Newspaper commentators, bloggers around the world, and anti-PR campaigners of every hue have rushed into print with shock-horror stories claiming the success of the BNP in the recent elections to the European Parliament was all down to the PR voting system. "All would have been well if only we had used First-Past-The-Post".

This claim was even made on "Any Questions" by Jill Kirby, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies.

Here's what I've been posting in response.

Let's get the facts right about PR and the BNP.

The BNP has now won THREE seats in elections by PR voting systems. (One on the Greater London Assembly, two in the European Parliament.)

Before the council elections last week the BNP had won MORE THAN SEVENTY seats in elections by First-Past-The-Post voting systems. In the elections last week, the BNP won some more seats by FPTP, so the total is now well in excess of SEVENTY seats won by FPTP. In some council wards the BNP hold all three seats, despite having only minority support in the ward.

So the success of the BNP has nothing to do with PR. The electoral success of the BNP has come through the FPTP voting system.

The great thing about PR voting systems (of any variety, though I have my own clear preference) is that they allow all parties (including the BNP) to win their fair share of the seats, in proportion to their support, but they ensure that no party (including the BNP) wins more than its fair share of the seats. Unlike FPTP, as the facts show.