Electoral Reform Petition

[tonyreddevil]

voted

[HerMajesty]

I can't vote in the UK, but I agree the one person = one vote, majority wins seems the fair way to do things.

[tonyreddevil]

UKIP polled Much More Than SNP.
Result 56 Seats To SNP.UKIP 1 seat.
Is It Time For Proportial Representation?

[TonyBridger]

UKIP polled Much More Than SNP.
Result 56 Seats To SNP.UKIP 1 seat.
Is It Time For Proportial Representation?

No. Not if it means idiots like UKIP get more seats

[westlondoncarparts]

Thank you for letting us know about the petition. I have signed it.

First past the post might be OK if there are only ever going to be two major parties but makes it very difficult for new parties to break in to the political system

For all my lifetime, the lack of proportional representation made it difficult for the Liberal Party and then the Social Democrats and the Liberal Democrats to break through. Now we have other parties such as UKIP and the Greens who are disadvantaged despite the traction that they now have with the voting public.

The first past the post system is based upon political representation being a very adversarial business. Proportional representation means that there has to be more co-operation between parties and in my view means that politics then becomes more representative of the electorate.

There are always a number of key stakeholder groups in any society with their own group interests. Some of those interests will be in alignment with other stakeholder groups, with others there will be conflicting interests. I believe that the success of a society depends upon how those differences are dealt with. In post World War 2 Germany, the German political system with its version of proportional representation has meant that there has been more compromise and accommodation of different interests between the key stakeholder groups than in the UK. This was mirrored in the way that the German banking system was set up after the war with a much better balance of interests between the banks and corporate customers. It has also been mirrored in the way that German industry has been set up with legal requirements for there to be representatives of key stakeholder groups (including workers) at Board level. Personally I think that all these factors have contributed to the German economy fairing much better than the British economy. This German experience is in stark contrast to the British post war experience where our first past the post politics at times have been very adversarial and destructive, owners of capital failed in their responsibility to invest to keep companies competitive, poor industrial relations damaged companies and the economy, short termism in the lending policies of banks have caused needless business failures, etc..

I am not a fan of Nigel Farage or UKIP but do recognise that they have contributed constructively to a needed debate about EU related issues that the larger parties had swept under the carpet and ignored. It is manifestly unfair that a party that polled so many votes in the election has only one representative in the House of Commons. The basic unfairness of this situation should spur on the new Parliament to do something about it. But I suspect that the silence will be deafening as the main parties will act in their own self interests and will not want any new parties to break through. When they know that something is wrong and when they act out of their own self interest in not doing anything about it, you know that the Westminster system is rotten at its core and is not really democracy at all.

[astral276]

No. Not if it means idiots like UKIP get more seats

So you feel a percentage of the population should not be represented in government because you don't like the political party they support? Which other segments of the population do you feel should not be represented? Are your prejudices derived from your own research or based on the propaganda and smears put out by Con/Lab/Lib and the media?

Did you read the UKIP manifesto (or even any manifesto)? I read both the UKIP and Conservative ones - being the only two parties I would be willing to vote for.

Yes, there are a few idiots in UKIP - which are getting filtered out. You get idiots in all the other parties too (plus crooks - some convicted, liars and fraudsters). The UKIP political machine is maybe not as slick at keeping the oddballs in line as the main parties - but then they have had a lot less practice at it.

[astral276]

Almost ten thousand signatures added since I posted the thread. I doubt that is all from my eBidettes, but thanks to all that took the trouble to add your name to the petition, and also those that took the time to look and consider it - even if you didn't choose to add your name to it.

[sherlock07]

Did you read the UKIP manifesto (or even any manifesto)? I read both the UKIP and Conservative ones - being the only two parties I would be willing to vote for.

We seem to have very similar views Astral, I did read the UKIP manifesto, and although there were a couple of pledges I did not agree with, on the whole I believe that they did want to support this country more than anyone else.

[MPS16]

Yes, there are a few idiots in UKIP - which are getting filtered out.......

They have not caught me yet.

I am proud to say that Thanet District Council now has a UKIP majority with 33 seats in total.

Labour are now done to 4 seats.

http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEle...1&RPID=9089777

[cambrensis]

I shall not bother to vote Mel, and that is not because I disagree with the concept.

When Westminster, in its caring, paternal wisdom, decided on a measure of self determination in the Celtic nations, they organised the voting systems on PR. Why? In a cynical attempt to get power away from anything remotely left of their viewpoint It failed of course, as the background boys have no clue about what really happens at grass roots level in these "remote areas"

The elves who invisibly run this UK (and they are not a "political party" as we wold understand it) will not allow any party which does not conform to their desires to "rule". They need the UK to remain a cohesive unit in order for their rule to continue which means that FPP will remain in supra national elections.

Should they get around to giving England an assembly of its own (more logically it would mean several assemblies) it will be interesting to see what they decide to do vis-a-vis voting systems. A real headache for the establishment that will be. If they elect for several regions (pun intended) they may end up with PR in some and FPP in others in order to maintain the status quo. It's going to be fun on a scale I haven't seen in years! The best thing about this election is that it is the first time I've ever seen real debate/discussion about politics at grass roots level in the area. At last the population is beginning to wake up and beginning to understand why politics has always been far more alive in the "Celtic Fringe"; however, it's early days and will take time

Perhaps, as has been suggested on several occasions, it may be better to go to the original Attic system and have a democracy in which any citizen who fills certain requirements can be called upon to serve as an MP, much in the way that we deal with the jury system. The main benefit of such a set-up would be that it would take weeks if not months of wrangling before Parliament settled down to business, MP's would constantly change allegiance and the population at large would realise that despite the long delays the country still ran exactly as it had before! Then they might start to ask questions!