I can't believe there is anyone who stops and thinks that will be persuaded by the glossy presentation in favour of first past the post.
One argument is that we would get a hung parliament - well we've got one now.
In my view the Coalition is a lot better than raw Conservatism .
True it's doing the Liberals no favours in their credibility but at least Cameron is being shackeled a little by the likes of Cable and Farron.
Had AV been in effect at the last election then the Liberals would have had a greater number of MPs and could have teamed up with Labour with little fear from the Conservatives.
We would then have had policies that would have been supported by the majority of people.
AV allows the candidate to win that has the majority support if your first choice doesn't get 50% of the vote.
During the last election for SLDC and excellent candidate who had done a great job in her first term as a Lib Dem councillor, Jane Carson, was voted off by a Conservative because the Green Party in my view foolishly ran their own candidate.
Had AV been in operation the Greens would most likely have voted for Carson as second choice and she would have been returned. After all she stood up for practically everything they wanted.
AV though not perfect as a democratic tool is far better at representing the majority view and can be expected to involve the public far more in elections.
Our faith in politicians is in dire need of being improved.
We've got the technology in place to do it at little cost, surely we should use it.
6 comments:
Whichever party had won the last election the pressing issues would have to be dealt with. The deficit cannot be wished away nor is 'getting another credit card to pay the interest on the other ones' a practical solution. Of course, we could all have had piles of sand delivered to our streets for us to go bury our heads in when the going gets tough. In a way it is a pity the Liberals didn't get into bed with Labour to form a government, so we could see how exactly Labour intended to pay for all the promises of a never-never land. I thought AV the best way forward until I thought more deeply about it. Now I am not so sure. Where in the world is it actually working?
So what makes you unsure?
If parties are so close that voters would be content with a second choice why not keep it as it is? Would the second choice voters expect the policies of their first choice to be taken into consideration? If a runner-up got in by a few second choice voters is that really fair on the candidate who got the most first choice votes? BUT most of all — If this particular system is so good why is it so unpopular among democratic nations? Perhaps there is a better way of voting that allows for more proportional representation?
Maybe that way all voters would get some satisfaction, especially the greens.
However, in local authority elections, I think it is the candidate himself or herself that matters most. More independents get in, or so I believe, which is good.
If there are three choices:
Pink Elephants with 35 %
Lions with 34%
Tigers with 30%
There are a lot of people who rather like silly Pink Elephants
But the vast majority want fierce fighting animals.
Stick to the present system and they all get Pink Elephants (35%)
With AV they would get a fierce fighting animal (64%) - a Lion which almost twice as many wanted.
The latter system seems fairer to me!
Tiger people would be happier with strong macho Lions than rather silly Pink Elephants in spite of the fact that they make us all laugh.
In this case 64% are in no mood to laugh - this choice is serious.
Vote for AV !
It allows us to make improbable choices like the Greens first time round with the chance of being pragmatic the second.
Vote for AV
Not because its "Change"
( I do hate that slogan "Vote for Change" as if that's better than what we've got because we know from the past "Change" can be rubbish)
Vote for AV because it's far fairer than the system we've got now and enables us to get a result that is close to what we really want.
So all Tigers vote for AV and you'll get result close to what you wanted.
Fierce fighting animals? What a way to run a country with Parliamentarians fighting each other like wild animals? Claws out, show your teeth and leave your brains behind?
As for Local elections voters usually get what locals want. Many don't bother voting in any election. I guess they are not bothered who gets in. Are you standing for election Geoff? If not, why not?
No I'm not standing. There are no local (Ulverston Town) elections this year.
My example had no intended implications though I suspect that pink elephants should be confined to the circus.
Post a Comment