2021 Great Morstaybishlia General Election: Difference between revisions

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| next_year = 2028
| next_year = 2028
| seats_for_election = All 1,794 seats to the House of Representatives
| seats_for_election = All 1,794 seats to the House of Representatives
| majority_seats = 898{{refn|group=n|name=Working majority|Given that MARIP MPs [[Wikipedia:Abstentionism|do not take their seats]] and the Speaker and deputies do not vote, the number of MPs needed for a majority is, in practice, slightly lower. MARIP won 89 seats, meaning a working majority requires 852 MPs.}}
| majority_seats = 898
| election_date = 1 April 2021
| election_date = 1 April 2021
| turnout = TBD
| turnout = 226,342,016
| opinion_polls = Opinion polling for Great Morstaybishlia General Elections
| opinion_polls = Opinion polling for Great Morstaybishlia General Elections
| party_name = no
| party_name = no
Line 25: Line 25:
| leaders_seat1 = Cavenhelm
| leaders_seat1 = Cavenhelm
| last_election1 = 910 seats, 50.7%
| last_election1 = 910 seats, 50.7%
| seats1 = TBD
| seats1 = '''863'''
| seat_change1 = TBD
| seat_change1 = {{decrease}} 47
| popular_vote1 = TBD
| popular_vote1 = '''77,141,695'''
| percentage1 = TBD
| percentage1 = 34%
| swing1 = {{decrease}} 2.1 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing1 = TBD
<!-- CoS -->| image2 = [[File:Benjamin Wardola.png|160x160px]]
<!-- CoS -->| image2 = [[File:Benjamin Wardola.png|160x160px]]
| leader2 = [[Benjamin Wardola]]
| leader2 = [[Benjamin Wardola]]
Line 37: Line 37:
| leaders_seat2 = Belver Coast and Ruthdon
| leaders_seat2 = Belver Coast and Ruthdon
| last_election2 = 655 seats, 36.5%
| last_election2 = 655 seats, 36.5%
| seats2 = TBD
| seats2 = 600
| seat_change2 = TBD
| seat_change2 = {{decrease}} 55
| popular_vote2 = TBD
| popular_vote2 = 63,959,757
| percentage2 = TBD
| percentage2 = 28.2%
| swing2 = {{decrease}} 1 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing2 = TBD
<!-- SG -->| image3 = [[File:OS cropped1.png|160x160px]]
<!-- SG -->| image3 = [[File:OS cropped1.png|160x160px]]
| leader3 = [[Osbourne Saudaran]]
| leader3 = [[Osbourne Saudaran]]
Line 47: Line 47:
| leader_since3 = 9 May 2020
| leader_since3 = 9 May 2020
| party3 = [[MBE Democrats|Democrats]]
| party3 = [[MBE Democrats|Democrats]]
| leaders_seat3 = Kraimadding, Celidizia
| leaders_seat3 = Drunningsham, Celidizia
| last_election3 = 147 seats, 8.1%
| last_election3 = 147 seats, 8.1%
| seats3 = TBD
| seats3 = 205
| seat_change3 = TBD
| seat_change3 = {{increase}} 58
| popular_vote3 = TBD
| popular_vote3 = 52,039,557
| percentage3 = TBD
| percentage3 = 22.9%
| swing3 = {{increase}} 3.8 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing3 = TBD
<!-- SoAZ -->| image4 = [[File:Nancy Smith 2021.png|160x160px]]
<!-- HR -->| image4 = [[File:RVA2021.png|160x160px]]
| leader4 = [[Nancy Smith]]
| leader4 = [[Romilda von Anzitter]]
| colour4 = FFF890
| colour4 = 21A795
| leader_since4 = 4 February 2013
| leader_since4 = 23 September 2020
| party4 = [[MBE Liberals|Liberal]]
| party4 = [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| last_election4 = 27 seats, 1.5%
| last_election4 = 6 seats, 0.3%
| seats4 = TBD
| seats4 = 89
| seat_change4 = TBD
| seat_change4 = {{increase}} 83
| popular_vote4 = TBD
| popular_vote4 = 7,926,159
| percentage4 = TBD
| percentage4 = 3.5%
| swing4 = {{increase}} 3.08 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing4 = TBD
<!-- SG -->| image5 = [[File:Arran Samsey 2021.png|160x160px]]
<!-- SG -->| image5 = [[File:Arran Samsey 2021.png|160x160px]]
| leader5 = [[Arran Samsey]]
| leader5 = [[Arran Samsey]]
| colour5 = FFD700
| colour5 = FFD700
| leader_since5 = 28 February 2021
| leader_since5 = 28 February 2021
| party5 = [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|Unionists]]
| party5 = [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|JUP]]
| last_election5 = 33 seats, 1.8%
| last_election5 = 33 seats, 1.8%
| seats5 = TBD
| seats5 = 15
| seat_change5 = TBD
