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Election Day Maths

Activities

Primary

Primary
Election Maths Activities - Primary

1. Creating an Election Pictogram

National Curriculum Link: Year 2 - Statistics (interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts,
block diagrams, and simple tables)

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Activity Description: Introduce your pupils to the concept of elections using a pictogram activity. This
activity will help pupils understand how to collect, organise, and display data visually.

Instructions
Explain to the pupils that they will be conducting a mock election in the classroom. Create a simple
ballot with 3-4 candidates or choices. For example
Favourite fruit (Apple, Banana, Orange, Grapes
Favourite subject (Maths, English, Science, PE
Favourite UK party (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party
Each pupil will vote for their favourite choice using their voting card (printable resource)
Collect the votes (you may want to create a mini polling station in your classroom, with voting
stations and a ballot box)
Count the results using the tally chart (printable resource)
On a large piece of paper or whiteboard, draw a pictogram including the key that will be used.
Help the pupils fill in the pictogram with the data collected. Pupils should use appropriate pictures to
represent an amount such as a square, an X, or a circle to represent 1, 2, 3, or 4 votes.

Data and Sources

Create simple, fictional data such as
Apple: 10 vote
Banana: 8 vote
Orange: 6 vote
Grapes: 12 vote

Or use an election-related example

Conservative: 10 vote
Labour: 8 vote
Liberal Democrats: 6 vote
Green Party: 12 votes

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

Voting cards

Favourite ____________________________ Favourite ____________________________

Vote for one option only by putting a cross in Vote for one option only by putting a cross in

the box next to your choice the box next to your choice

Favourite ____________________________ Favourite ____________________________

Vote for one option only by putting a cross in Vote for one option only by putting a cross in

the box next to your choice the box next to your choice

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

Tally chart

Tally
Favourite ....................

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

Pictogram

Favourite ....................
Key

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

2. Simple Percentages with Election Results

National Curriculum Link: Year 5 - Number - Fractions (recognise the percent symbol (%) and

understand that per cent relates to ‘number of parts per hundred’; write percentages as a fraction with

denominator hundred, and as a decimal)

Estimated Time: 30 minutes

Activity Description: Pupils will learn to calculate percentages using a simple election results scenario.

This helps pupils understand basic fraction and percentage concepts.

Instructions

Discuss the fact that the UK is divided into 650 constituencies (or areas). Each constituency elects one

Member of Parliament (MP) who represents them in the House of Commons. On voting day, people

vote in their constituency at polling stations for the candidate (person) who they want to represent

their constituency in the House of Commons. Each candidate will represent a different political party

(e.g. Conservatives, Labour, Green Party, Independent ). When the voting closes, the votes are

counted. The candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins a seat in the House of

Commons.

Provide the pupils with fictional election data. For example

Conservative: 351 seat

Labour: 208 seat

Liberal Democrats: 13 seat

Other: 78 seat

Ask the pupils to calculate the percentage of seats each party received

Guide them through the process of converting the number of votes into percentages

Total seats = 65

351
Conservative: = 54
650

208
Labour: = 32
650

13
Liberal Democrats: = 2
650

78
Other: = 12
650

Students could then colour in a blank 100 square to show the percentage of the elected MPs

representing each party.

Data and Sources

Use the fictional data provided above.

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

3. Election Themed Word Problems

National Curriculum Link: Year 5 - Number - Addition and Subtraction (solve addition and subtraction
multi-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Incorporate word problems into your maths lessons by using election-themed
scenarios. This helps pupils practise problem-solving skills in a real-world context.

Instructions
Create a series of word problems related to election scenarios. For example
"If the Conservative Party received 45 votes, the Labour Party received 30 votes, and the Green
Party received 10 votes, how many more votes did the Conservative Party get than the Labour
Party?
"If 100 people voted and 60% voted for the Conservative Party, how many votes did they
receive?
Work through the problems as a class or in small groups.

Data and Sources

Use simple, fictional data like
Conservative: 45 vote
Labour: 30 vote
Green Party: 10 votes

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

3. Election Themed Word Problems

1 In a large election, the Conservative Party received 254,316 votes, the Labour
Party received 182,004 votes, and the Green Party received 70,395 votes.
How many total votes were cast?

