Marginal Constituencies in the UK

This article on the BBC web-site caught my eye; it is analysis of the effect marginal constituencies have on the behaviour of voters and on political parties.

Cooee! Major politicians go campaigning in marginals.
Picture credit: BBC.

In short, marginals decide elections. Political parties target those constituencies which are most crucial, and don't bother in seats that are safe. If the seat is safe for the other side any money spent is wasted. If the seat is safe for your party, why spend the money unnecessarily?

You can tell a seat is marginal if major politicians come calling asking for your vote.

The 2015 election is likely to be very tight and so seats like Luton south will probably see large amounts of money spent there by the parties; in 2010 parties spent £3.07 per vote (or a total of almost £130,000 between 12 parties).

The article mentions a report by the Centre for policy studies which suggested that 85% of seats are either marginal or have a good chance of their MP changing at the next election. Incidentally the report is also about voting reform, or as the title of the report has it "The evaporating case for electoral reform".

Great for G & P students contemplating the nature of elections and the importance of marginal constituencies. In addition, the idea that so many constituencies are marginal does suggest that the current electoral system is working and doesn't lead to democratic inertia. G & P students could usefully tie this to the fact that even under FPTP there is a coalition government rather than simply a single-party government.