Poll: *** 2010 General Election Result & Discussion ***

[AtreuS]

The funny thing is that from his speech, all Cameron had to do was accede to a referendum on voting reform and I reckon he could be in No10 already.

Would it really be so hard to say "Ok we'll agree to a referendum, but will campaign for FPTP"? Or does he realise that such a campaign might ostracise the Tories from the general public?

I think he is more worried about his own party turning on him. Your average tory would rather lick gordon brown than have a referendum on PR!

 

[Dolph]

The funny thing is that from his speech, all Cameron had to do was accede to a referendum on voting reform and I reckon he could be in No10 already.

Would it really be so hard to say "Ok we'll agree to a referendum, but will campaign for FPTP"? Or does he realise that such a campaign might ostracise the Tories from the general public?

I don't quite understand the dogmatic opposal to a referendum of all things, I can understand the opposition if what was being asked for was a direct change. It smacks of hypocrisy when the Tories spent so many years campaigning for a referendum on the EU on the basis of 'let the people decide' yet will not give the electorate the benefit of a choice on voting reform.

The thing is, a change such as the one proposed to the electoral system really requires a full independent review to provide the evidence of the pros and cons of each system, even if it will eventually be subject to a referendum.

Cameron hasn't ruled out a referendum on voting reform, just that we should review all options before making any decisions.

 

[Von Smallhausen]

I almost forgot Dolph.

Did you vote Labour then ?

 

[scorza]

The funny thing is that from his speech, all Cameron had to do was accede to a referendum on voting reform and I reckon he could be in No10 already.

Would it really be so hard to say "Ok we'll agree to a referendum, but will campaign for FPTP"? Or does he realise that such a campaign might ostracise the Tories from the general public?

I don't quite understand the dogmatic opposal to a referendum of all things, I can understand the opposition if what was being asked for was a direct change. It smacks of hypocrisy when the Tories spent so many years campaigning for a referendum on the EU on the basis of 'let the people decide' yet will not give the electorate the benefit of a choice on voting reform.

I wonder if the public would vote for PR in any referendum. PR would virtually guarantee a hung parliament every general election and the Conservatives perhaps have been quite successful claiming that a hung parliament is bad and would mean IMF bailouts, runs on sterling etc.

 

[chriscpritchard]

The thing is, a change such as the one proposed to the electoral system really requires a full independent review to provide the evidence of the pros and cons of each system, even if it will eventually be subject to a referendum.

Cameron hasn't ruled out a referendum on voting reform, just that we should review all options before making any decisions.

I think he should promise a review, followed by a referendum based on the results. Rather than doing what Labour did and having the review and then ignoring it!

 

[Alex74]

Thankfully not, I believe that if Gordon Brown resigns then the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am on this one.

Well the more abstract the government becomes, the closer it comes to falling under the queen's jurisdiction. As far as i know, ceremonially at least, it'll be down to her to ask Dave to form a government if he appears to have the best chance of doing so (i.e. has the most seats of any party and manages to garner some support from Nick Clegg).

But the queen can't be seen to be too politically involved, so she'll have to sit back and wait until the parties can work out some sort of resolution before doing anything.

 

[Rich_L]

The thing is, a change such as the one proposed to the electoral system really requires a full independent review to provide the evidence of the pros and cons of each system, even if it will eventually be subject to a referendum.

Cameron hasn't ruled out a referendum on voting reform, just that we should review all options before making any decisions.

Like, say, the Jenkins report which has already been done?

He hasn't ruled it out, in that he has offered a virtually useless option of having an 'all party committee' which is clearly wholly inadequate, that said he may change his mind depending on LD negotiations who knows.

I wonder if the public would vote for PR in any referendum. PR would virtually guarantee a hung parliament every general election and the Conservatives perhaps have been quite successful claiming that a hung parliament is bad and would mean IMF bailouts, runs on sterling etc.

At least give them the choice though - as I said, it does strike me as terribly inconsistent when the Tories campaigned for so long for a referendum on the EU on the basis that the people's wishes must be respected, yet when a referendum on PR which might affect them is proposed they shut up shop and refuse to countenance such a proposal.

