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

[Subliminal Aura]

Christ guys...

So what you're saying is that you'd prefer to go it alone and leave all the nuclear subs to the Scots ?

There are other reasons for needing the crappy bits of this country too :/

 

[Trifid]

Seeing that "the people" were stupid enough to get themselves into this mess to begin with, I have no confidence that they won't "have it again."

That's not stupidity of the people. It's not the peoples fault that the nation as a whole didn't vote strongly enough in a single direction. They just wanted different things.



Is the a PR system that will guarantee a strong government (51% of the seats or more) while providing a more representative government?

 

[SkeeterUK]

Yeah. No PR just AV which is not what we want. Conservatives just trying like mad to get lib dems on their side now since browns gona resign as leader of lab.

 

[Pneumonic]

I'm not sure how people don't realise this, a PR system would have left Conservatives, Labour with significantly less seats and Lib Dem with signifcantly more, despite no extra area's actually voting Lib Dem in.

Shock horror political party getting fair share of seats based on percentage of vote... Because the Lib Dem vote is more evenly distributed over the country and arguably therefore more representative.. they deserve less seats?.. what an argument for democracy

 

[Raumarik]

I know that picture is slightly misleading in respect to the colour spread but there's something inherently wrong when 3,000,000 more people choose one party over it's nearest rival to govern their own country and may end up being completely ignored.

4 million more voted for LD and Labour combined, yes the tories got a larger share of the seats and the votes, but they don't have a unanimous thumbs up or the moral right to ignore the millions who didn't vote for them. They didn't get 50%+ of the votes, the first past the post system gave them victory, not the voters country wide.

I still think they have a right to be in government, but hopefully it won't be as a minority. I do agree with some of the earlier posts about Scotland/Wales and NI propping up Labour - which is extremely sad but if you're going to say "that's how the system works" regarding the first past the post system then you'll get the same retort from those in Wales/Scotland and NI about propping up Labour.

PS didn't vote Labour, don't think they should be near government for the next 5 years, but then again that's how our system "works"

 

[scorza]

Clegg has a duty to get the best deal he can for his party, clearly that involves meaningful, fundamental electoral reform - lets not forget, almost a quarter of the country voted LibDem. I was surprised that after Brown announced his resignation the best the Conservatives could come up with was a guaranteed referendum on AV - that's pretty far from the electoral reform I and many of the LibDem party had in mind.

Why are the Conservatives so afraid of a fair representation in parliament? We already know what the best system is for this country because the Jenkins Commission told us - AV+. Give us a referendum on that and we'd have a coalition government today. There's no guarantee that the public would vote yes anyway, especially with the Conservatives presumably campaigning against it.

 

[Greebo]

Neither party has offered a referendum on PR. They have offered AV, which is not a proportional system at all.

This is exactly what worries me about referenda...

Okay. The alternative vote is not actually a proportional system, but a majoritarian system I accept. But at least it's a change. You can bet the Lib Dems are pushing for somebody to go with PR though.

The reason the Cons and Lab are only offering AV is that it would probably still make it a two horse race between them. True PR would give loads of both parties seats to the Lib Dem which neither of them want.

It all depends on who wants to be in Government the most.

Personally, I can't see why both sides are pandering to the Lib Dems. If either side gives them what they want, there will be no going back to the first past the post system.

And who wants to be in Government for the next term anyway? Whoever is in, is going to have to tax the ******** off everybody and upset everybody and will just get dumped out again in the next election. The fickle public will always blame whoever gives them the bad medicine.

 

[stockhausen]

Various people are stressed out that "England" voted Tory and suggest that this should be seen as justification for breaking up the United Kingdom.

As I understand it, New Labour won more seats than anyone else in London; should London split away from the UK as well? What about the other major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, etc.?

Maybe it would be better to just hand over the rural areas to the Tories who could turn them into a vast fox-hunting entertainment park surviving on EU set-aside handouts

 

[JohnnyG]

As I understand it, New Labour won more seats than anyone else in London; should London split away from the UK as well?

Not all of it, just the Labour seats would be handy though.

 

[scorza]

Not all of it, just the Labour seats would be handy though.

Yay let's get rid of Canary Wharf.

 

[JohnnyG]

Canary Wharf isn't a seat.

 

[scorza]

But it's in a Labour constituency - Poplar and Limehouse I think

 

[JohnnyG]

They can take it with them then, I doubt many of the CW workers would go with it & we can then build a new one in leafy Surrey somewhere.
You're taking my nudge at Shockley fart oo seriously

 

[lazer46]

I voted Lib Dems and would still do so in the next election. I think that PR is an important point in the talks they are having. Are the Conservatives nervous that with PR they would get less seats etc?

 

[PMKeates]

I suspect it's a combination of knowing they will get less seats, and believing that FPTP does a better job of selecting governments (present times excepted).

 

[Dj_Jestar]

The London constituencies that elected Labour are all dominated by council scrounging bums anyway

 

[Dj_Jestar]

I voted Lib Dems and would still do so in the next election. I think that PR is an important point in the talks they are having. Are the Conservatives nervous that with PR they would get less seats etc?

It's very well known they'll get less seats.

 

[bam0]

I voted Lib Dems and would still do so in the next election. I think that PR is an important point in the talks they are having. Are the Conservatives nervous that with PR they would get less seats etc?

They aren't nervous, both Labour and the Conservatives know they would get less seats under a PR system, who willingly gives up power?

 

[scorza]

They can take it with them then, I doubt many of the CW workers would go with it & we can then build a new one in leafy Surrey somewhere.
You're taking my nudge at Shockley fart oo seriously

The point is that generally, Labour constituencies in the great cities of London, Birmingham and Manchester, with their vibrant, multi-cultural, dynamic environments tend to provide more to the economy than rural Conservative economies, where frankly, the economy seems to be based more on ***** plumbers, builders and used car salesman. I should know, I used to live in Surrey

 

[Dj_Jestar]

The point is that generally, Labour constituencies in the great cities of London, Birmingham and Manchester, with their vibrant, multi-cultural, dynamic environments tend to provide more to the economy than rural Conservative economies, where frankly, the economy seems to be based more on ***** plumbers, builders and used car salesman. I should know, I used to live in Surrey

Are you kidding? CW and The Docklands is pretty much the exception to the rule that all inner city constituencies' voters are living off welfare. In fact even most of The Docklands is Council owned!