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Election Day Maths

Activities

Secondary

Secondary
Election Maths Activities - Secondary

1. Analysing Past Election Data

National Curriculum Link: KS3 - Statistics (interpret and construct tables, charts, and diagrams, including
frequency tables, bar charts, pie charts, and pictograms)

Estimated Time: 1.5 hours

Activity Description: Students will analyse past election data to understand trends and make
predictions. This activity involves interpreting data and using statistical methods.

Instructions
Provide historical election data. For example, use the 2019 UK General Election results

Conservative: 365 seat

Labour: 203 seat
SNP: 48 seat
Liberal Democrats: 11 seat
Others: 23 seat

Ask students to create various charts (bar graphs, pie charts) to represent the data.


UK General Election Results

350
300

250

200
Seats

150

100

50

0
Conservative Labour SNP Liberal
Others
Democrats
Parties

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Election Maths Activities - Secondary

UK General Election Results

SNP
Liberal Democrats
Others 7.4%

1.7
Labour

3.5
%
%
31.2%

56.2%

Conservative

Discuss the trends observed and potential reasons behind them.

Data and Sources:

Historical election data (https://www.parliament.uk):

2019 UK General Electio 2015 UK General Electio

Conservative: 365 seat Conservative: 330 seat
Labour: 203 seat Labour: 232 seat
SNP: 48 seat SNP: 56 seat
Liberal Democrats: 11 seat Liberal Democrats: 8 seat
Others: 23 seats

Others: 22 seats

2017 UK General Electio 2010 UK General Electio

Conservative: 317 seat Conservative: 306 seat
Labour: 262 seat Labour: 258 seat
SNP: 35 seat SNP:
Liberal Democrats: 12 seat Liberal Democrats: 57 seat
Others: 22 seats

Others: 21 seats

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Election Maths Activities - Secondary

2. Understanding Proportional Representation

National Curriculum Link: KS3 - Number (understand and use proportionality and ratios in real contexts)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Explore how proportional representation affects election outcomes. This activity
helps students understand the concept of ratios and proportionality.

Instructions
Explain the concept of proportional representation:



Proportional representation is a system where the number of seats or amount of influence each group
gets is directly based on the proportion of votes or support they receive

Use a fictional election scenario with vote counts:



For example,

600 votes are cast in an election that uses proportional representation. There are 100 seats available
in parliament.
Party A: 300 vote
Party B: 200 vote
Party C: 100 vote

Show how seats would be distributed under proportional representation

Total seats: 10
Party A: 300
600 x 100 = 50 seat
Party B: 200
600 x 100 = 33 seat
Party C: 100
600 x 100 = 17 seats

Data and Sources

Fictional data
100 seats in parliamen
Party A: 300 vote
Party B: 200 vote
Party C: 100 votes



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Election Maths Activities - Secondary

3. Calculating Swing Votes and Margins

National Curriculum Link: KS4 - Number (understand and use percentages, percentages of amounts,
and percentage increase/decrease)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Students will calculate swing votes and margins to understand how small changes
can impact election results. This activity involves working with percentages and understanding electoral
dynamics.

Instructions
Provide a simple election scenario:



For example
Candidate A: 51% of the vot
Candidate B: 49% of the vot

Ask students to calculate the number of swing votes needed for Candidate B to win if there are
10,000 total votes

Difference in votes: 2% of 10,000 = 200 vote

Swing votes needed: (200 ÷ 2) + 1 = 101 vote

Marginal seats are viewed as the battleground of an election. This is because the constituency seat is
only won by a small margin of under 10% of the votes. A small change in voter habits could lose the
seat, and therefore lose an overall majority in a general election. Use the fictional data below to
determine whether the candidate from each political party won a marginal seat with a majority of less
than 10%. E.g. in Constituency A: Total Votes = 110,259. 10% of votes = 11,026. Labour majority =
28,441 (25.8%) - 23,187 (21.0%) = 5,254 votes (4.8%). Labour won a marginal seat.

Data and Sources Constituency

Fictional data: A B C D E
Labour Party 28,441 12,402 32,916 20,828 5,579
Conservative Party 6,851 2,855 14,408 25,801 6,809
Political Party (UK)

Liberal Democrat 13,855 12,198 16,201 3,041 11,703

Green Party 23,187 20,242 24,037 3,224 7,987
Reform Party 21,469 1,320 1,314 2,882 4,511
Scottish National Party 10,497 5,214 6,187 n/a n/a
Plaid Cymru 1805 n/a 4,755 n/a 8,485
Independent 4154 5,731 857 8,043 412

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Election Maths Activities - Secondary

4. Voting System Comparison Project

National Curriculum Link: KS4 - Number (use and apply standard techniques to interpret and compare
numbers in different forms)

Estimated Time: 2 hours (can be spread over multiple sessions)

Activity Description: Compare different voting systems (First Past the Post and Proportional
Representation) and how they affect election outcomes. This project involves comparing numerical data
and understanding electoral processes.

Instructions
Explain the different voting systems to the students.



Proportional Representation is a system where the number of seats or amount of influence each
group gets is directly based on the proportion of votes or support they receive.

First Past the Post is a system where the candidate with the most votes wins, regardless of whether

they have a majority of the total votes

Provide a set of fictional election results:



For example
Party A: 400 vote
Party B: 300 vote
Party C: 200 vote
Party D: 100 vote

Calculate the election results under each system

First Past the Post: Party A win

Proportional Representation: Calculate the percentage of seats each party would receive

Discuss the pros and cons of each system.

Data and Sources

Use fictional data for the calculations
Party A: 400 vote
Party B: 300 vote
Party C: 200 vote
Party D: 100 votes



© Third Space Learning 2024. You may photocopy this page.
Election Maths Activities - Secondary

5. Election Campaign Strategy Game

National Curriculum Link: KS3 - Probability (calculate the probability of independent and dependent
combined events, including using tree diagrams and other representations)

Estimated Time: 1.5 hours

Activity Description: Simulate an election campaign strategy game where students use probability to
make decisions. This activity involves understanding probability and strategic thinking.

Instructions
Divide students into small groups, each representing a fictional political party

Provide each group with a set of resources (time, money, volunteers) to allocate to different campaign
activities (advertising, rallies, door-to-door canvassing)

Use probability to determine the success of each activity (e.g., a rally has a 60% chance of increasing
votes by 5%)

Track the progress and calculate the final vote count based on the strategies used.

Data and Sources

Create fictional probabilities and resource allocations for the game
Advertising: 50% chance of increasing votes by 10
Rallies: 60% chance of increasing votes by 5
Canvassing: 70% chance of increasing votes by 7%

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Election Maths Activities - Secondary

6. Simulating Election Turnout and Its Impact

National Curriculum Link: KS4 - Statistics (describe, interpret and compare observed distributions of a
single variable through appropriate graphical representation involving discrete, continuous and grouped
data, and appropriate measures of central tendency)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Simulate the impact of voter turnout on election results using statistical analysis.
This activity involves understanding statistics and the importance of voter participation.

Instructions
Provide a fictional scenario with varying voter turnout percentages for different groups.



For example
Group A: 70% turnou
Group B: 50% turnou
Group C: 30% turnou

Calculate the total number of votes for each party based on turnout

Discuss how changes in turnout can affect the overall election results.

Data and Sources

Use fictional data for the calculations
Group A: 70% turnout (700 out of 1000 voters
Group B: 50% turnout (500 out of 1000 voters
Group C: 30% turnout (300 out of 1000 voters
Party A receives 40% of votes from each group, Party B receives 35%, and Party C receives 25%.



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