The London mayoral elections are on 1 May. The elections for the London Assembly take place at the same time. One salient fact about them is that abstention isn't a responsible option. The election takes place under a bizarrely complicated system in which 14 seats, belonging to geographical constituencies, are awarded on a first past the post basis. The remaining 11 seats are awarded according to a form of proportional representation known as the Modified d'Hondt Formula. (Modified d'Hondt . . . crazy name, crazy guy.) M d'H features an 'exclude the loonies' clause: for a party to win seats, it has to win more than 5 per cent of the overall vote. The British National Party is going to win votes in some parts of the capital where immigration is an inflamed issue. So anyone who doesn't vote is helping the BNP win the seat in the assembly that they only narrowly missed in 2004, by helping them to get closer to that five per cent share.

LRB 10 April 2008 | PDF Download