Marginal seat - Ruth Kelly

< Previous | Next >
T

tite_abeie

Senior Member
Belgium
Belgium - French
Hi!!

can anybody explained to me what's a marginal seat?? and help me to find a translation in French... I made some research but it's too complex...

The text is about Ruth Kelly..

Her first child was born just 11 days after she took the marginal seat of Bolton West from the Conservatives and some commentators have called her a "super mum".

Thanks a lot!
 
    • timboleicester

    timboleicester

    Senior Member
    Paris
    English - UK
    If you want to sit in the UK Parliament you have to win a seat. These seats represent areas of the country called constituencies. The candidate with the most votes in a constituency election wins. This is called the "first past the post system". The winner takes the seat, as there is no transferable vote. Ruth Kelly in an MP (Member of Parliamant) for the area known as West Bolton (West) She got the most votes but she won very narrowly or "marginally". It wouldn't take much for one of the other parties to win the seat as her "majority" is very small. These seats attract a lot of attention from political parties as it's who wins these seats, or marginals which determins who forms the government.
     
    A

    alisonp

    Senior Member
    London
    English - UK
    A marginal seat, in UK politics, is a constituency which has been won by a candidate with only a very small majority, and is therefore deemed to be particularly at risk of being lost at the next election. Strangely enough, if it is held by the party in government, it quite frequently happens that that constituency suddenly benefits from having quite a bit of government money invested in it to improve things such as job prospects, and you will also find that, come the next election, a lot of high-profile ministers will turn up in the constituency to support their candidate. (Cynic? Me? :))

    HTH
     
    T

    tite_abeie

    Senior Member
    Belgium
    Belgium - French
    c'est pas la première fois que vous m'aidez! un énorme merci, j'attendais la réponse d'un avocat, ms rien ne venait...

    MERCI!!!
     
    Markus

    Markus

    Senior Member
    Paris, France
    Canada - English
    I don't know what that is; perhaps it's an American English / British English thing? Or perhaps I'm just weird, let's wait and see if other Americans / Canadians know this term. Can you explain what it is ?
     
    T

    tite_abeie

    Senior Member
    Belgium
    Belgium - French
    If you want to sit in the UK Parliament you have to win a seat. These seats represent areas of the country called constituencies. The candidate with the most votes in a constituency election wins and takes the seat. A Member of Parliament for the area known as West Bolton got the most votes but he/she won very narrowly or "marginally" It wouldn't take much for one of the other parties to win the seat as her "majority" is very small and that’s what Ruth Kelly did, she took the marginal seat from the Conservatives. These seats attract a lot of attention from political parties as it's who wins these seats or marginal’s which determines who forms the government.
     
    Markus

    Markus

    Senior Member
    Paris, France
    Canada - English
    Okay, thanks for the explanation. We don't use this term in Canada. We might talk about seats that are a "close race" or "closely contested".

    Markus
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    < Previous | Next >
    Top