What I was referring to was this. Abstentions are not added to any party's total vote. In 2010 we had a 65% turnout, meaning that 35% abstained. Of the actual votes cast, the Conservatives got 36%, Labour 29% and the LibDems 23%. So, their shares of the vote were 23%, 19% and 15% of the electoral register.
So, if everyone who abstained had voted LibDem, the LibDems would have got 35 + 15% of the vote ie 50%. Electoral calculus suggests the LibDems would then have got 567 seats. This would have given a new meaning to the idea of
Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government!
But that is a totally illogical manoeuvre - as equally, all other Parties would greatly increase their support in the very unlikely event that all abstentions wouldn have voted for the same Party.
The point is, that the abstentions voted with their feet - they didn't move them, because they just weren't interested in voting, for whatever reason - but if they had, they would undoubtedly have increaseded the votes cast, but equally undoubtedly, not necessarity changed the result. In fact the turnout was so low at 35% that the abstention vote is higher than what the winning Party received - so using your logic - one of the also-ran candidates from the missing 12%, (who even possibly lost their deposit), would have won if all of the abstentions had voted for him/her.
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But that is a totally illogical manoeuvre - as equally, all other Parties would greatly increase their support in the very unlikely event that all abstentions wouldn have voted for the same Party.
The point is, that the abstentions voted with their feet - they didn't move them, because they just weren't interested in voting, for whatever reason - but if they had, they would undoubtedly have increaseded the votes cast, but equally undoubtedly, not necessarity changed the result. In fact the turnout was so low at 35% that the abstention vote is higher than what the winning Party received - so using your logic - one of the also-ran candidates from the missing 12%, (who even possibly lost their deposit), would have won if all of the abstentions had voted for him/her.