The 2015 British General Election has shown more fault lines than ever before in the use of the First Past The Post/Winner Takes All electoral system. It is increasingly clear that there are not only millions of wasted votes, but also that more MPs are being elected on less than 50% of the vote in a constituency (or riding, as Canadians would say). Indeed, one Belfast constituency saw a new record broken, as a winning candidate was able to get elected on just 24.5% of the vote!
Other consequences of First Past The Post in Britain have seen regional differences exaggerated, as parties' successes do tend to be regionalised. Yet the reality is that it is the Winner Takes All factor which is under representing a region's less successful parties. I reckon this is all sounding familiar to some Canadian readers, with the Canadian election less than four months away.
Now my message to the Canadian people is not to label their Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a ridiculous specimen of a man. But what I will say is that for someone who presented himself as a reform MP earlier in his career, it seems clear from outside Canada that here we have a typical politician who has done ok out of First Past The Post, and therefore wishes to act in his own self-serving interest.
The Liberal Party's recent pledge to end First Past The Post elections, places Canadian voters with the very attractive prospect of there being two main parties promising Electoral Reform. Of the three main parties, it is only Mr Harper's ruling Tories who seem to wish to preserve the current system. Having replaced the Liberals as the Official Opposition at Canada's last general election, the centre-left New Democratic Party has long supported Proportional Representation.
Some Canadians may wish to reward Mr Harper on the economy. There could be similar sentiments amongst the Canadian electorate as there was here in Britain, where some people were said to be holding their noses whilst voting for David Cameron's Conservatives.
By holding their noses, I specifically mean some voters did not particularly like Mr Cameron and his party. However, they felt that they had done a decent job on the economy in difficult circumstances. Considering Labour were in office over here during the 2008 crash, and subsequently presided over some unwise public borrowing, I do understand such sentiments despite not voting for the Tories myself.
After 9 years in office, I hope that Canada does decide that they have had enough of Mr Harper and his Tories. Electoral Reform may not be the most sexy issue in politics. However, the method used to elect MPs to a National Parliament does underpin every policy area!
Over here in the UK, I believe it is only a matter of time before we ditch First Past The Post. Mr Cameron and his inner circle will do their utmost of course to try and justify the current system. But considering our recent election saw one party win just a solitary House of Commons Seat, despite polling nearly 4 Million votes, I have little doubt that more and more Brits can see the First Past The Post fault lines.
There are many ongoing struggles in the world with some people fighting to even get a democracy. For major industrialised nations like the UK and Canada to support such people in their struggle for democracy, the last thing we should be showing those people is an electoral system which results in significant numbers of voters who do not get heard!
Other consequences of First Past The Post in Britain have seen regional differences exaggerated, as parties' successes do tend to be regionalised. Yet the reality is that it is the Winner Takes All factor which is under representing a region's less successful parties. I reckon this is all sounding familiar to some Canadian readers, with the Canadian election less than four months away.
Now my message to the Canadian people is not to label their Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a ridiculous specimen of a man. But what I will say is that for someone who presented himself as a reform MP earlier in his career, it seems clear from outside Canada that here we have a typical politician who has done ok out of First Past The Post, and therefore wishes to act in his own self-serving interest.
The Liberal Party's recent pledge to end First Past The Post elections, places Canadian voters with the very attractive prospect of there being two main parties promising Electoral Reform. Of the three main parties, it is only Mr Harper's ruling Tories who seem to wish to preserve the current system. Having replaced the Liberals as the Official Opposition at Canada's last general election, the centre-left New Democratic Party has long supported Proportional Representation.
Some Canadians may wish to reward Mr Harper on the economy. There could be similar sentiments amongst the Canadian electorate as there was here in Britain, where some people were said to be holding their noses whilst voting for David Cameron's Conservatives.
By holding their noses, I specifically mean some voters did not particularly like Mr Cameron and his party. However, they felt that they had done a decent job on the economy in difficult circumstances. Considering Labour were in office over here during the 2008 crash, and subsequently presided over some unwise public borrowing, I do understand such sentiments despite not voting for the Tories myself.
After 9 years in office, I hope that Canada does decide that they have had enough of Mr Harper and his Tories. Electoral Reform may not be the most sexy issue in politics. However, the method used to elect MPs to a National Parliament does underpin every policy area!
Over here in the UK, I believe it is only a matter of time before we ditch First Past The Post. Mr Cameron and his inner circle will do their utmost of course to try and justify the current system. But considering our recent election saw one party win just a solitary House of Commons Seat, despite polling nearly 4 Million votes, I have little doubt that more and more Brits can see the First Past The Post fault lines.
There are many ongoing struggles in the world with some people fighting to even get a democracy. For major industrialised nations like the UK and Canada to support such people in their struggle for democracy, the last thing we should be showing those people is an electoral system which results in significant numbers of voters who do not get heard!
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