The need for electoral reform

 

 

The UK & US parliamentary systems really bug me because they're not based on PR & the results are so distorted. Trump didn't win the popular vote in 2016 - Hillary Clinton did. Johnstone didn't win the UK election in December 2019: his party gained under 50% of the overall votes cast. The SNP won well under 50% of Scottish votes in the December 2019 UK election. However, under the First Past the Post system the Conservative party & the SNP are both badly overrepresented in Westminster. Other parties are likewise badly underrepresented in the Westminster parliament under the FPTP system (in the UK parliament as a whole the LibDems & the Greens are underrepresented; Scottish MPs have far fewer Labour, Libdems or Conservatives than they should have, & there are more SNP parliamentarians than there should be). Without PR thinking voters are often forced to vote tactically, with unpredictable results. There is a similar situation in the US parliament where results are skewed by the electoral college system where states with very small populations have a disproportionate influence on the results. FPTP voting systems can result in very polarised societies because they often result in essentially 2 party politics, and other parties are squeezed out. In real life opinions are more varied, and more voices are heard.

https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/media-centre/press-releases/general-election-how-the-2019-election-results-could-have-looked-with-proportional-representation/

One thing I really like about NZ is that the parliament here is elected by PR (proportional representation). Often this results in NZ having coalition governments - as it should do. Coalition governments reflect the votes cast much better than non PR voting systems, even if they make politics a less clear-cut business, & voters can cast their votes for candidates & parties they support with more confidence than in the UK. In contrast, my votes were effectively wasted votes in most of the UK elections I voted in, except for in the European or Scottish parliament elections (these have different systems of PR, the Scottish parliament having the better system, similar to NZ's).

The Scottish & Welsh parliaments are elected by PR, but aren't completely autonomous: neither has real teeth as, for example, another Scottish referendum on independence can only be held if the Westminster parliament allows it to happen - and the Conservative party won't allow it to take place. English voters can currently only taste PR in European elections. Presumably after Brexit takes place (which now appears inevitable) there will be no PR in England at all. Let's face it, the current dominant party in the UK parliament will never approve a change to PR in Westminster as it won't then be the "winning" party...
Being a left of centre red / green & pro Scottish independence person who also is passionate about wanting more women in parliament I've often had to vote tactically, particularly when living in the UK. When I lived in Caithness or in Orkney in the UK I voted LibDem on many occasions as at least then my vote wasn't wasted. My parents were both members of the LibDems & latterly Dad was energy spokesperson for the Scottish Greens. I've always voted, apart from one election when I was having a "year out" in Ireland after I'd been thrown out of medIcal school, when I wasn't sufficiently familiar with the postal vote system. I have resorted to wasting my vote on occasion by spoiling my paper out of frustration with the system, as wasted votes have to be counted too (e.g. I did that for one Westminster election when I lived in Orkney!). Despite PR, I've also had to vote tactically on occasion in NZ. Women after all fought hard for the vote, & I'm unimpressed by my great great uncle John Cathcart Wason's opposition to women getting the vote. Skeletons in one's cupboard!

 

‎سلام, Salam, Peace, Aroha, Kia Kaha