National politics

[snowcap]

i hope my ballot papper was not one of those you threw on to the Torey pile mike,I voted for Harold that election as he was my mp at the time, We were living in Prescot in a terraced house with no bathroom no hot running water, outside toilet, coal fire, it was rough. i wrote to him after getting no joy from the local council and within eight weeks we were rehoused. Never looked back. Good old Mr Wilson

[Ian]

Nice guy - and very bright.

Here's some interesting - if depressing  - facts about the election:

0.8% more people voted Tory this time than in the last election, so how does that equate to them suddenly getting a majority of the seats in Parliament?

Meanwhile, Labour got 1.5% more votes than last time (up to 9,347,326), yet lost 26 seats.

UKIP got 3,881,129 votes (12.6% of the total) and got one seat.

The Lib Dems got 2,415,888 votes (just 7.9% of the total votes) and got 8 seats.

The SNP received 1,454,436 votes a 4.7% share and got 56 seats.

And the Greens got 3.8% of the total votes (1,157,613 in total) and also got just one seat.

That's the truly democratic effect of our lamentable FPTP voting system.

[Merddin Emrys]

Have to say I was very happy with the outcome of the election!     

[Big Alan]

I'm sure us tourists will love that statement

[SDQ]

Have to say I was very happy with the outcome of the election!     

I think it was a disaster and for the first time in my life I'm genuinely afraid of what the future holds!
The Scottish Referendum has deeply split the nation, God knows what the Euro one will do!
Farage will probably be PM in 5 years.

[Hugo]

Going into the coalition with the Tory Party certainly did the Lib Dems no favours.   It has backfired and cost them a lot of votes as well as any chance of proportional representation.
So it's business as usual, bonuses, tax avoidance and the occasional bit of sleaze and that's just the MP's.  For the rest of us we can expect cuts to everything apart from immigration.

[SDQ]

Going into the coalition with the Tory Party certainly did the Lib Dems no favours.   It has backfired and cost them a lot of votes as well as any chance of proportional representation.
So it's business as usual, bonuses, tax avoidance and the occasional bit of sleaze and that's just the MP's.  For the rest of us we can expect cuts to everything apart from immigration.

The Lib Dems were always going to pay a heavy price for going in with the Tories and they made doubly sure by their u-turn on tuition fees. I think it's a shame that both Clegg and Milliband had to fall on their swords instead of trying to rebuild after the battle, but that's modern politics for you. Ironically, judging by his resignation speech, Farage will probably be back after his Summer holidays!

[Hugo]

I'm sure that we haven't heard the last of Nigel Farage  as I'm sure that he'll have a lot to say when those boat people start heading for the UK from Italy and the other Mediterranean countries

[Fester]

Ian, you raise the perennial issue of FPTP Vs Proportional represntation.  It's a real toughie.

Whilst PR sounds fair, at least in theory,  in practise, there would be enormous numbers of towns and cities who had an MP imposed upon them, who came nowhere near a majority in that area.
For example,  following this recent election there would have been 93 UKIP Members of Parliament, all to be placed.... where??

 

[Ian]

Whilst PR sounds fair, at least in theory,  in practise, there would be enormous numbers of towns and cities who had an MP imposed upon them, who came nowhere near a majority in that area.

I agree that's something that would need looking at.  However, if we introduced some sort of PR (there are many variants) we could first look to see how others do it and then - the natural process - alter the composition of Parliament.

People cling to the idea that they have a 'representative' in Parliament, but I'd question a few things.  How many, for instance, ever go to their MP with a problem? In our entire voting lives, we've only done it once, and that was through the redoubtable Elfyn Clwyd who was amazingly good and worked tirelessly no our behalf.

Some MPs are notable for their absence from their constituencies even, and the current system means most seem to vote for a Party rather than an individual, anyway which, combined with the possibility that 'your' MP might be a minister and therefore won't have time to see you or help you until pre-election time, you might even be better off with someone foisted on you by the system.

But the real problem is the party system. No single party has members who agree on all the policies and many only take the party line for fear of their jobs. We might well be better off returning to the representative idea and eliminating parties.  At one time voting slips didn't carry the name of the party, so you had to know something about the candidate prior to voting. 

[Hugo]

It has got too political nowadays.    Years ago we had good independent candidates who got voted in but they wouldn't stand a chance now unless they were affiliated to one of the main parties.
The present first past the post system doesn't reflect the views of the country but will never change because of the attitude of Labour and the Cons,
Germany has had proportional representation since 1949 and it doesn't seem to have done that country any harm so perhaps we could learn something from that system.

[Ian]

The present first past the post system doesn't reflect the views of the country but will never change because of the attitude of Labour and the Cons,

That's right, because it suits the big parties. But even Lab is now looking over its shoulder at what's happened in Scotland so I suspect there's more of a possibility now that things might change. What we need, of course, is for the smaller parties to take up the idea of peaceful protests in London.  Could help to focus the government's mind, such as it is.

[born2run]

Whilst PR sounds fair, at least in theory,  in practise, there would be enormous numbers of towns and cities who had an MP imposed upon them, who came nowhere near a majority in that area.

I agree that's something that would need looking at.  However, if we introduced some sort of PR (there are many variants) we could first look to see how others do it and then - the natural process - alter the composition of Parliament.

People cling to the idea that they have a 'representative' in Parliament, but I'd question a few things.  How many, for instance, ever go to their MP with a problem? In our entire voting lives, we've only done it once, and that was through the redoubtable Elfyn Clwyd who was amazingly good and worked tirelessly no our behalf.

Some MPs are notable for their absence from their constituencies even, and the current system means most seem to vote for a Party rather than an individual, anyway which, combined with the possibility that 'your' MP might be a minister and therefore won't have time to see you or help you until pre-election time, you might even be better off with someone foisted on you by the system.

But the real problem is the party system. No single party has members who agree on all the policies and many only take the party line for fear of their jobs. We might well be better off returning to the representative idea and eliminating parties.  At one time voting slips didn't carry the name of the party, so you had to know something about the candidate prior to voting.

I would love to go to my MP with a problem.....But I just cannot afford the air fare to Israel 

[Bosun]

I agree, as I think that most of the British public, outside the 'establishment',  do now, that the election system requires reform and some interesting points have been raised - and as said, none of the problems are insurmountable.

However, I have to say that " the redoubtable Elfyn Clwyd who was amazingly good and worked tirelessly no our behalf " is a view not held by all.

[Hugo]

UKIP  has rejected Nigel Farage's resignation so it'll be interesting to see what he has to say now that Brussels has told the UK to accept some of the illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32696505