| seat_change5 = {{decrease}} 18
| popular_vote5 = TBD
| popular_vote5 = 1,777,670
| percentage5 = TBD
| percentage5 = 0.79%
| swing5 = {{decrease}} 0.4 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing5 = TBD
<!-- Soc -->| image6 = [[File:Lucia Malim cropped.png|160x160px]]
<!-- SoAZ -->| image6 = [[File:Nancy Smith 2021.png|160x160px]]
| leader6 = Lucia Malim
| leader6 = [[Nancy Smith]]
| colour6 = 6AB023
| colour6 = FFF890
| leader_since6 = 2 July 2018
| leader_since6 = 4 February 2013
| party6 = [[Green Alliance MBE|Greens]]
| party6 = [[MBE Liberals|Liberal]]
| last_election6 = 11 seats, 0.6%
| last_election6 = 27 seats, 1.5%
| seats6 = TBD
| seats6 = 14
| seat_change6 = TBD
| seat_change6 = {{decrease}} 13
| popular_vote6 = TBD
| popular_vote6 = 9,573,265
| percentage6 = TBD
| percentage6 = 4.23%
| swing6 = {{decrease}} 0.6 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing6 = TBD
<!-- HR -->| image7 = [[File:RVA2021.png|160x160px]]
<!-- SG -->| image7 = [[File:Hemi Toa.png|160x160px]]
| leader7 = [[Romilda von Anzitter]]
| leader7 = Hemi Toa
| colour7 = 8a55c2
| colour7 = 44532A
| leader_since7 = 23 September 2020
| leader_since7 = 29 December 2018
| party7 = [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| party7 = [[Jūs Herekore]]
| last_election7 = 6 seats, 0.3%
| last_election7 = 5 seats, 0.2%
| seats7 = TBD
| seats7 = 6
| seat_change7 = TBD
| seat_change7 = {{increase}} 1
| popular_vote7 = TBD
| popular_vote7 = 575,129
| percentage7 = TBD
| percentage7 = 0.2%
| swing7 = {{increase}} 0.03 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing7 = ''New party''
<!-- SG -->| image8 = [[File:Hemi Toa.png|160x160px]]
<!-- Soc -->| image8 = [[File:Lucia Malim cropped.png|160x160px]]
| leader8 = Hemi Toa
| leader8 = Lucia Malim
| colour8 = 44532A
| colour8 = 6AB023
| leader_since8 = 1 December 2016
| leader_since8 = 2 July 2018
| party8 = [[Justelvardic Independence Alliance|Jūs Herekore]]
| party8 = [[Green Alliance MBE|Greens]]
| last_election8 = 5 seats, 0.2%
| last_election8 = 11 seats, 0.6%
| seats8 = TBD
| seats8 = 2
| seat_change8 = TBD
| seat_change8 = {{decrease}} 9
| popular_vote8 = TBD
| popular_vote8 = 6,874,855
| percentage8 = TBD
| percentage8 = 3.04%
| swing8 = {{decrease}} 4.1 [[Wikipedia:Percentage point|pp]]
| swing8 = TBD
| map_image =
| map_image = File:MBEelection2021.svg
| map_size = 425px
| map_size = 425px
| map_caption =
| map_caption = Composition of the House of Representatives after the election
| map2_image =
| map2_image =
| map2_size = 360px
| map2_size = 360px
Line 119: Line 119:
| before_election = [[Franklin Barvata]]
| before_election = [[Franklin Barvata]]
| before_party = [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| before_party = [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| after_election =
| after_election = [[Franklin Barvata]]
| after_party =
| after_party = [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
}}
}}
The '''2021 Great Morstaybishlia General Election''' is an upcoming [[Wikipedia:General election|general election]] in [[Great Morstaybishlia]], scheduled for 1 April 2021 to elect 1.794 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Representatives. It was triggered following the passage of the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2021 following the [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]] loosing their working majority.<ref>[[MBC]], 9th March 2021. ''Barvata calls an Emergency General Election after Anti-Terrorism amendment fails''. https://forum.theeastpacific.com/mbc-t3205-s120.html#p243439</ref>
'''The 2021 Great Morstaybishlia general election''' was held on Thursday, 1 April 2021, two years after the [[2019 Great Morstaybishlia General Election|previous general election in 2019]]. It was triggered following the Labour Party loosing their working majority.<ref>[[MBC]], 9th March 2021. ''Barvata calls an Emergency General Election after Anti-Terrorism amendment fails''. https://forum.theeastpacific.com/mbc-t3205-s120.html#p243439</ref>


