Voter power in Manchester Withington

0.642

Constituency marginality

Marginal

In Manchester Withington, one person does not really have one vote, they have the equivalent of 0.642 votes.

The power of voters in this constituency is based on the probability of the seat changing hands and its size.

While you might think that every vote counts equally, where you live in the UK has a huge effect on your power to influence the election.

How does Manchester Withington compare?

Voters in Manchester Withington have 2.1x more voting power than the UK average.

Average UK voter power

0.305

The average UK voter only has the power of 0.305 votes. This is because most of us live in safe seats, where the outcome is pretty much certain regardless of how we vote.

Manchester Withington ranks #98 out of 650 constituencies in the Voter Power Index.

UK constituency marginality

We can be almost certain that 60% of seats will NOT change hands in the general election (very safe or ultra safe seats).

Further information

Marginality

The more times a seat changes hands, the more marginal it is deemed to be.

  • 1997 Lab
  • 2001 Lab
  • 2005 LibDem
  • 2010 LibDem

Constituency size

+6.71%

This constituency is bigger than average, which means a voter here is less likely to affect the national result.

Number of voters: 74,396

Average constituency: 69,718

2010 election data

55% of votes discarded

55.30% of those who voted in Manchester Withington in 2010 did not vote for the winning candidate. These votes count for nothing in the First Past the Post system.

2010 General Election result

2010 General Election result in Manchester Withington

Winner takes all

2010 General Election result in Manchester Withington

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The Voter Power Index is based on research by NEF (the New Economics Foundation)

If the UK had a proportional voting system:

  • We would no longer have safe seats
  • The power of votes would be much more equal
  • All areas of the UK would have equal power to decide the outcome of the election
  • Politicians would not be able to win an election by tailoring all their policies to a narrow section of the population
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