Didn't realise this thread has become a discussion on our electoral systems, which i have just wrote an essay about.
there have been some governments that have got in power without even 50% share of the vote due to this system , theres a democracy for you
Actually no party post world war 2 has ever won a majority of the votes.
And I have been taught that we use proportional representation
Then you have been taught wrong. General Elections use a plurality system, as Ajw says the person with the most votes in a constituency wins the seats.
if we used a PR system we would not use constituencies, as it would only be proportional if seats won were an equal reflection of what the voters have voted, eg 19% of the vote, 19% of the seats.
Wales and Scotland use the Additional Member System plus, where so many AM's/SMP's are elected by First Past the Post, and a smaller proportion in regional top up areas, which are worked out proportionally.
There has been a trend in recent years particularly since the 1970s where votes for parties other than Labour and Conservatives has increased, but the First Past The Post system punished these parties as their voters are often not concentrated enough in constituencies to win seats, if we used a proportional system then there would be 180 (approx) Mps (had AMS been used at the last General Election) from these parties whereas in reality there are only around 75.
and it was 1951 when the Labour party won more votes than the Conservatives but the Conservatives won a narrow majority of seats.