The Labour Party, which had led as a single-party majority government from [[2019 Great Morstaybishlia General Election|2019]], was defending its overall majority of 6 seats after [[Prime Ministers of Great Morstaybishlia|Prime Minister]] [[Franklin Barvata]] removed the Whip from 6 Valerian Labour MPs. The official opposition was led by [[Benjamin Wardola]].
== Background ==
On 9 March 2021, [[Prime Ministers of Great Morstaybishlia|Prime Minister]] [[Franklin Barvata]] responded to the [[2021 Joralesian attacks]] by triggering Black Alert over the territory after gaining Royal Assent. The reaction to this in Joralesia was mixed, but thousands of people took to protest these actions. The prime minister enforced Black Alert by mobilising the army and police forces, resulting in the [[2021 Joralesian riots]] and a renewed independence movement.


Barvata attempted to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act, passed controversially in 2020 to give amnesty to actions taken by Joralesian police, including unsanctioned arrests for anyone affiliated with the ongoing protests. This was met with heavy criticism across the House and the amendment historically failed, with three Cabinet members voting against the government. Barvata refrained from forcing their resignations against convention. Barvata called for and the House voted on an early general election, which failed. When the House voted on a second amendment to the Act, it failed by two votes, leading to Barvata circumnavigating the Fixed-terms Parliamentary Act of 1999 which requires a two-thirds supermajority in order for an election to take place by passing the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2021, which only required fifty percent.<ref>[[MBC]], 9th March 2021. ''Early Election Bill Passes Representatives''. https://forum.theeastpacific.com/mbc-t3205-s120.html#p243440</ref> [[Lambertus VII|King Lambertus VII]] gave Royal Assent to the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2021 on the afternoon of 10 March 2021 and parliament dissolved at 00:01 on 11 March 2021.
Barvata lost his working majority after members of his party voted against an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act 2020 following the [[2021 Joralesian attacks]] on 8 March 2021. Barvata put an early election to the House of Representatives but it was defeated. He attempted to reconvene his working majority with a second amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act 2020 but it was again defeated, this time by only 2 votes. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 1999 an election had not been due until February 2026, but following the string of vote defeats Barvata circumvented the operation of ordinary electoral law by passing the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2021 which only required a normal majority and which passed 1139-64.<ref>[[MBC]], 9th March 2021. ''Early Election Bill Passes Representatives''. https://forum.theeastpacific.com/mbc-t3205-s120.html#p243440</ref>

The governing [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]] remained the largest single party in the House of Representatives but lost its small overall majority, instead relying on an 11 seat working majority after a net loss of 47. A total of 54 MPs within the Labour Party identified with the Valerian Labour faction and Barvata signed a special arrangement with their leader, [[Nellie Hermin]], on the basis that South Staynes be allowed two votes; one to hold a name referendum and another for a devolution referendum. Labour lost seats in the Marislia region but gained many seats in Justelvard for the first time. The [[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]] won 600 seats, their lowest since the [[1998 Great Morstaybishlia General Election|1998 general election]]. The [[Marislian Independence Party]] (MARIP) made a net gain of 83 seats and won 3.5% of the MBE (translating to 39.45% of the popular vote in Marislia), resulting in 89 out of 155 seats won in Marislia. The [[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]] improved their vote share to 22.9% and won 205 seats, a net gain of 58 since the last election and the most amount of seats they have held since [[2005 Great Morstaybishlia General Election|2005]]. The [[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]] won 14 seats, a net loss of 13 seats. The [[Green Alliance MBE|Greens]] lost 9 of their 11 seats that they gained and entered parliament with for the first time in 2019.

