Likewise, living in Runneymede borough means voting doesn't count. Mr Hammond gets in. PR is vital if we are going to get people to think their vote counts.
And my vote may actually count. That is, if there's a big enough swing to Lib Dems in Streatham.
Last election the voting split: Labour 39% Lib Dem 30% Tories 19% Others 12%
(rounding to nearest %)
So... Labour -5%, Lib Dem +5%. Not so difficult.
I've met the local Lib Dem candidate, Chris Nicholson - seemed nice enough. However, I didn't ask him about this:
"In December 2009, it was revealed by the Evening Standard that Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Nicholson had donated £288,000 to his party and given his local campaign £48,000. A previous £40,000 donation made by Mr Nicholson to the party had to be returned after being found to breach Electoral Commission rules."
For a long time my vote basically didn't count, living in Egham and other places where the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but it has never made me think that hung parliaments and coalition governments are a good idea. And if you want good demonstrations of why they aren't a good idea take a good long look at a great deal of European politics, in particular Italy and even more interestingly the supposedly incredibly stable Belgium.
In my case, I want the hung parliament for the sake of democracy. I don't like the fact that Labour has an overall majority of 60 in the commons when 64% of voters voted against them. A hung parliaent will lead (hopefully) to some sort of electoral reform, and I would like to see None of the Above on the voting slips.
But that has always been the way with first-past-the-post, and a hung parliament on its own won't change it.
The concept of a "Grand Coalition" in which the major parties put aside their differences for the good of the nation, which is what I suspect you are hoping for, just doesn't work in practice, and instead what you get is the very smallest of parties horse-trading with the larger parties to create a government in which the most minority views suddenly become disproportionately important because the government cannot function without them.
How is that functionally any different from the scenario you describe above? A 'none of the above' box is a great idea for a minute or two, as a way to log a public abstention but you could always spoil your paper for much the same effect, you are logged when you arrive to vote so it'll be known that someone at that polling station objected very strongly to the options they were given.
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Electoral reform at any cost!
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And my vote may actually count. That is, if there's a big enough swing to Lib Dems in Streatham.
Last election the voting split:
Labour 39%
Lib Dem 30%
Tories 19%
Others 12%
(rounding to nearest %)
So... Labour -5%, Lib Dem +5%. Not so difficult.
I've met the local Lib Dem candidate, Chris Nicholson - seemed nice enough. However, I didn't ask him about this:
"In December 2009, it was revealed by the Evening Standard that Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Nicholson had donated £288,000 to his party and given his local campaign £48,000. A previous £40,000 donation made by Mr Nicholson to the party had to be returned after being found to breach Electoral Commission rules."
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streatham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Next_general_election )
I should have remembered. It was in Private Eye and everything!
So... tactical, holding-nose voting I think.
Reply
For a long time my vote basically didn't count, living in Egham and other places where the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but it has never made me think that hung parliaments and coalition governments are a good idea. And if you want good demonstrations of why they aren't a good idea take a good long look at a great deal of European politics, in particular Italy and even more interestingly the supposedly incredibly stable Belgium.
Reply
I don't like the fact that Labour has an overall majority of 60 in the commons when 64% of voters voted against them. A hung parliaent will lead (hopefully) to some sort of electoral reform, and I would like to see None of the Above on the voting slips.
Reply
The concept of a "Grand Coalition" in which the major parties put aside their differences for the good of the nation, which is what I suspect you are hoping for, just doesn't work in practice, and instead what you get is the very smallest of parties horse-trading with the larger parties to create a government in which the most minority views suddenly become disproportionately important because the government cannot function without them.
How is that functionally any different from the scenario you describe above? A 'none of the above' box is a great idea for a minute or two, as a way to log a public abstention but you could always spoil your paper for much the same effect, you are logged when you arrive to vote so it'll be known that someone at that polling station objected very strongly to the options they were given.
Reply
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