How is the London Mayor Elected?
Supplementary Vote Explained
The supplementary vote is one of the UK’s five election systems. It is used to elect mayors and police and crime commissioners.
Each voter can choose a first choice and a second choice. You do not have to mark a second choice. You can also choose the same candidate for both your choices, though this has the same impact as a first choice.
Any candidate who receives over 50% of the first choice votes is automatically elected. This has never happened in London before. Out of the 40 Police and Crime Commissioner elections in 2016, only four were elected on the first round.
If no candidates receive over 50% of the vote, then the top two candidates go through to the second round, whilst the rest are eliminated.
If you voted for a candidate that got to the second round, your vote stays with them in this round. If you voted for a candidate that got eliminated, your second choice vote is then examined.
If your vote was for a candidate now in the second round, it is added on to their first choice total. If your second choice vote was also for an eliminated candidate, the vote is wasted.
In order to ensure your vote has the greatest impact, vote for whoever you want for your first choice, but for your second, choose your favourite candidate out of those who are likely to be in the second round. For this election, that will probably be Sadiq Khan (Labour) and Shaun Bailey (Conservative). This gives you the strongest possible chance of your vote being decisive.
Why care about your vote being decisive? As much as it might feel good for your principles to vote for two candidates who have no chance of being in the second round, it could backfire on you.
For example, perhaps you are right wing, but you don’t like the Conservative candidate. You could vote for Laurence Fox of Reclaim for your first choice, and David Kurten of the Heritage Party for your second. However, it is unlikely either will reach the second round. This denies Bailey your vote in the second round, making it more likely that the Labour candidate could win.
There has been debate over the future of this electoral system, after an announcement by Home Secretary Priti Patel. The voting system would be changed ‘for all Combined Authority mayors, the mayor of London, and police and crime commissioners’ elections, from supplementary vote, to first past the post.
This would benefit the Conservatives, at least in London. In every single London mayoral election, the Labour candidate received more second choice votes than the Conservative candidate.
This announcement does not impact the 2021 local and mayoral elections at all.
