The Election

[carmen_lj]

I like how we still don't know who the next government is going to be. Is it wrong to hope for Prime Minster Balls just for Cheap Laughs? (Actually though, I would probably vote Labour in a General Election if Harman was in charge.)

Very glad I didn't vote Lib Dem though cause a vote for them would Really Very Much Not have meant a vote to prop up a Tory government. I like how the third and fourth least popular (the SNP, despite winning less seats than the Lib Dems were second in the popular vote) parties in Scotland are going to be in charge probably. Thank you Middle England! I'm not even being entirely sarcastic: the lack of a Scottish mandate for any Tory government will, I suspect, increase nationalist sentiment and should help secure the SNP a second term in Holyrood.

Mostly it's not as bad as I thought it'd be: I was perfectly terrified of a Tory majority but even with the Major Fuck-Ups of Labour in the past few years plus the ridiculous expenses scandal (which I couldn't care less about unless they've actually done something illegal, and think they should be paid a lot more anyway) the Tories are still almost entirely out of Scotland and couldn't win enough support from the rest of the country to secure a majority, so hurrah for that.

Also, many hurrahs for Brighton Pavilion and Barking and Caroline Lucas and Margaret Hodge. It wasn't exactly the funnest election night ever, but those were two most cheering results.

I want voting reform. It really is appalling looking at the results and seeing just how incredibly inequitable the system is. The Tory's won 10.7 million votes and got 306 seats, Labour 8.6 million and 258 seats, while the Lib Dem's won 6.8 million and only got 57. It's a horrid 18th century relic of a system and I want it to go away almost as much as the phrases "public interest" and "stable and secure government."

Comments

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that the state of the election system here's got people talking, because I was thinking it could just be me being American in thinking it had Some Issues.

[calapine.livejournal.com]

The big advantage of plurality system is it generally returns a majority government and apparently we're like dead keen on that. Or something. It's looks so ridic at this point though - European Elections, council elections, the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament all have some form of PR. And it pisses me off because we're a left-leaning nation and that isn't reflected in the MPs returned.

ETA: The Lib Dems have been calling for reform forever; it's like their big yummy Golden Egg thing.

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

I do not really buy what the Lib Dems are selling me (mostly because everyone hates immigrants which makes me feel real good).

So basically, what I understand is this: Lib Dems are totally going to screw themselves for life if they do a coalition with the Tories and the Tories say 'haha no reform for you' but can't get a coalition without the LDs. And Labour says 'you know, you all just figure yourselves out, we knew we were going to get shafted'. And everyone else in the country is just like, make up your bleeding minds already, but election reform would lead to less problems of this nature and also David Cameron is a posh boy.

I could be entirely wrong, but that is how I read it.

[calapine.livejournal.com]

I do not really buy what the Lib Dems are selling me (mostly because everyone hates immigrants which makes me feel real good).

Yeah, that was...new. And part of the reason I ended up not voting for them.

And, no, the Tories have offered a referendum on voting reform as part of a deal with the Lib Dems (which I doubt would go as far as a coalition.)

[fatpie42.livejournal.com]

What? The Lib Dems don't hate immigrants.

Labour want a points system.
Conservatives want to cap the number allowed.

Lib Dems just want to make sure we know the numbers coming in, that we know how long they are allowed to remain and that immigrants are directed towards areas where there will be work available for them. No stupid points system and no capping. What did I miss?

(Please don't take this the wrong way. If I've misunderstood something, I want to be corrected. I'm just making my understanding of the situation clear so you have a better idea where any possible misunderstanding lies. I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert.)

[oltha_heri.livejournal.com]

I'm just loving the British right now for talking about election reform. In 2000 we had the whole Florida scandal, Gore won the popular vote and lost the presidency and there was a never a serious conversation about election reform. So yeah, right now I LOVE YOU GUYS!

...also, the reaction of your comedians and news people that I've seen: highly interchangeable and equally hilarious.

[rhipowered.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair to the US, the popular vote gap in 2000 and the district lines here causing MP coverage to be so wack (gerrymandering?) are quite different in nature. The electoral college is written into the US Constitution, making it next to impossible very difficult to change, whereas UK election law is...er...interesting but less difficult to manoeuvre.

There was a lot of talk at the time (and has been at each presidential election since) about the dubious relevance of the electoral college system, but as noted, it's too darn hard to get rid of it.

[oltha_heri.livejournal.com]

That in general is one of the things about America that makes me want to pull out my hair. We seem to love to forget "that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it."

It is possible to change articles, but we're so obsessed with honoring the Constitution like the word of God (which it isn't) that we rarely dare and that annoys me, the UK may make a lot of jokes about bureaucracy but I do think it will be us who eventually end up choking on it.

[calapine.livejournal.com]

It helps that we have a third party what's dead keen on voting reform and the Tories now need those dudes if they want a majority in the Commons. Not Quite A Two-Party System, yay.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

The Guardian's front page informs me that Balls is set to make a leadership bid and that Boulton loses his rag as Clegg coos at Labour. Yes, I am a giggling third-grader right now, thank you.

"The Tory's won 10.7 million votes and got 306 seats, Labour 8.6 million and 258 seats, while the Lib Dem's won 6.8 million and only got 57."

So is this what they mean when they talk about a "first past the post" system, as opposed to proportional representation?

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Yes. Under the current system each seat goes to the person who gets most votes in that seat, which leads to parties whose support is less geographically concentrated being less represented than they would in a proportional system (and also means that any gerrymandering has really, really bad results).

[calapine.livejournal.com]

So is this what they mean when they talk about a "first past the post" system, as opposed to proportional representation?

It's even more fun when your party gets the most votes but not the most MPs.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I got to the Lib Dems' number of seats and for real almost fell over. That is a shiny, sparkly, obvious problem.

[wwhyte.livejournal.com]

'It's a horrid 18th century relic of a system and I want it to go away almost as much as the phrases "public interest" and "stable and secure government."'

Of course, the problem is that if you have PR you'll always have this round of negotiations after the election and everyone will have to talk about "stable and secure government" ALL THE TIME to make it sound that that's them. Which doesn't mean PR's not worth having, it just means I think you only get one of your two wishes.

[calapine.livejournal.com]

But they'd expect not to get a majority government so possibly would feel they did not have to reassure the quaking British Public by spouting that blasted phrase at every news camera they spot.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

I am very much in favour of secure government. Lock them all up, I say!

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

The Tower of London looks quite festive at this time of year.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

I've always thought a few heads on pikes about the place would be a real tourist attraction for "heritage" Britain.

;-)

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

It'll also give the rooks an enrichment project, everyone's a winner!

[voicelikehoney.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what to think about PR. Part of me wants an equal say for every person in the country and thinks it sounds fair and just - then I think about all the titting around that will go on after every election result, with nobody knowing or agreeing on who should be in power, and also God forbid the BNP actually gets a few seats in Parliament, which it would under a PR vote. Holy EEK.

[calapine.livejournal.com]

Depends what system of PR you use. I'd prefer to see something like Scotland uses - keep the constituency link and FPTP then have additional members for each constituency elected proportionally.