 

[BigglesPiP]

I like that GB is "deeply honoured" by the result, he's got up to about 3600RPM so far.

 

[Dolph]

Like, say, the Jenkins report which has already been done?

He hasn't ruled it out, in that he has offered a virtually useless option of having an 'all party committee' which is clearly wholly inadequate, that said he may change his mind depending on LD negotiations who knows.

The jenkins report was completed in 1998, it's a bit out of date given the changes such as devolution and the house of lords in the meantime

 

[RDM]

I think with PR you would see a further fractioning of the parties to be honest. If any vote for you now counts then there is less reason to band together with people you don't really agree with when you can just form a coalition later. So a split within Labour along Old and New lines, the Lib Dems going back to Liberals and Social Democrats, Conservatives splitting into Old and New, that sort of thing.

 

[Sankari]

PR would virtually guarantee a hung parliament every general election

 

[Rich_L]

I think with PR you would see a further fractioning of the parties to be honest. If any vote for you now counts then there is less reason to band together with people you don't really agree with when you can just form a coalition later. So a split within Labour along Old and New lines, the Lib Dems going back to Liberals and Social Democrats, Conservatives splitting into Old and New, that sort of thing.

Is that supposed to be a bad thing - sounds positively encouraging to me

 

[LOAM]

I think he is more worried about his own party turning on him. Your average tory would rather lick gordon brown than have a referendum on PR!

Whilst this is true, there's going to be one anyway. If cameron won't let them then brown will. If the conservatives can't see that there will be a referendum either way then they are fools. Surely it's beter that they are in power and a referendum than not in power and still get one.

 

[djkav]

If Brown resigns and Cameron can't put together a deal, wouldn't that make Harriet Harman Prime Minister

Maybe not, it depends if they require a leadership contest (more than 1 party contender wants to be leader), as with the resignation of Maggie and John Major.

 

[And]

I think the libs may get PR out of this election ....

Welcome to the house of commons, oh brand new 13 BNP MPs

BNP wouldn't get enough of the vote (%age wise) to get a seat under STV. Nor would Ukip. Along with the Lib Dems, the SNP, Plaid and maybe the Greens would benefit and to be fair that probably wouldn't be such a bad thing as it would certainly be more representative of constituents' views.

The BNP's main targets are councils so they can directly target local services. Griffin got found out on Question Time and the party looks very marginalised now. Plus it seems they cant get along with themselves either. Good riddance IMO.

 

["andy"]

Wanted to ask this so now seems like a good time, how well is Boris doing as the mayor of london ?

ok id guess. but hes still an absolute nutjob

this morning on tv he was comparing the current situation to a walls sausage , saying it would be rude not to put the conservative meat in there. then when paxman finished LOLing it was ''oh, oh yes ive got a city to run'' before vanishing off air

 

[scorza]

A single party would need >50% of the vote to secure a government and avoid a hung parliament. I personally don't see the problem that personally, they seem to cope with that situation fairly well in European countries like Germany, and we'd get used to it and deal with it better if we had PR in this country. I'm just not sure the general population would back it.

 

[Klo]

ok id guess. but hes still an absolute nutjob

this morning on tv he was comparing the current situation to a walls sausage , saying it would be rude not to put the conservative meat in there. then when paxman finished LOLing it was ''oh, oh yes ive got a city to run'' before vanishing off air

That was amazing!!

 

[Sankari]

A single party would need >50% of the vote to secure a government and avoid a hung parliament. I personally don't see the problem that personally, they seem to cope with that situation fairly well in European countries like Germany, and we'd get used to it and deal with it better if we had PR in this country. I'm just not sure the general population would back it.

Australia has been using PR since ~1918. Our last hung parliament from a federal election was in 1940. The 2007 election saw a 52% win by the Australian Labor Party.

Why don't you think the general population would support PR?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Why don't you think the general population would support PR?

Unfortunately most people in this country are a bit dim and simply vote for the same party every single time. For the die hard Labour fans for example, Gordon Brown himself could visit them, murder the family dog and urinate on the carpet and they would STILL vote Labour.

I gather Australians are a bit less ridiculous, another reason why I far prefer the country..