A huge amount of time was given this election to talk about how to game the system – whether that’s parties trying to deal with the straight-jacket of the voting system through electoral pacts, or the 30 per cent of voters having to "hold their nose" and vote tactically (as shown by BMG research).

It is no surprise that people feel let down by the democratic contest on offer: when 80 per cent of people feel that they have no or not very much influence over decision-making in the country, you can’t blame them.

Even before the election, just 16 per cent of the public believed politics is working well in the UK – and only two per cent of people felt they have a significant influence over decision-making.

That is a damning indictment of a political machine that is desperately unresponsive and out of touch.

General election 2019: How the night unfolded Show all 27 1 /27 General election 2019: How the night unfolded General election 2019: How the night unfolded Boris Johnson wins biggest Tory landslide since Thatcher ...while Labour records worst result since Clement Attlee PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded 11.28pm - First result to be announced Labour holds Newcastle Central, albeit with a reduced majority, in the first result to be announced in the 2019 General Election PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded 11.33pm - Conservatives gain Blyth Valley The Conservatives gain Blyth Valley, in the North East, from Labour in the first big upset of the night. The seat had been held by Labour since 1950 BBC General election 2019: How the night unfolded 1.23am - Conservatives succeed in appealing to "Workington Man" The Tories won the North West constituency from Labour - the first time the seat has changed hands since 1979 Telegraph General election 2019: How the night unfolded 1.27am - The SNP gains Rutherglen & Hamilton West from Labour, the first of six seats they take from Jeremy Corbyn's party First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, takes a selfie with some her newly elected MP's at the Glasgow count Getty General election 2019: How the night unfolded 1.50am - The Tories gain Wrexham from Labour The first time the party have ever held the seat ITV General election 2019: How the night unfolded 1.52am - Labour wins Putney from the Conservatives The party's first gain of the night from the Tories BBC General election 2019: How the night unfolded 1.55am - The SNP gains its first seat from the Tories Winning Angus Press Association Images General election 2019: How the night unfolded 2.33am - Iain Duncan Smith holds on to seat The former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith held on to his Chingford & Woodford Green seat, but saw his majority cut almost in half to just 1,262 Reuters General election 2019: How the night unfolded 2.46am - Conservatives gain Tom Watson's old seat The Tories gained West Bromwich West from Labour in an 11.69% swing Getty General election 2019: How the night unfolded 2.50am - Bishop Auckland, a Labour seat since 1935, becomes a Tory gain Dehenna Davison won with a majority of 7,962 CharlElmore/Twitter General election 2019: How the night unfolded 2.54am - Chuka Umunna loses out to Tories The former Streatham MP who defected from Labour to the Independent Group before switching to the Liberal Democrats, lost out to the Conservative party in Cities of London & Westminster James Moreland/Twitter General election 2019: How the night unfolded 2.58am - DUP's Westminster leader beaten Nigel Dodds was beaten by Sinn Fein's John Finucane in Belfast North Getty General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.15am - Tories lose seat to the Lib Dems Zac Goldsmith lost his Richmond Park seat to the Liberal Democrats, the party's first gain of the night PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.24am - Jeremy Corbyn announces he will not lead party in future elections The Labour leader was voted back in to the Islington North seat but described the results as "very disappointing" and said he would not lead the party in any future election campaign Reuters General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.32am - Labour's Caroline Flint loses her seat to the Tories The first time her party has not held the seat since 1922 Sky News General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.38am - The Tories beat Labour in Wakefield Mary Creagh lost out to Imran Ahmad-Khan in a Labour seat since 1932 Reuters General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.42am - Boris extends his majority in Uxbridge & Ruislip South The Prime Minister said: "It does look as though this One Nation Conservative Government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done." Reuters General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.44am - The Tories gain Rother Valley and Sedgefield 3.44am - The Conservatives gained Rother Valley, a Labour seat since 1918, and Sedgefield, which was once held by former prime minister Tony Blair AFP via Getty General election 2019: How the night unfolded 3.45am - Jo Swinson loses seat The Liberal Democrat leader lost her Dunbartonshire East seat to the SNP PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded 4.25am - Conservatives retake Kensington from Labour The Tories took back the seat with a margin of 150 votes PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded 5.15am - Major scalp for the Tories 5.15am - Dennis Skinner, Labour's Beast Of Bolsover loses his seat that had been red since 1950 AFP General election 2019: How the night unfolded 6.08am - US President Donald Trump congratulates Boris Johnson on his victory US President Donald Trump congratulates Boris Johnson on his victory https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1205368801438707713 General election 2019: How the night unfolded How the UK voted after 649 0f 650 seats General Election 2019 how the UK voted after 649 0f 650 seats. See story POLITICS Election. Infographic PA Graphics PA Graphics Press Association Images General election 2019: How the night unfolded 6.23am - Acting Lib Dem leaders announced 6.23am - Sir Ed Davey and Baroness Sal Brinton were announced as the joint acting leaders of the Liberal Democrats following Jo Swinson's defeat PA General election 2019: How the night unfolded Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds arrive back at Downing Street AP General election 2019: How the night unfolded State of the parties General Election 2019 state of the parties. See story POLITICS Election. Infographic PA Graphics PA Graphics Press Association Images

This election was called because Westminster's system had left the country in a deadlock: a political mentality that treats cooperation and dialogue as taboo, despite voters wanting to "shop around" more than ever.

And it is a system that has warped electoral results for too long while heightening divisions along a binary Leave/Remain axis spiral out of control. The tools of compromise and working together have been left to rust away.

Now the results are in, we’ve lifted the lid on the rotten state of winner-takes-all results.

Parties needed wildly different levels of support to secure each MP.

With 649 seats declared, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) analysed the number of votes needed per MP elected:

It took:

864,743 to elect the lone Green MP

642,303 votes for zero Brexit Party MPs

334,122 to elect each Liberal Democrat

50,817 to elect each Labour MP

38,300 votes to elect each Conservative MP

38,316 to elect each Plaid Cymru MP

25,882 to elect each SNP MP

That’s because – unlike most developed democracies – we use First Past the Post voting, where all ballots not cast for the one winner in each seat go to waste. Across the country, that means millions of votes are ignored.

Because of that, 45 per cent of voters went totally unrepresented (they didn’t vote for the one winner in their area). That’s 14.5 million people feeling voiceless. And it means the new government was able to win a large majority of seats on a minority of the vote.

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It’s clear we can’t carry on in this way. Politicians will return to the House of Commons on Monday with voters across the spectrum hoping for real political reform. From dark ads and dodgy donations, to people feeling forced to vote tactically, this election did not reflect well on our democracy.

There are big questions for both parties now. The Conservatives must recognise they were helped by the Brexit Party standing down in existing Conservative seats, while Labour must recognise that tactical voting under Westminster’s voting system did not save them.

We have to build a bigger movement than ever for real reform. Together, let’s make this the last "hold your nose" – and make seats match votes.

Darren Hughes is chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society