fptp

[Freddie]

Ah, let him have his fun. He just appreciates there's plenty of buttons in this world just begging to be pressed.

[irc]

All in all an excellent week. A working majority to the SNP, No AV, and no Bin Laden!

[meic]

Well now the SNP have a majority it may be that in the future whether the rest of us have FPTP or AV will no longer be your problem.
You can happily jump to full PR with just one referendum!

[jan19]

As someone who lives in a constituency where the result is a foregone conclusion (probably even with AV!) I'm seriously considering whether its worth my while bothering to vote at all, other than for the Mayor, as we do have either AV for that (I think - its some sort of PR anyway). Makes my second vote actually worth casting.

In the election before last for the Mayor, I actually looked carefully at the results. A high proportion of people voted for the Greens as their second choice. Consequently we got a Mayor (Ken) who did promote Green(ish) policies as he's got enough intelligence to read trends correctly.

Sadly, that vote didn't stand up at the next election, so the current idiot really doesn't bother to do anything except make loud and meaningless noises about being "Green". (Don't quote the BorisBikes please - they were Ken's idea )

Jan

[Edwards]

(Don't quote the BorisBikes please - they were Ken's idea )

I was beginning to wonder if it was just me who realised that? Has Boris actually started any of the prestige projects at all or is it true Conservative style of taking credit for somebody else's good idea's.

Nick Clegg knows he is finished so is likley to hang on as long as he can to the senior boy from his old school. The rest of the party are begining to realise he is a liability as all the bad things are given to the Lib's to announce.
They will be more of the lib people speaking out and then some will refuse to obey the tribal leader.
Then there will be an election contest against Clegg with him disappearing for good. It will take about a year for the whole thing to unravel with the possibility of the Lib' going in with Labour. If that does not happen we will have Cameron trying to run a minority govt and he will do that so badly his party will get rid of him.

[thirdcrank]

Presumably, we are now going to see a split within the LibDems, between those who value being in power at Westminster as part of a coalition, and those who value being in power in local government, who normally have most to gain from protest votes but now don't. Cameron is presented with a rare opportunity. A quick deal with the SNP to return Scotland to independence would isolate a lot of traditionally Labour constituencies in a foreign country.

I suspect one of the early results will be much stricter Cabinet discipline, with Cameron now having the confidence to sack any LibDems who don't toe the line. If the LibDems left the coalition now, they'd be blamed for triggering a general election, meaning another massacre at the polls. All this will mean tory right wing MPs pressing for even more of their policies.

An example of the benefits to the tories of abandoning the Union would be that an independent Scotland would inherit a substantial chunk of the Civil Service: cuts in the the public sector "at a stroke." That's probably the point: since the cold economic draught has begun to whistle, minds have become rather more focused on reality than romance.

I fancy passports for End-to-End riders may be a long way off.

[hubgearfreak]

If the LibDems left the coalition now, they'd be blamed for triggering a general election, meaning another massacre at the polls.

of the people i know who voted liberal, they did so to keep the tories out. they'll either be voting green or labour next election, or not bothering.

my guess is that the liberals will do badly in the next general election whatever happens

[Punk_shore]

I'd like A but since I can't have that I no longer have a say.

or alternatively: I reckon A are going to win it and B come second, but C have the better policies, so that's who I'll vote for.

This works on the basis that both A and B will try to gain your vote at the next election, so will slant their policies more towards those of C. It is an example of a protest vote. In the end it's not so much who you voted for, as the fact that you bothered to vote.

[Mick F]

..... this is a sad day for democracy.

I saw the front page of the DM today.

It said something like:
"The British people have stood up for democracy."

What a load of tosh!

There is no way that FPTP would or could ever represent The People. It never has done and never will do.

If my chosen rep doesn't get selected, I have zero representation. At least with AV I might get the chance of a say.

A sad day for democracy, and that's the end of it.

[irc]

An example of the benefits to the tories of abandoning the Union would be that an independent Scotland would inherit a substantial chunk of the Civil Service: cuts in the the public sector "at a stroke." That's probably the point: since the cold economic draught has begun to whistle, minds have become rather more focused on reality than romance.

Actually Scotland with 9% (or whatever) of the population would inherit 9% of the civil service so the remainder of the UK would be neither better or worse in terms of the number of civil service employess per capita.

[irc]

In the election before last for the Mayor, I actually looked carefully at the results. A high proportion of people voted for the Greens as their second choice. Consequently we got a Mayor (Ken) who did promote Green(ish) policies as he's got enough intelligence to read trends correctly.

Sadly, that vote didn't stand up at the next election, so the current idiot really doesn't bother to do anything except make loud and meaningless noises about being "Green". (Don't quote the BorisBikes please - they were Ken's idea )

Correct me if I'm wrong but as you are saying the green vote went down then Boris is naturally following this downward trend by not concentrating on green policies.

[jan19]

Correct me if I'm wrong but as you are saying the green vote went down then Boris is naturally following this downward trend by not concentrating on green policies.

The last election Labour won in London was never in doubt - it was obvious they were going to win, which I think then gave people the chance to use a protest vote, if you can call it that. Last time, it was far too close to call so people voted tactically (eg voting Labour 1, Lib Dem 2 to keep the Tories out, or Tory 1 Lib Dem 2 to keep Labour out), not being prepared to "waste" a vote on a party which had no chance whatsoever of getting in. That's what I did anyway - didn't dare "waste" my vote last time, anyone who could keep Boris out (well almost anyone) was fine by me.

Personally, I don't think the Mayor of a city the size of London should EVER ignore green issues. I live outside the city, but on high ground and we can see the smog hanging over the city from miles away.

Not that Boris cares. So long as he can keep his chums happy driving their huge cars through the city at minimal cost he's not bothered that London keeps failing the EU's guidelines on pollution. He was the one who vetoed the increase in Congestion Charge for the highest polluting vehicles. After all, its only the little people who have to walk/cycle/use Public Transport in the city and breath that air in, as opposed to sitting in their air-conditioned metal boxes.

Jan

[Mick F]

Boris is a dyed in the wool Tory.

'nuff said.

[reohn2]

..... this is a sad day for democracy.

I saw the front page of the DM today.

It said something like:
"The British people have stood up for democracy."

What a load of tosh!

There is no way that FPTP would or could ever represent The People. It never has done and never will do.

If my chosen rep doesn't get selected, I have zero representation. At least with AV I might get the chance of a say.

A sad day for democracy, and that's the end of it.

Indeed,Spot on.
The stupid British public has blown what was the most important election of my lifetime!

[philg]

The stupid British public has blown what was the most important election of my lifetime!

Democracy eh? - you give people the vote and look what they go and do with it