The [[Justelvardic Unionist Party]] (JUP) won 15 of their 33 seats, facing losses to all three major parties, all of which seats won from metropolitan Morstaybishlian parties for the first time. The election saw a trend where minor parties saw decline, besides both the [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]], which gained the most seats of any independence party in any general election in Morstaybishlian history; and [[Jūs Herekore]] which gained one seat in the Western Outliers Provinces. Due to MARIP being abstentionist and winning 89 seats, the working majority was significantly less than working majorities of the past, allowing Labour to govern without a coalition. This polarisation of seats to the bigger parties has been put down to several crises that has hit the MBE since early 2020, including the [[2020 Puntalian Crisis]], [[July 2020 Caltharus attacks|July]] and [[August 2020 Caltharus police attack|August]] [[Caltharus]] terrorist attacks, the [[2020 Aegis independence crisis]] and the [[2021 Joralesian attacks]]. For the MARIP leader, [[Romilda von Anzitter]], her party's landslide victory in the Marislian region led to calls for an independence referendum, to which the Labour Party had expressed its opposition before and during the election. Although nationalist MPs outnumbered union oriented ones for the first time in history, the unionist popular vote remained higher (60.5 percent). The Speaker of the House of Representatives Baron Munchiro was re-elected on Monday 5 April 2021.


== Date of the election ==
== Date of the election ==
The deadline for candidate nominations is 18 March 2021, with political campaigning for two weeks until polling day on 1 April. On the day of the election, polling stations across the country will open from 7 am, and close at 10 pm.
The deadline for candidate nominations was 18 March 2021, with political campaigning for two weeks until polling day on 1 April. On the day of the election, polling stations across the country were open from 7 am, and closed at 10 pm.


=== Voting eligibility ===
=== Voting eligibility ===
Individuals eligible to vote had to be registered to vote by midnight on the 26th of March 2021. To be eligible to vote, individuals had to be aged 18 or over; residing as a citizen at an address in Great Morstaybishlia, or a Morstaybishlian citizen overseas who registered to vote in the last 15 years; and not legally excluded (on grounds of detainment in prison, a mental hospital, or on the run from law enforcement) or disqualified from voting. Anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on the 29th of March 2021 to register.
Individuals eligible to vote had to be registered to vote by midnight on the 26th of March 2021. To be eligible to vote, individuals had to be aged 18 or over; residing as a citizen at an address in Great Morstaybishlia, or a Morstaybishlian citizen overseas who registered to vote in the last 15 years; and not legally excluded (on grounds of detainment in prison, a mental hospital, or on the run from law enforcement) or disqualified from voting. Anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on the 29th of March 2021 to register.


== Contesting political parties and candidates ==
Most candidates are representatives of a [[Wikipedia:Political party|political party]], which must be registered with the Electoral Commission's Register. Those who do not belong to one must use the label "Independent" or none. In the 2019 election 9,654 candidates stood: 1,709 being independents, the rest representing one of 199 political parties.

