The general elections for the British parliament in London were held on a uniform register all over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). They produced a parliament elected on the ‘first-past-the post’ system where in each of 650 constituencies one candidate was elected with the largest simple majority while all others failed. This produced many anomalies, including the treatment of voters as though they were socially and culturally the same. It also produced nation-wide polls which were wrong. The voters of the United Kingdom were not uniform, but behaved differently in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, in northern and southern England and in London.

Three issues emerged which stressed the variety of the United Kingdom. These were: whether Scotland might consider separating from the UK, which had been founded in 1707; whether free immigration of European Union citizens should be allowed; and whether the UK was a uniform or a multicultural society. These issues were especially concerning to three parties; the Scottish National Party; the UK Independence Party; and the Conservative Party; with the Labour and Liberal parties more concerned with their own maintenance.

Dr James Jupp AM, FASSA is an Academic Visitor in the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National University in Canberra.  He was born in England and educated at the London School of Economics, came to Australia is 1956 and has taught Political Science at the universities of Melbourne, York (UK), Waterloo (Canada) and Canberra.

Dr Jupp has been active in  multicultural and ethnic studies since his Arrivals and Departures was published in 1966. He is the editor of The Australian People (1988 and 1991) and the Encyclopedia of Religion in Australia (2009). His latest publication Multiculturalism andIntegration, was published by the ANU ePress in 2011. He was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to ethnic studies and Australian history in 2004. He has been involved in UK and Australian elections since 1948.