Worse, my variety (semi-skimmed) seems to be the second preference of everyone else.

更糟糕的是，我买的半脱脂牛奶似乎是其他所有人第二偏爱的品种。

youdao

The least popular candidate drops out, with their first preference votes reallocated according to second preference.

BBC: Scottish Tories square up at party conference

And it encourages voters to flirt with extremists, knowing they can make centrist parties their second preference.

ECONOMIST: Constitutional reform in Britain

Labour's Barry Coppinger beat Conservative Ken Lupton into first place after a count of second preference votes.

BBC: Cleveland PCC: Barry Coppinger elected for Labour