Voting in the UK

By on July 24, 2015 in

Voting in the UK

Subject

Unit

Elections in the UK (Lesson 2)

Level

Duration

60 minutes

Voting in the UK

Student Pre-Work

[Assigned in ‘Understanding Elections’. This lesson is a continuation of activities begun in that lesson.]
Collaborate with your group to complete the ‘Preparing an Election Campaign’ document, creating a short (90 second) campaign speech outlining your policies and telling the class why they should vote in your favour. Your candidate will make this speech next class.

Opener:

Final Preparations (10 mins)

Students get together in their groups to finalise preparation for their candidates’ election speeches.

Class Activities

Election Speeches (30 mins.)

Candidates are each given 90 seconds to make their speeches.

Taking the Vote (15 mins.)

Provide students with a ballot slip. [Teachers can type the names of their students’ parties onto the text box on this Ballot Slip (DOC) and copy/paste, then cut the page into quarters].

To make this fair, students should not cast a vote for their own party. If we allow this, we’ll end up with 3-4 votes for each candidate. They should instead vote for the candidate who they found to be most persuasive, and/or whose ideas are most aligned with their own.

Pass out one ballot slip to each student. Students should mark their choice with an X, fold their slip then place it in a repository.

The teacher can then select a few students to help tally the votes.

The Results are In! (15 mins.)

How many votes were cast?. For simplicity, will consider each vote to  equal one seat. So, half plus one equals a majority government.

When two or more parties agree to work together, we have a coalition government. Typically, this occurs when no party has a majority, and party cooperation is needed so that a group of parties can together, form a majority and get support for its plans during House of Commons votes.

When a political party with the most seats (but, without a majority) tries to govern the country, we have a minority government. This party will need to convince MPs from other parties to support their plans so that they get the votes they need to pass laws. If the minority government can’t get this support on important votes, it may be defeated, and a general election may be called.

What Type of Government Have We Built?

Closing Response

None

Homework

None

Subject

Citizenship

Unit

Elections in the UK (Lesson 2)

Level

Key Stage 4, Secondary

Duration

60 minutes

Curriculum Points:

  • the different electoral systems used in and beyond the United Kingdom and actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond

Materials & Preparation

Assets

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