formula ensures that exactly the right number of candidates can reach the threshold in each district. He then describes what happens when a candidate exceeds the quota: their surplus votes are not discarded but redistributed proportionally to remaining candidates, weighted according to the second (or later) preferences on each ballot. When no surplus exists, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and all their ballots transfer to the next available preference. This cascade continues count by count — sometimes reaching 20 or more rounds — until all seats are filled. Jon repeatedly tests understanding with hypothetical scenarios ('what if a candidate gets exactly 3.6 quotas?'), and David explains how fractional surpluses are handled, how non-transferable votes work, and why the final seat in a district is often far more contested than the first.
UK 2019: Johnson won on 29.3%
Boris Johnson won the 2019 UK general election with just 29.3% of the total voting-eligible population, illustrating how first-past-the-post can produce majority governments on minority support.
Obama won on ~29% of eligible voters
Even Barack Obama, despite his exceptional popularity, won the US presidency with approximately 29% of the voting-eligible population.
Compulsory Voting: Does It Actually Increase Democracy?
Belgium has compulsory voting, yet a significant share of voters submit blank or spoilt ballots rather than engage. Luxembourg sees roughly 60% invalid votes under compulsion. The conclusion: forcing people to vote doesn't create informed participation — it just inflates the turnout number while the blank-ballot rate reveals the true level of disengagement.
Belgium: compulsory voting, ~60% non-transferable
In Luxembourg, roughly 60% of those forced to vote under compulsory voting rules submit invalid or blank ballots, showing the limits of mandatory participation.
Voter eligible population ~355,000
Malta's voting-eligible population grew from around 340,000 in the 1970s to approximately 355,000 at the time of the last election.
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Oliver North had zero covert experience
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