=== Great Morstaybishlia ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party
! rowspan="2" | Party leader(s)
! rowspan="2" | Leader since
! rowspan="2" | Leader's seat
! colspan="2" | 2019 election
! rowspan="2" | Seats at<br />dissolution
! rowspan="2" | Contested seats
|-
! % of<br />votes
! Seats
|-
| width="1" bgcolor="b22222" |
|[[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
|[[Franklin Barvata]]
| data-sort-value="2019-08-31" |August 2019
| style="white-space:nowrap;" |Cavenhelm
| style="text-align:right;" | 36.3%
| style="text-align:right;" | 910
| style="text-align:right;" | 904
| 1,722
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
|[[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
|[[Benjamin Wardola]]
| data-sort-value="2020-02-11" |February 2020
|Belver Coast and Ruthdon
| style="text-align:right;" | 29.3%
| style="text-align:right;" | 655
| style="text-align:right;" | 655
| 1,716
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
|[[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
|[[Osbourne Saudaran]]
| data-sort-value="2020-05-09" |May 2020
|Drunningsham, Celidizia
| style="text-align:right;" | 19.2%
| style="text-align:right;" | 147
| style="text-align:right;" | 147
| 1,044
|-
| bgcolor="8a55c2" |
|[[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
|[[Romilda von Anzitter]]
| data-sort-value="2020-09-23" |September 2020
|Stalzag
| style="text-align:right;" | 0.4%
| style="text-align:right;" | 6{{refn|group=n|name=Party remodel|When Romilda von Anzitter became party leader, she made several immediate reforms, including catering to a larger independence movement audience. The party officially registered a name change on 23 September 2020 from Nocturnian Independence Party (NIP) to Marislian Independence Party (MARIP).}}
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| 155
|-
| bgcolor="FFF890" |
|[[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]]
|[[Nancy Smith]]
| data-sort-value="2013-02-04" |February 2013
|Karagow, Aeternum
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.9%
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
| 553
|-
| bgcolor="6AB023" |
|[[Green Alliance MBE|Green Party]]
|Lucia Malim
| data-sort-value="2018-07-02" |July 2018
|Velsh Forrest Region
| style="text-align:right;" | 7.1%
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| 553
|-
|}
=== Justelvard ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party
! rowspan="2" | Party leader(s)
! rowspan="2" | Leader since
! rowspan="2" | Leader's seat
! colspan="2" | 2019 election
! rowspan="2" | Seats at<br />dissolution
! rowspan="2" | Contested seats<br>(Out of 52)
|-
! % of<br />votes<br><small>(In JUS)</small>
! Seats
|-
| width="1" bgcolor="FFD700" |
|[[Justelvardic Unionist Party|JUP]]
|[[Arran Samsey]]
| data-sort-value="2021-02-28" |February 2021
| style="white-space:nowrap;" |Dostega
| style="text-align:right;" | 35.65%
| style="text-align:right;" | 33
| style="text-align:right;" | 33
| 42
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
|[[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
|[[Benjamin Wardola]]
| data-sort-value="2020-02-11" |February 2020
|Belver Coast and Ruthdon
| style="text-align:right;" | 19.01%
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| 19
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
|[[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
|[[Osbourne Saudaran]]
| data-sort-value="2020-05-09" |May 2020
|Drunningsham, Celidizia
| style="text-align:right;" | 16.31%
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| 49
|-
| bgcolor="44532A" |
|[[Jūs Herekore]]
|Hemi Toa
| data-sort-value="2016-12-01" |December 2016
|''None''{{refn|group=n|name=Party leader in the Representatives|Hemi Toa is the party leader but does not hold a seat in Parliament. The party's leader in the House of Representatives is [[Kiri Tohoro]].}}
| style="text-align:right;" | 6.54%
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| 11
|-
| width="1" bgcolor="b22222" |
|[[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
|[[Franklin Barvata]]
| data-sort-value="2019-08-31" |August 2019
| style="white-space:nowrap;" |Cavenhelm
| style="text-align:right;" | 20.80%
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| 42
|-
|}

==Campaign==
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 0 10px 20px ; float:right ; font-size:85% ; text-align:left ; "
|+ Donations to political parties in<br/>last quarter of 2020
|-
! style="background-color:#cfb" | Party !! style="background-color:#cfb" | Donations<br/>(♅ millions)
|-
|Conservatives|| 270.88
|-
|Democrats|| 164.78
|-
|Labour|| 143.59
|-
|MARIP|| 99.41
|-
|Liberals|| 22.33
|-
|Unionists|| 6.24
|}
===Campaign background===
Since 1991 both the Labour and Conservative parties have been the two biggest political parties, and have supplied every Prime Minister since then. The Labour Party had governed since the [[2019 Great Morstaybishlia General Election|2019 general election]]. In 2020 the Labour government established Black Alert over Dalmaghar and the Marislian region, and in March 2021 over Joralesia, the latter two were ill-received in their respective areas. Following the [[2020 Aegis independence crisis]] where 5 Labour MPs requested the government respect the Aegis Area Agreement 1977, which Prime Minister Franklin Barvata denied due to it being invalid. They were removed from the Whip following rebelling against legislation and the absolute majority was reduced to 904. When Barvata attempted to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act 2020 following the [[2021 Joralesian riots]], it was received poorly, including from members of his own party. After two failed amendments and one failed early general election, a second passed under legislation that bypassed the Fixed-term Parliamentary Act 1999 by only requiring a normal majority.

