ONLY five of Hampshire's 17 seats are up for grabs on May 5 because of Britain's unfair electoral system, campaigners warned yesterday.

The Electoral Reform Society claimed the 'first-past-the-post' system meant 12 constituencies were already "foregone conclusions" with polling day two weeks away.

The society said: "Support for one party or another is so strong that, barring a political earthquake or personal scandal, the dominant party's candidate will win and will win comfortably."

Voters had "no chance of influencing the election result",- contributing to apathy, as the parties concentrated on floating voters in marginal constituencies elsewhere.

The organisation campaigns for a proportional voting system.

Its favoured method - the single transferable vote - would allow voters to rank candidates in large, multi-candidate constituencies.

According to the society, the "dead certs" include both Southampton seats, held by Labour's John Denham and Alan Whitehead, Winchester (Mark Oaten, Lib Dem) and New Forest West (Desmond Swayne, Conservative).

The five constituencies in the melting pot include Romsey, where the Lib Dems' Sandra Gidley is defending a 2,370 majority against the Tories.

Eastleigh - Lib Dem held, with majority of 3,058 over the Conservatives - and New Forest East, where Tory Julian Lewis is defending a 3,829 lead over the Lib Dems, are also among just 222 out of 646 seats nationwide that could change hands, the society said.

The other two constituencies are Labour-held seats in Basingstoke and Portsmouth North.

When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, the Labour manifesto promised a referendum on switching to proportional representation to elect MPs.

But a report by Labour former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins was shelved, partly because of the fierce opposition of Labour MPs.

In its 2005 manifesto, Labour is committed only to "reviewing the experience" of new electoral systems introduced in Scotland, Wales and London.

Nina Temple, of the pressure group Make Votes Count, said: "It is scandalous to see how Britain's democracy is shrinking. No wonder so many people think that voting doesn't make a difference."

For more local news from the 2005 General Election campaign see pages 8 & 9 of today's Daily Echo.