https://mdcallianceparty.org/The Ballot Primer is an independent, non-partisan guide to how democracy works: elections and voting systems, political parties and coalitions, parliaments, constitutional rights and democratic institutions in Africa.en-gbhttps://mdcallianceparty.org/why-uk-political-parties-have-colours/https://mdcallianceparty.org/why-uk-political-parties-have-colours/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Blue, red and yellow look like fixed facts of British politics, but for most of history party colours changed from town to town. Here is where they came from and why parties still use them.https://mdcallianceparty.org/when-did-women-get-the-vote-uk/https://mdcallianceparty.org/when-did-women-get-the-vote-uk/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Women in the UK first voted in a general election in 1918, but only if they were over 30 and met a property test. Equal voting rights with men came in 1928. Here is who could vote when, how the change was won and how the UK compares.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-the-rule-of-law/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-the-rule-of-law/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The rule of law is the idea that everyone, including the government, must obey the law, and that laws must be public, clear and applied equally by independent courts. Here is what it means and how it works in practice.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-the-african-union/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-the-african-union/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The African Union brings together the states of Africa in one continental organisation. Here is where it came from, what its founding treaty commits members to, and how its Assembly, Commission, councils and courts fit together.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-sadc/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-sadc/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200SADC links 16 countries of southern Africa in a community for development, trade and security co-operation. Here is how it began, how it is run and how its election guidelines and observer missions work.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-select-committee/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-select-committee/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Select committees are where MPs and peers question ministers, officials and experts in detail. Here is how they are set up, who sits on them, and what happens to their reports.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-political-party/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-political-party/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Parties pick candidates, write programmes and organise both government and opposition. Here is what a political party is, how UK parties are funded and regulated, and what terms like two-party system mean.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-party-whip/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-party-whip/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Whips keep MPs voting with their party. Here is what the Chief Whip does, what one-, two- and three-line whips mean, when MPs get a free vote, and what it means to lose the whip.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-minority-government/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-minority-government/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200A minority government runs the country without a majority in parliament. Here is how it survives from vote to vote, what happened to minority governments in the UK and Canada, and the case for and against.https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-by-election/https://mdcallianceparty.org/what-is-a-by-election/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200A by-election is a contest for one seat that has fallen empty between general elections. Here is why UK by-elections happen, who triggers them, how the timetable works and how other countries handle vacancies.https://mdcallianceparty.org/voter-id-uk/https://mdcallianceparty.org/voter-id-uk/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Voters in Great Britain now need photo ID to vote in person at many elections. Here is which elections it covers, what ID is accepted, how to get the free Voter Authority Certificate and how Northern Ireland's older system works.https://mdcallianceparty.org/vote-of-no-confidence/https://mdcallianceparty.org/vote-of-no-confidence/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200A government stays in office only while it has the confidence of the House of Commons. Here is how a no confidence vote works, how it differs from a party leadership vote, and what the public can and cannot do.https://mdcallianceparty.org/single-transferable-vote-explained/https://mdcallianceparty.org/single-transferable-vote-explained/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Under the single transferable vote, you rank candidates in order and your vote moves on if it is not needed or cannot help. Here is how an STV count works, a simple example, and where the system is used.https://mdcallianceparty.org/separation-of-powers/https://mdcallianceparty.org/separation-of-powers/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The idea that law-making, government and the courts should be in different hands shapes constitutions around the world. Here is where it came from, how the US applies it and why the UK follows it only in part.https://mdcallianceparty.org/rule-of-law-british-values/https://mdcallianceparty.org/rule-of-law-british-values/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Since 2014, schools in England have been expected to promote four fundamental British values, one of which is the rule of law. Here is the official wording, what pupils are expected to understand and the debate about the term.https://mdcallianceparty.org/party-political-broadcast/https://mdcallianceparty.org/party-political-broadcast/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Party political broadcasts are the one place on UK television and radio where parties speak to voters in their own words. Here is who gets them, under which rules, and why parties cannot simply buy airtime instead.https://mdcallianceparty.org/parliamentary-vs-presidential-system/https://mdcallianceparty.org/parliamentary-vs-presidential-system/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Whether a country's leader answers to parliament or is elected separately for a fixed term shapes almost everything about how it is governed. Here is how the two systems, and the French hybrid, work.https://mdcallianceparty.org/pan-african-parliament/https://mdcallianceparty.org/pan-african-parliament/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The Pan-African Parliament is the African Union's continental assembly. Its members come from national parliaments and its powers are mainly consultative, though a 2014 protocol would give it a law-making role.https://mdcallianceparty.org/hung-parliament/https://mdcallianceparty.org/hung-parliament/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200A hung parliament is one where no party has a majority of seats. Here is what it means, who stays in Downing Street while talks go on, and how past UK hung parliaments ended.https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-to-start-a-political-party-uk/https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-to-start-a-political-party-uk/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Anyone can found a political party, but to put its name on a ballot paper it must be registered with the Electoral Commission. Here is what registration involves and how party membership works.https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-proportional-representation-works/https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-proportional-representation-works/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Proportional representation aims to give each party a share of seats close to its share of the vote. Here is how party-list systems do it, with a worked example of the main counting formulas.https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-election-results-are-declared/https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-election-results-are-declared/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Polls close at 10pm, but the result is not official until the returning officer reads it out. Here is what happens at a UK count, step by step, and where to find official by-election and general election results.https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-election-observation-works/https://mdcallianceparty.org/how-election-observation-works/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Election observers watch the whole electoral process, not just polling day, and report on how far it met agreed standards. Here is who observes, what they do, the rules they follow and what happens to their reports.https://mdcallianceparty.org/house-of-lords-act-1999/https://mdcallianceparty.org/house-of-lords-act-1999/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in Parliament, but a compromise let 92 of them stay. Here is what the Act did, how the 92 were chosen and how later reform ended that exception.https://mdcallianceparty.org/dicey-rule-of-law/https://mdcallianceparty.org/dicey-rule-of-law/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The Victorian lawyer A. V. Dicey gave the rule of law its classic British definition in 1885. Here are his three meanings in plain English, the criticisms made of them and the reasons his account is still the starting point.https://mdcallianceparty.org/confidence-and-supply/https://mdcallianceparty.org/confidence-and-supply/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200A confidence and supply deal lets a party prop up a government without joining it. Here is what the two words mean, what the 2017 Conservative–DUP deal contained, and how other parliaments use the idea.https://mdcallianceparty.org/bingham-rule-of-law/https://mdcallianceparty.org/bingham-rule-of-law/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Tom Bingham, one of the most senior British judges of his generation, wrote the most widely quoted modern account of the rule of law. Here is his core definition, his eight principles in plain English and why his book is so often cited.https://mdcallianceparty.org/alternative-vote-explained/https://mdcallianceparty.org/alternative-vote-explained/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200The alternative vote lets you rank candidates for a single seat, and the count eliminates the weakest until one is left. Here is how it works, how it compares with first past the post and STV, and what happened in the UK's 2011 referendum.https://mdcallianceparty.org/african-charter-on-human-and-peoples-rights/https://mdcallianceparty.org/african-charter-on-human-and-peoples-rights/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200In force since 1986, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights covers individual rights, the rights of peoples and individual duties. Here is what it says and how the African Commission and Court apply it.https://mdcallianceparty.org/african-charter-on-democracy-elections-and-governance/https://mdcallianceparty.org/african-charter-on-democracy-elections-and-governance/Mon, 09 Nov 2026 23:20:42 +0200Adopted in 2007 and in force since 2012, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance is the African Union's treaty on elections and constitutional government. Here is what it commits states to and how it is enforced.