During the lifespan of the 2019 parliament, only 12 MPs left their party, mainly due to dispute with the leadership. 5 MPs left the Labour Party and formed the Aegis Recognition Party. 4 MPs left the Conservative Party and formed the Reform for Marislia Party. 3 MPs left the Unionists and became independents following an affair scandal with their chairperson MP Kassie Conbrie.

===Policy positions===
===Party positions in the event of a hung Parliament===
The Conservatives and Labour both insisted they were on course for outright majorities, and the Democrats insisted they would be in a far better position than they were in the 2019 general election. The Democrats said that they would not support Franklin Barvata as the next Prime Minister but could come to an 'arrangement' with Conservative leader Benjamin Wardola in the case of a hung parliament.

The Unionists said they would seek out a formal coalition with the Conservatives if they won. Jūs Herekore spoke about a possible [[Wikipedia:Confidence and supply|confidence and supply]] arrangement with Labour if they supposed a Western Outliers Provinces independence referendum. The abstentionist MARIP refused to take seats in parliament and thus refused to answer their stance in a hung parliament.

The Greens initially supported the Labour Party, but withdrew their support following Labour's stance on Joralesia in March 2021. Conservative leader Benjamin Wardola said that he would not persue a coalition with other parties because he was 'intending to win'. Barvata and the Labour Party made no official comments, but the First Secretary [[Riannar Karmer]] said he 'can't see a situation where we would need to form a coalition'.

===Tactical voting===
Under the [[Wikipedia:First past the post voting|first-past-the-post]] electoral system, voter turn-out (especially in marginal seats) has a crucial impact on the final election outcome, so major political parties disproportionately focus on opinion poll trends and these constituencies. In the early stages of the campaign, there was considerable discussion of tactical voting (generally in the context of support or opposition to the Anti-Terrorism Act amendment) and whether parties would stand in all seats or not. The possibility for a third proposed amendment that would pass should Labour win a working majority was very controversial. The Conservatives and Democratic Party came to an electoral pact against Labour in over four hundred seats. The Conservatives and Unionists made a pact against Labour where they would not overlap in their seats.

A number of tactical voting websites were set up in an attempt to help voters choose the candidate in their constituency who would be best placed to beat the Labour one. The websites did not always give the same advice, which was widely exposed by mainstream media.

===Online campaigning===
The use of social media advertising is seen as particularly useful to political parties as they can target people by gender, age, and location. The Democrats had the favour of the news and is reported to have the most interactions, going above both Labour and the Conservatives, though Labour managed to receive the most support from younger people.

Black Alert and the Joralesian terrorist attacks were the most trending topic for the top three parties, with over 45 percent of each party's online campaigning evolving around that. Next followed was the environment and taxation, as well as defence.

The Greens were very open to cooperation with other Green parties across Aurora, and campaigned with heavy focus on socio-environmental aspects.

===Television debates===
[[MBC]] aired a head-to-head election debate between [[Franklin Barvata]] and [[Benjamin Wardola]] on 27 March, hosted by Zoetta Ball. On 28 March STV aired a debate featuring representatives from Labour, the Conservatives, the Democrats, Liberals and Greens. JNS aired a debate with the competing Justelvardic parties on 26th and 30th March, but [[Arran Samsey]] cancelled his interview on the same day due to a change of schedule.

==Opinion polling==
===Predictions two weeks before the vote===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Parties
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Election<br />Forecast<br /><small>as of 18 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Electoral <br /> Calculus<br /><small>as of 13 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Lord <br /> Vantis<br /><small>as of 18 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Elections<br />Etc.<br /><small>as of 16 March 2021</small>
!Complex<br> <small>as of 15 March 2021</small>
|-
| bgcolor="b22222" |
| [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|1002}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|897}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|947}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|1037}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|981}}
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
| [[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|597
| style="text-align:center;"|671
| style="text-align:center;"|668
| style="text-align:center;"|552
| style="text-align:center;"|555
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
| [[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|97
| style="text-align:center;"|196
| style="text-align:center;"|85
| style="text-align:center;"|95
| style="text-align:center;"|169
|-
| bgcolor="FFD700" |
| [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|Unionist Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|9
| style="text-align:center;"|8
| style="text-align:center;"|9
| style="text-align:center;"|9
| style="text-align:center;"|10
|-
| bgcolor="FFF890" |
| [[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|31
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| style="text-align:center;"|29
| style="text-align:center;"|34
| style="text-align:center;"|36
|-
| bgcolor="6AB023" |
| [[Green Alliance MBE|Green Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
| bgcolor="8a55c2" |
| [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| style="text-align:center;"|45
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|43
| style="text-align:center;"|55
| style="text-align:center;"|30
|-
| bgcolor="44532A" |
| [[Jūs Herekore]]
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|-
| bgcolor="dddddd" |
| Others
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|1
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
|-
! colspan="2"| Overall result (absolute majority)
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 210)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 0)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 100)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 280)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 168)'''
|}

