The incumbency effect: why safe-seats are ‘safe’ | Dean Burnett

Even in an election where the outcome is so uncertain, it seems that over half the parliamentary seats in the UK are winnable only by one party. Why?Safe seats. The “dark matter” of the UK political system; rarely observed, but their presence and influence dictates how everything else works. Safe seats are parliamentary seats where there is little to no chance of anyone but the party that has held it for years actually winning it. Estimates state that over half the parliamentary seats in the