2 The Labour Party received 320,652 votes and the Conservative Party received
281,541 votes. How many more votes did the Labour Party receive than the
Conservative Party?

3 In an election, the Conservative Party received 452,332 votes, the Labour

Party received 376,239 votes, and the Liberal Democrat received 79,986
votes. How many more votes did the Conservative Party receive than the
Liberal Democrats?

4 In a town, the Conservative Party received 95,103 votes, the Labour Party
received 111,658 votes, and the Green Party received 25,328 votes. How
many votes were cast in total?

5 The Green Party received 520,004 votes and the Labour Party received
121,090 fewer votes than the Green Party. How many votes did the Labour
Party receive?

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

3. Election Themed Word Problems

6 If the Liberal Democrats received 124,671 votes in one city and 135,648 votes
in another city, how many votes did they receive in total in these two cities?

7 The Scottish National Party received 153,062 votes in one city and 124,419
votes in another city. The Labour Party received 141,540 votes in one city and
109,937 votes in another city. How many more votes did the Scottish National
Party receive in total compared to the Labour Party?

8 The Labour party received 85,002 votes in the morning, 95,349 votes in the
afternoon, and 50,117 votes in the evening. The Reform Party received a total
of 130,582 votes throughout the day. How many more votes did the Labour
Party receive compared to the Reform Party?

9 In a region, the Conservative Party received 203,566 votes, and the Labour
Party received 181,047 votes. The Liberal Democrats received 51,365 votes.
How many more votes did the Conservative Party and Labour Party together
receive compared to the Liberal Democrats?

10 Plaid Cymru received 318,227 votes in total. Out of these, 119,530 votes
came from urban areas, and 81,891 votes came from rural areas. The rest
came from suburban areas. How many votes did Plaid Cymru receive from
suburban areas?

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

3. Election Themed Word Problems

Question
Question Answer
Number

1 In a large election, the Conservative 254,316 + 182,004 + 70,395 =

Party received 254,316 votes, the 506,715 votes

Labour Party received 182,004 votes,

and the Green Party received 70,395

votes. How many total votes were cast?

2 The Labour Party received 320,652 320,652 - 281,541 =

39,111 votes
votes and the Conservative Party

received 281,541 votes. How many

more votes did the Labour Party receive

than the Conservative Party?

3 In an election, the Conservative Party 452,322 - 79,986 =

received 452,332 votes, the Labour 372,346 votes

Party received 376,239 votes, and the

Liberal Democrat received 79,986

votes. How many more votes did the

Conservative Party receive than the

Liberal Democrats?

4 In a town, the Conservative Party 95,103 + 111,658 + 25,328 =

received 95,103 votes, the Labour 232,089 votes

Party received 111,658 votes, and the

Green Party received 25,328 votes.

How many votes were cast in total?

5 The Green Party received 520,004 520,004 - 121,090 =

votes and the Labour Party received 398,914 votes

121,090 f
ewer votes than the Green

Party. How many votes did the Labour

Party receive?

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

Question
Question Answer
Number

6 If the Liberal Democrats received 124,671 + 135,648 =

124,671 votes in one city and 135,648 260,319 votes

votes in another city, how many votes

did they receive in total in these two

cities?

7 The Scottish National Party received 153,062 + 124,419 = 277,481

153,062 votes in one city and 124,419 141,540 + 109,937 = 251,477

votes in another city. The Labour Party

277,481 - 251,477 =

received 141,540 votes in one city and

26,004 votes
109,937 votes in another city. How

many more votes did the Scottish

National Party receive in total

compared to the Labour Party?

8 The Labour party received 85,002 85,002 + 95,349 + 50,117 =

votes in the morning, 95,349 votes in 230,468

the afternoon, and 50,117 votes in the

230,468 - 130,582 =

evening. The Reform Party received a

99,886 votes
total of 130,582 votes throughout the

day. How many more votes did the

Labour Party receive compared to the

Reform Party?