===Predictions one week before the vote===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Parties
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Election<br />Forecast<br /><small>as of 25 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Electoral <br /> Calculus<br /><small>as of 22 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Lord <br /> Vantis<br /><small>as of 20 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Elections<br />Etc.<br /><small>as of 23 March 2021</small>
!Complex<br> <small>as of 25 March 2021</small>
|-
| bgcolor="b22222" |
| [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|935}}
| style="text-align:center;"|877
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|894}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|970}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|902}}
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
| [[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|701
| style="text-align:center;"|676
| style="text-align:center;"|730
| style="text-align:center;"|638
| style="text-align:center;"|609
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
| [[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|67
| style="text-align:center;"|173
| style="text-align:center;"|64
| style="text-align:center;"|68
| style="text-align:center;"|178
|-
| bgcolor="FFD700" |
| [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|Unionist Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
| bgcolor="FFF890" |
| [[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|26
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| style="text-align:center;"|26
| style="text-align:center;"|29
|-
| bgcolor="6AB023" |
| [[Green Alliance MBE|Green Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|7
| style="text-align:center;"|5
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
| bgcolor="8a55c2" |
| [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| style="text-align:center;"|37
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|55
| style="text-align:center;"|65
| style="text-align:center;"|47
|-
| bgcolor="44532A" |
| [[Jūs Herekore]]
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
| bgcolor="dddddd" |
| Others
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
|-
! colspan="2"| Overall result (absolute majority)
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 76)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Hung<br> Parliament'''<br> <small>(Labour 25 seats short)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. -6)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 146)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 10)'''
|}

===Predictions one day before the vote===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Parties
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Election<br />Forecast<br /><small>as of 31 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Electoral <br /> Calculus<br /><small>as of 29 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Lord <br /> Vantis<br /><small>as of 27 March 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Elections<br />Etc.<br /><small>as of 30 March 2021</small>
!Complex<br> <small>as of 27 March 2021</small>
|-
| bgcolor="b22222" |
| [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|978}}
| style="text-align:center;"|802
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|905}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|1015}}
| bgcolor="efa9a9" |{{center|889}}
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
| [[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|582
| bgcolor="add8e6" | {{center|725}}
| style="text-align:center;"|658
| style="text-align:center;"|528
| style="text-align:center;"|594
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
| [[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|114
| bgcolor="fdd99b" | {{center|192}}
| style="text-align:center;"|109
| style="text-align:center;"|123
| style="text-align:center;"|200
|-
| bgcolor="FFD700" |
| [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|Unionist Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|14
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|12
| style="text-align:center;"|15
|-
| bgcolor="FFF890" |
| [[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| style="text-align:center;"|27
| style="text-align:center;"|22
|-
| bgcolor="6AB023" |
| [[Green Alliance MBE|Green Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1
| style="text-align:center;"|4
| style="text-align:center;"|3
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
| bgcolor="8a55c2" |
| [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| style="text-align:center;"|74
| style="text-align:center;"|53
| style="text-align:center;"|73
| style="text-align:center;"|83
| style="text-align:center;"|67
|-
| bgcolor="44532A" |
| [[Jūs Herekore]]
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|14
|-
| bgcolor="dddddd" |
| Others
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
|-
! colspan="2"| Overall result (absolute majority)
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 162)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Cons.-Dems.<br> (maj. 40)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 16)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. 236)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. -9)'''
|}

