Proportional representation for England?

[nino_savatte]

they could - but then preference voting would also help anti-fascist votes from splitting due to multiple candidates.

at the end of the day, a voting system is there to give fair representation of the voters' views. It isn't there to help people sweep uncomfortable minority opinions under the carpet.

Let's hope so but one thing is for sure: the current method of electing MPs has to change. I think PR has been good for Scotland because it has limited Labour's power there.

 

[lewislewis]

A mixture of FPTP and PR works in Wales. Problem is, people aren't used to coalition politics and don't understand how to relate to it.

 

[articul8]

anything new takes a little time to adjust to. doesn't mean it isn't better in the long run

 

[Jografer]

I do worry that the BNP could pick up second preference votes.

.. I worry that in some regions BNP would pick up enough 1st prefs to get a seat...

 

[Jografer]

PR is great in theory, but in practice it means more power to the big parties & their lists, and even more dodgy backroom deals...

 

[nino_savatte]

.. I worry that in some regions BNP would pick up enough 1st prefs to get a seat...

Aye, Blackburn and Burnley are two places that come to mind.

 

[CyberRose]

This may have already been mentioned, but personally, I'd like to see the House of Commons elected as it is (first pass the post per constituency) but I'd also like to see the House of Lords reformed into a genuine second chambre that is elected by proportional representation

 

[CyberRose]

Aye, Blackburn and Burnley are two places that come to mind.

PR does have the unfortunate side effect of undesirable parties in with a much better chance of producing winning candidates. I suppose that's one side effect of democracy as a whole!

But as I said in my post above, about the Lords being reformed into a second legislature elected by PR, what if members were elected nationwide, rather than regionally (like MEPs are)? Of course, the outcome of x undesirables being elected, and the obvious platform/publicity to spout their crap, would remain uneffected, but they wouldn't be able to build a foundation around a certain geographical region where they enjoy abnormally high support as much as if they represented a specific region

 

[Louis MacNeice]

This may have already been mentioned, but personally, I'd like to see the House of Commons elected as it is (first pass the post per constituency) but I'd also like to see the House of Lords reformed into a genuine second chambre that is elected by proportional representation

The arguement usually used against this would be that it could provoke a crisis of legitimacy (the House of Lords appearing to have better representative credentials than the Commons); forwhat it's worth i think there is some truth to that particular suggestion.

Cheers Louis MacNeice

 

[Meltingpot]

A mixture of FPTP and PR works in Wales. Problem is, people aren't used to coalition politics and don't understand how to relate to it.

Well, one effect of "first past the post" is that the major parties themselves become coalitions.

 

[Jamsy]

PR is great in theory, but in practice it means more power to the big parties & their lists, and even more dodgy backroom deals...

No it doesn't. PR is fine in practice and a hell of a lot better than any other system in place that I've ever seen.
What planet have you been spending your time on in the last year or so?

 

[Steve Booth]

I think on the whole I support proportional representation.

My worry is that supposing under PR politics came to a kind of stalemate where all the middle ground parties cancelled each other out (a bit like now where you can't get a fag paper between Labour and Conservative) or you got a long period of one lot of coalition being succeeded by another lot of coalition basically the same. People might say stalemate politics was a good thing, but if in the electorate's mind this came to be seen as a bad thing, you might eventually get a large vote for a ruthless totalitarian type group.

On the other hand, I also suspect that even under first past the post, its only a matter of time before somewhere like Burnley Council will fall to the BNP. I think there are wards where 30% or more have voted for them.