9 In a region, the Conservative Party 203,566 + 181,047 = 384,61 3

received 203,566 votes, and the Labour

Party received 181,047 votes. The 384,613 - 51,365 =

333,248 votes
Liberal Democrats received 51,365

votes. How many more votes did the

Conservative Party and Labour Party

together receive compared to the

Liberal Democrats?

10 Plaid Cymru received 318,227 votes in 119,530 + 81,891 =

total. Out of these, 119,530 votes came 201,42 1

from urban areas, and 81,891 votes

318,227 - 201,421 =

came from rural areas. The rest came

116,806 votes
from suburban areas. How many votes

did Plaid Cymru receive from suburban

areas?

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

4. Voting System Simulation

National Curriculum Link: Year 6 - Statistics (interpret and construct pie charts and line graphs and use

these to solve problems)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Simulate different voting systems to show how results can vary based on the

method used. This activity helps pupils understand data representation and the concept of fairness in

elections.

Instructions

Explain different voting systems (e.g., First Past the Post, Proportional Representation). You can use

the following scenarios to help explain the voting systems to your class.

First Past the Post (FPTP)


Imagine you and your friends are having a vote to decide what game to play at break time. Each

person writes down their favourite game on a piece of paper. Then, all the pieces of paper are

collected and counted.


The game that gets the most votes wins. It doesn't matter if the winning game gets only a little

more than half of the votes or a lot more – as long as it has the most votes, that's the game you all

play. This is called "First Past the Post."


For example, if 10 friends vote and 4 choose football, 3 choose stuck in the mud, and 3 choose

hide and seek, football wins because it has the most votes, even though more people (6) actually

wanted to play something else

Proportional Representation (PR)


Now, let's imagine a different way to decide on the game. In this way, we try to make sure the

number of people who want to play each game is reflected more fairly.


Instead of just choosing the game with the most votes, we use the votes to decide how much time

we spend on each game. If 10 friends are voting and 4 choose football, 3 choose stuck in the mud,

and 3 choose hide and seek, then you might play football for 40% of the time, stuck in the mud for

30% of the time, and hide and seek for 30% of the time.


This way, everyone gets a chance to play the game they like, and the time spent on each game

matches how many people voted for it. This is called "Proportional Representation."

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

4. Voting System Simulation

Conduct a mock election with the class using a simple scenario
Candidates: A, B,
Votes: A (35), B (25), C (40
Show how the results differ under each system
First Past the Post: C win
Proportional Representation: A; 35%, B: 25%, C: 40%

Data and Sources

Use simple, fictional data like
A: 35 vote
B: 25 vote
C: 40 votes

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

5. Candidate Budgeting Activity

National Curriculum Link: Year 6 - Number - Fractions (use common factors to simplify fractions; use
common multiples to express fractions in the same denomination)

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Activity Description: Teach pupils about budgeting and fractions by having them create a budget for an
election campaign. This activity involves practical maths skills.

Instructions
Provide a fictional budget scenario. For example
Total budget: £1,00
Spending categories: Advertising, Travel, Staff, Miscellaneou
Ask pupils to allocate the budget to each category using fractions. Encourage pupils to think about
what they would reasonably expect to spend money on (e.g. where would they advertise, why would
they need to travel, who would be on their staff). You could put this into the perspective of voting for
school council member
Ensure the fractions add up to 1 (whole).

Data and Sources

Fictional budget data
Advertising: £400 ( 104
Travel: £200 ( 102
Staff: £300 ( 103
Miscellaneous: £100 ( 101 )

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Election Maths Activities - Primary

6. Election-Themed Time Problems

National Curriculum Link: Year 3 - Measurement (tell and write the time from an analogue clock,
including using Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks and compare durations of
events, [e.g.to calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks])

Estimated Time: 30 minutes

Activity Description: Use election day schedules to create time-telling problems for your pupils. This
activity will help them practise reading and converting time.

Instructions
Create a simple election day schedule. For example
Polls open at 7:00 a
Campaign rally at 10:30 a
Polls close at 10:00 p
Ask pupils questions about the schedule, such as
"How many hours are the polls open?
"If the campaign rally lasts for 1.5 hours, what time does it end?"

Data and Sources

Fictional schedule data
Polls open: 7:00a
Campaign rally: 10:30a
Polls close: 10:00pm

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