2015 UK Election Thread

People laughed at Cameron when he said the Tories could win it outright. I was one of them :)
 
JayM said:
I'm glad the conservatives have taken this relatively convincingly. All the major parties are pro-EU, as is business in the UK. An EU exit is extremely unlikely.
Click to expand...

A referendum could easily allow an EU exit. If people on the ground vote and not their party leaders or corporate heads.
 
Space_Chief said:
They got like 15% of the vote yet get 2 seats.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but that has happened to the lib dems mabnt times before. Its the Conservatives and Labour that don't want to change it.....as then people will vote for who they want rather than the lesser of 2 evils
 
Arthur said:
But surely proportional is even worse?

I very much prefer a constituency system to a national proportional roll as we have in SA. Brit MPs have a strong tradition of handling issues for all their constituents. The party vote only means something for large national policy and legislative matters. For local issues, the ordinary woman on the 79 bus talks to her MP no matter what party. And that counts for a lot in my book.
Click to expand...

They could work it out somehow. So the party with 40% get 40% of the seats in areas where their wins are by the most % constituency margins

The party with 5% will get seats in areas where their % loss is the least.

A bit of a shlep....but that's why we pay them
 
imranpanji said:
They could work it out somehow. So the party with 40% get 40% of the seats in areas where their wins are by the most % constituency margins

The party with 5% will get seats in areas where their % loss is the least.

A bit of a shlep....but that's why we pay them
Click to expand...

Its not going to change. One of the deals the Lib Dem's cut with the Tories in 2010 was to have a referendum on replacing FPTP. Voters rejected the change. There wont be another shot at changing it for at least 10 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13297573
The UK has voted overwhelmingly to reject changing the way MPs are elected - dealing a bitter blow to Nick Clegg on top of heavy Lib Dem poll losses.

Officials say 19.1m people voted in the second UK-wide referendum in history - a higher than expected turnout of 41%.

The final result put the Yes vote at 32.1% and the No vote at 67.9%.
Click to expand...
 
Despite the fact that the candidate I voted for in the Parliament came 4th out 5 candidates, the fact that Balls, Farage and Gallaway have been had their arses handed to them has made this the best election ever :)
 
zippy said:
There was a referendum to replace this system and the Brits voted to keep it.
Click to expand...
Because it wasn't real reform. It wasn't even close to PR.

zippy said:
Fptp is applicable because the MP's are meant to represent voters in constituencies. Basically it's the same as the U.S. Senate except it's only 1 person per "state". I think it's a better system because it ensures that the different character of each region is represented and it also means the MP can't ignore the voters. A system like SA encourages "a cult of the leader" mentality and also means MP's need the favor of the party head honchos to get their job.
Yes , it does have its weaknesses. Either system has its strengths.
Click to expand...
My personal opinion is that a national assembly shouldn't be worrying about what to do with a stray cat in Koeberg road.
 
Garson007 said:
Because it wasn't real reform. It wasn't even close to PR.


My personal opinion is that a national assembly shouldn't be worrying about what to do with a stray cat in Koeberg road.
Click to expand...

Thats not the point. The point is that citizens from all the regions are represented in the Parliament. Thats what the UK Parliament is meant for. It is supposed to be a gathering of representatives from across the country. Its based on the Magna Carta principles where representatives from different parts of the country gathered.
 
zippy said:
Its based on the Magna Carta principles where representatives from different parts of the country gathered.
Click to expand...
That's nice. Looking to a text from the 13th century for modern politics.

FPTP only made sense before the advent of distance communication and travel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X