�A Disunited Kingdom?�

At least for those following the polls, the extent of the Conservative (Tory) party of Prime Minister David Cameron’s victory in the UK election was surprising. In the context of the First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system Cameron’s party managed to capture 51% of the seats with 37% of the national vote. The lion’s share of the Tory vote, along with 319 of the seats, came from England.

At the beginning of this year, many believed that Labour had a modest edge thanks in part to what were seen as favourable constituency boundaries in England, while on the eve of Thursday’s vote the opinion polling consensus was that the Tories were running neck to neck with Labour across the country, with both likely to fall short of a majority.