===Predictions on polling day===
The MBE's [[Wikipedia:First-past-the-post|first-past-the-post]] electoral system means that national shares of the vote do not give an exact indicator of how the various parties will be represented in Parliament. Different commentators and pollsters currently provide a number of predictions, based on polls and other data, as to how the parties will be represented in Parliament:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2" | Parties
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Election<br />Forecast<br /><small>as of 1 April 2021</small>
! style="vertical-align:top;" | Electoral <br /> Calculus<br /><small>as of 1 April 2021</small>
|-
| bgcolor="b22222" |
| [[MBE Labour|Labour Party]]
| bgcolor="efa9a9" | {{center|863}}
| style="text-align:center;"|832
|-
| bgcolor="0087DC" |
| [[MBE Conservatives|Conservative Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|600
| style="text-align:center;"|575
|-
| bgcolor="FAA61A" |
| [[MBE Democrats|Democratic Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|205
| style="text-align:center;"|237
|-
| bgcolor="FFD700" |
| [[Justelvardic Unionist Party|Unionist Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|15
| style="text-align:center;"|22
|-
| bgcolor="FFF890" |
| [[MBE Liberals|Liberal Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|14
| style="text-align:center;"|34
|-
| bgcolor="6AB023" |
| [[Green Alliance MBE|Green Party]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
| bgcolor="8a55c2" |
| [[Marislian Independence Party|MARIP]]
| style="text-align:center;"|89
| style="text-align:center;"|55
|-
| bgcolor="44532A" |
| [[Jūs Herekore]]
| style="text-align:center;"|6
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|-
| bgcolor="dddddd" |
| Others
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
|-
! colspan="2"| Overall result (absolute majority)
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Labour<br> (maj. -68)'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Hung<br> Parliament'''<br> <small>(Labour 35 seats short)</small>
|}

==Results==
Results for all constituencies were reported by the morning after the election. The Labour Party remained the largest single party in terms of seats and votes but lost the absolute majority it had previously held. Due to extraordinary circumstances, the election did not result in a [[Wikipedia:Hung parliament|hung parliament]] as the seats lost by Labour were balanced by MARIP gaining seats, and therefore held onto a working majority.

308 seats that had changed parties at the 2019 election changed parties again in 2021. 49 of these seats returned the candidate from the party that had held the seat in 2012. A third party took 99 of these seats: 83 were MARIP gains from from Labour and Conservative in Marislia.

In Staynes, Caltharus and South Staynes both Labour and the Conservatives made a net loss of seats, the first time that had happened to both parties since the 1956 general election. The Democrats made net gains in all three countries. Marislia saw the biggest gain of any independence party since the 1960s. Lucia Malim and Aria Stemp were the only two of eleven Green MPs who retained their seats. The Liberals lost a total of 13 seats, and majorities in its remaining seats were greatly reduced. High profile losses include the seat of former Secretary of State for Defence [[Nickolas Frost]], who was the longest Defence Secretary ever from 2010 to 2019; former Democratic Party leader Jess Ghentley-Moss. The former Democratic leader Paddy Lukamortz had his constituency majority greatly reduced to 0.4 percent.

In Justelvard, the Unionists lost 18 seats, their worse election since they entered parliament in 2019. This was mainly due to tactical voting in Justelvard. Labour and the Democrats made the most significant gains there and was the only one of four countries where Labour and the Conservatives made net gains. Jūs Herekore made a net gain of one seat and won the vote of nearly 70,000 people. Since MARIP won 89 seats, they confirmed it would continue its abstentionist policy, leaving no Marislian nationalist representation in the House of Representatives.

Reform MBE failed to win any seats despite its vote share increasing. They came second in three constituencies in Sani Bursil, contesting against only Labour candidates.

===Analysis===
The result was noted for decreased vote shares for Labour (down 2.1 percentage points) and the Conservatives (down 1 percentage point). The Democrats had a large increase of vote shares (up 3.8 percentage points) and themselves accounting for a 22.9% share of the vote. The top three parties held a combined 85.1% share of the vote, up from 84.8% in 2019. The result suggested this indicated a return of three-party politics caused by tactical voting. Over two hundred thousand more people registered and voted compared to 2019, with a higher turnout among younger voters. The swing to the Democrats were high in those seats with large numbers of young people, and the party did the best at appealing the working-class.

Between 22% and 28% of voters said they were trying to prevent a victory by the party they liked least, i.e. voting tactically. Recommendation by tactical voting websites had some benefit for Democrat candidates.

The new Parliament reportedly had the highest number of openly LGBT MPs in the world, with 137 Labour MPs, 104 Conservative MPs, 61 Democrat MPs and 3 Unionist MPs. For the first time the majority of elected Democrat and MARIP MPs were female.

== Notes ==
<references group="n"/>
== References ==
== References ==