If your sick to death of being forced to choose between 3 (if your unlucky 2) parties and feel that this undemocratic electoral system should be changed, then sign up to support proportional representation at http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk/home.html
(formerly G.Adams)
"You can avoid reality but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality" ~ Ayn Rand
Isn't PR a big plank of Lib Dems policy? Seem to recall something about it....
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.
-George Best, on being asked what he did with his footballing fortunes.
Yup, it is party policy for the Lib Dem's, though I'm not sure if it's in the manifesto this year. One of the main reasons I will be voting Lib Dem, though I want to vote Green. But as the Lib Dem's don't look like they'll win, we've gotta get it pushed through a Labour government.
(formerly G.Adams)
"You can avoid reality but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality" ~ Ayn Rand
This isn't terribly specific, is it? They want a referendum to make things "more proportional". What does that mean?
You have to be careful you don't get the dog-wagging tyranny of the minority as seen in Belgium, say, or Israel.
"I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macaulay is of everything."
-- Viscount Melbourne
We do have the rule of the minority, the only thing that matters to the politician's are the floating voters in a handful of marginal seats. This is then split into those who are likely to vote. This means that the politics of Britain is reduced to the interests of 500k to 1mil people, who are typically bumbling self-interested middle class arses. Everyone else is dismissed by the parties unimportant.
If we had PR, then people could vote for their interests, we could get parties into governemtn who actually represent us.
(formerly G.Adams)
"You can avoid reality but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality" ~ Ayn Rand
And you might well then have dinky party X holding the balance of power between big parties Y and Z, and thus wagging the dog.
It isn't that I'm all for first-past-the-post. But I think some mix of the two, as in the US congress or in Germany, would be best. At the very least I'd include a 5% hurdle as a safeguard.
Didn't Dennis Healey head a commission that made recommendations to this effect (and including reform of the house of lords) a couple of years ago?
"I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macaulay is of everything."
-- Viscount Melbourne
Lord Jenkins I think. And as for the particular PR system, it would be AMS i'd support, like Germany or New Zealand. I still don't think there should be a 5% threshold, anything smaller than that wouldn't be strong enough to hold the balance of power. Besides, you would see a lib/lab/tory coalition before you saw the BNP getting a say in the executive.
(formerly G.Adams)
"You can avoid reality but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality" ~ Ayn Rand
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