The opposition could have sharply reduced the Tory majority in the Devon County Council elections, with a Progressive Alliance
My analysis on West Country Bylines shows how the undemocratic First Past The Post system gave the Tories 39 seats out of 60, when they deserved only 26 based on their share of the vote (42 per cent). For the fourth successive election, the majority of Devon voters showed that they are NOT Tory, but the electoral system gave the Tories a very comfortable win.
In 11 seats, listed in the article, the split in the opposition vote let the Tories win. With a Progressive Alliance, opposition parties or Independents could have taken many of these seats from the Tories, producing a narrow opposition majority or in the worst case, a sharply reduced Tory majority.
As the table below shows, all sectors of the opposition, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Greens and Independents, were underrepresented compared to their shares of the vote.
| VOTES | PER CENT | SEATS | Proportional | FPTP | |
| (2017 results | in brackets) | distribution | advantage | ||
| Conservatives | 108692 | 42.4 (44.4) | 39 (42) | 26 | 13 |
| Liberal Democrats | 45395 | 17.7 (21.7) | 9 (7) | 11 | -2 |
| Labour | 40640 | 15.9 (15.2) | 7 (7) | 10 | -3 |
| Green Party | 28501 | 11.0 (5.4) | 2 (1) | 7 | -5 |
| Independents | 27436 | 10.8 (9.8) | 3 (3) | 6 | -3 |
| Other parties | 3184 | 1.2 (1.5) | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 |
Overall results of the 2021 Devon County Council elections
Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 