| Topic: | Re:Re:Proportional Representation | |
| Posted by: | Jonathan Callaway | |
| Date/Time: | 28/04/10 19:39:00 |
| The main pro would be that your vote will count more. I think the Scottish system where you still vote for your local candidate so the constituency link is maintained but you also vote for a party list seems to to be the fairest. There are lots of variants around to choose from. Under the first past the post system nobody's vote is worth much in a safe seat so none of the parties tries very hard. You could say that is what happens in our local elections already, with one dominant party and the others also-rans. Where are the checks and balances in Wandsworth Town Hall?? PR might change that. Look at the BBC's Election Seat Calculator and you can see how wrong things are - Labour on 28% in 3rd place still get the most seats. Cons on 5% more of the popular vote and get 31 fewer seats while the poor old LibDems are on more of the popular vote than Labour but get just 36% of the seats Labour get. Cons? Eternal hung parliaments, just like many a European country. But our politicians (I would like to think) will learn to deal with each other in a different way and the outcome might just be the pick of the best of each party's policies. Or the worst of course, depending on your point of view! It is a step into the unknown for Westminster but PR works in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so why not elsewhere? To keep the minority nutters out you need a cut-off, like Germany where no party gets a seat if they fail to cross the 5% threshold. As Fraser says that would keep the BNP at bay but would still allow the Greens in. |
| Topic | Date Posted | Posted By |
| Proportional Representation | 28/04/10 14:26:00 | Lucille Grant |
| Re:Proportional Representation | 28/04/10 17:05:00 | Fraser Pearce |
| Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 28/04/10 19:39:00 | Jonathan Callaway |
| Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 28/04/10 20:43:00 | Craig Fordham |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 08:45:00 | Bunny Payne |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 09:05:00 | Sian Ryan |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 09:47:00 | Lucille Grant |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 14:56:00 | Sian Ryan |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 15:15:00 | Lucille Grant |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 29/04/10 16:13:00 | Martin Jubb |
| Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proportional Representation | 01/05/10 11:09:00 | Roland Gilmore |