P.R. AT WORK

By JOHN IL HUMPHREYS

THE single transferable vote form of proportional representation was first applied to University parliamentary elections in 1918. Prior to that year each elector in the Oxford and Cambridge Universities had two votes. The Conservatives were in a majority ; they elected both members ; to secure the ConserVative nomination was almost equivalent to election ; indeed, in Oxford, from 1880 to

1910 inclusive, all Conservative candidates were returned unopposed. P.R. is applied in those University constituencies that return two members-Oxford, Cambridge and the Combined English ; and in the Combined Scottish Universities, which elect three. Although the proportional system works under limiting conditions-the election of two, or, at most, three members-it has, nevertheless, made a great change in the character of University representation. P.R. has broken the tradition that this was the preserve of one political party, and, as a consequence, there is now less hostility to University representation as such. In 1945, of the members elected for the four constituencies named; only three are Conservative or National ; the remaining six are Independents. The reason why Independents were able to secure election is that a candidate to be successful requires not a majority, but only a " quota " of the votes. In the two-member constituencies this quota is one more than one-third of all the valid first preferences polled ; in the three-member con- stituency the quota is one more than one-fourth.

With the single transferable vote the elector expresses his choices amongst the candidates by placing against their names the figures z, 2, 3 and so on. The elector has but one vote, which, in certain circumstances, is transferable. Any transfer of a vote is made in

accordance with the wishes expressed by the elector in the preferences marked by him. In the first instance, the elector's first preference is regarded as his vote.

At Oxford, the total number of votes (first preferences) was 15,321; and the quota (one more than one-third of the votes) 5,108. The two leading candidates each obtained more than this quota on the first count ; both were duly elected ; no transfers were necessary. The following table gives the figures:-

OXFORD UNIVERSITY, 1945.

First Preferences.

SALTER, Sir Arthur (Ind.) 6,771 (1st Elected) HERBERT, A. P. (Incl.) 5,136 (2nd Elected)

COLE, G. D. H. (Lab.) 3,414

Total 15,321 At Cambridge, the number of votes (first preferences) was 22,091, and the quota 7,364. The Conservative candidate, Dr. Pickthorn, had by far the largest number of votes. Under the old system, when each elector had two votes, the Cambridge Conservatives would almost certainly have nominated two candidates, and it seems likely that both of them would have been elected, each polling a larger number of votes than any of the Independents. The Conservatives, understanding the new conditions that P.R. had introduced, nominated one candidate only ; he received more than the quota, and was elected on the first count.

The next step taken by the Returning Officer was to transfer Dr.

Pickthorn's surplus votes, the number in excess of the quota. In this, and in all subsequent transfers, the Returning Officer gave effect to the wishes expressed by the electors. The whole of Dr. Pick- thorn's papers, 10,202, were resorted according to the second choices expressed thereon ; each candidate named as a second choice received his proportionate share of the surplus, the proportion for each being determined by the number of second choices recorded for him. In this transfer, Harris received 1,135 votes and Priestley 87.

There were now four candidates in the running for the second seat, not one of whom had yet secured a quota of votes. The candi- dates at the bottom of the poll, Air Commodore Howard-Williams and Dr. Hill, were, in succession, declared defeated, and their votes transferred to the next preferences recorded by their supporters. In these transfers Mr. Wilson Harris received 1,847 votes and Mr. Priestley 617. The second choices revealed in these transfers showed clearly that the majority of these electors preferred Mr. Wilson Harris, whose total was now 6,556, whilst Mr. Priestley's total was 5,745. In a straight fight for the second seat, Mr. Harris would have defeated Mr. Priestley. In the transfers of the papers of Air Com- modore Howard-Williams and Dr. Hill there were 2,426 votes that had to be treated as non-transferable. These were the votes of electors who had failed to express a preference either for Mr. Harris or for Mr. Priestley ; they had not used their voting power fully.

In the Cambridge election the influence of P.R. was twofold. First, the Conservatives nominated one candidate only. Second, although for the second seat the votes of the electors were scattered among four candidates, the transferable vote reduced these four groups of electors to two, the larger of which preferred Mr. Harris. The following table shows first preferences and final count:

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, 1945.

First Final Preferences. Count.

PICKTHORN, Dr. K. W. M. (Cons.) 10,202 7,364 (1st Elected)

PRIESTLEY, J. B. (Ind. Prog.) 5,041 5745

HARRIS, H. Wilson (Ind.) 3,574 6,556 (2nd Elected) HILL, Dr. Chas. (Ind.) 2,238 - HOWARD-WILLIAMS, E. L. (Ind.) 1,036 - Non-Transferable Papers - 2,426 Total 22,091 22,091 For the Combined English Universities, the total number of votes (first preferences) was 20,973, and the quota 6,992. This election disclosed several features similar to those of the Cambridge election. The leading candidate, Miss Rathbone, was elected with a large. number of first preferences, 11,176. The transfer of her surplus, 4,184, revealed a large number of second choices for Mr. Kenneth Lindsay ; his share of this surplus was 1,58o votes, a much greater number than fell to any of the other candidates. There were five candidates in the running for the second seat. The elimination, in succession, of Mr. Foxall, Prof. Richardson, and Lt.-Col. Arden, resulted, in each case, in the transfer of the largest number of votes to Mr. Lindsay; finally, he was credited with 5,826 votes against 4,675 for his strongest competitor, Mr. Wormald. Mr. Lindsay was therefore elected to the second seat.

The following table gives the first preferences and the position at the final count :

COMBINED ENGLISH

UNIVERSITIES, 1945.

First Final Preferences. Count.

RATHBONE, Miss E. (Ind.) 11,176 6,992 (1st Elected) WORMALD, S. (Lab.) 3,212 4,675

ARDEN, Lt.-Col. E. C. (Ind.) 2,433

LINDSAY, Kenneth (Ind.) 1,923 5,826 (2nd Elected) RICHARDSON, Prof. H. (Ind.) 1,124 _ -- FOXALL, A. R. (Ind.) 1,105 -

Non-Transferable Papers - 3,480 Total 20,973 20:973 In the Scottish Universities, the total number of votes (first pre- ferences) was 32,789, and the quota 8,198. There were three mem- bers to be elected. Sir John Anderson and Sir John Boyd Orr each received more than a quota of first preferences ; they were both declared elected. Sir John Anderson stood as a National candidate ; Sir John Graham Kerr was a Conservative ; he received only 1,361 first preferences ; but when Sir John Anderson's large surplus of 7,813 was transferred, no less than 6,748 of the votes fell to him. He was the third to be elected.