Justin Smith Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 More than anything this election has persuaded me that we should have proportional representation, now. And I`m not just a "whining Lib Dem", I actually voted labour ! Tories = 36% of the vote > 47% of the seats Labour = 29% of the vote > 40% of the seats Lib Dems = 23% of the vote > 8% of the seats (that`s eight percent) How is that fair ? A huge percentage of the country (living in safe seats) are effectively disenfranchised, their vote is almost useless. What`s all this guff about strong effective government ? If we`d had a balanced parliament we`d have avoided things like the Poll tax and Iraq. The most successful economy (and football team.....) in Europe is Germany, and they`ve had PR since the war. Greece, an economic basket case, doesn`t have PR. I also think we should have 5 year fixed parliaments and no leader should be allowed more than two terms, both the last two 3 term leaders went down hill in their third term (Thatcher and Blair). There`s so much hypocrisy about PR it`s breathtaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrobbo Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 More than anything this election has persuaded me that we should have proportional representation, now. And I`m not just a "whining Lib Dem", I actually voted labour ! Tories = 36% of the vote > 47% of the seats Labour = 29% of the vote > 40% of the seats Lib Dems = 23% of the vote > 8% of the seats (that`s eight percent) How is that fair ? .... It isn't fair. But Cameron has firmly set his mind against any electoral reform which would make the voting system fairer and more representative of people actually voted. The current voting system, of first past the post, served the country well when most of the voters chose between Labour or Conservative. But we no longer have a two party system - but the voting system hasn't been changed to reflect that fact. I strongly support the need for proportional representation. Declaration of interest: redrobbo is a Labour Party member and also a member of Makes Votes Count and the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Declaration of interest: redrobbo is a Labour Party member and also a member of Makes Votes Count and the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform. PR as to be Browns trump card because Cameron isn’t going to move on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rioja Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Clegg should agree to support a Brown Govt but under the condition that a new election is called using STV proportional representation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 More than anything this election has persuaded me that we should have proportional representation, now. And I`m not just a "whining Lib Dem", I actually voted labour ! Tories = 36% of the vote > 47% of the seats Labour = 29% of the vote > 40% of the seats Lib Dems = 23% of the vote > 8% of the seats (that`s eight percent) How is that fair ? A huge percentage of the country (living in safe seats) are effectively disenfranchised, their vote is almost useless. What`s all this guff about strong effective government ? If we`d had a balanced parliament we`d have avoided things like the Poll tax and Iraq. The most successful economy (and football team.....) in Europe is Germany, and they`ve had PR since the war. Greece, an economic basket case, doesn`t have PR. I also think we should have 5 year fixed parliaments and no leader should be allowed more than two terms, both the last two 3 term leaders went down hill in their third term (Thatcher and Blair). There`s so much hypocrisy about PR it`s breathtaking. There are lots of complications with proportional representation but I am sure it could be made to work. How do you typically decide the local MP in each constituency when using PR, or does the system completely change so that isn't applicable? I think it is a catch 22 when it comes to how many terms or how long a term a government should have. If you make it a fixed length and fixed number then there is no incentive to make long term plans as you won't be able to stay around to see them through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sccsux Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I strongly support the need for proportional representation. Would that be full PR or the AV system that the labour executive is proposing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchemist Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 full PR not the half-arsed version brown is coming up with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decaff Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Labour Out! that is all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snook Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 The only thing that worries me about PR is that you let all the joke parties into Government and I'm not sure it will be any better than the current system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsid2000 Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 More than anything this election has persuaded me that we should have proportional representation, now. And I`m not just a "whining Lib Dem", I actually voted labour ! Tories = 36% of the vote > 47% of the seats Labour = 29% of the vote > 40% of the seats Lib Dems = 23% of the vote > 8% of the seats (that`s eight percent) How is that fair ? A huge percentage of the country (living in safe seats) are effectively disenfranchised, their vote is almost useless. What`s all this guff about strong effective government ? If we`d had a balanced parliament we`d have avoided things like the Poll tax and Iraq. The most successful economy (and football team.....) in Europe is Germany, and they`ve had PR since the war. Greece, an economic basket case, doesn`t have PR. I also think we should have 5 year fixed parliaments and no leader should be allowed more than two terms, both the last two 3 term leaders went down hill in their third term (Thatcher and Blair). There`s so much hypocrisy about PR it`s breathtaking. You utter utter Cleggist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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