Let me introduce myself. My name is Andy, and I am a blogger with a passion for electoral reform.
Many of you will take pride in being the parliamentary constituency of the sitting Chancellor of the Exchequer, not to mention George (Gideon) Osborne's Conservative majority in the Tatton constituency increasing from five years ago at May's general election.
My politics are very much on the centre ground. Of the five general elections I have been eligible to vote in, I have voted Conservative on the one occasion. That was my first general election in 1997, when Tony Blair came to power in a landslide victory for Labour. I am sure some of you will remember that election very well. It was a rarity, due to being the only occasion since the Tatton constituency was created in which a Conservative MP was not returned.
I have my reasons for not voting Conservative since the late nineties. I will add that I consider it unlikely that I will vote for the Tories again in the foreseeable future. However, for as long as I remain officially unattached to any political party, the only people I will ever rule out voting for completely are fascists and non-democrats.
As much as you may take satisfaction in the Tory majority increasing, I do believe you also need to take a look at the future of democracy in the UK, and the role of safe Conservative seats like Tatton. The circumstances in which Neil Hamilton (following his implication in the Cash for Questions Scandal) was defeated by the Independent Martin Bell in 1997, were very much a one off.
The second Tony Blair Labour landslide of 2001 has shown that Tatton will always be true blue Tory territory, apart from the odd blip as 1997 was. This one horse race in Tatton makes voters in this seat amongst the least powerful voters in the UK.
Let's take a look at the constituency whose boundaries I currently reside in, which has seen a change of winning party twice over the last 23 years. Why should voters like myself in Warrington South be more powerful than you?
First Past The Post is now a flawed electoral system, in an era which now sees less people vote for either of the two main parties. Of all democratic systems, First Past The Post provides the least representative government.
The 2015 General Election has seen a single party gain a parliamentary majority on about 37% share of the vote. Furthermore, the current electoral map shows that safe Tory seats like Tatton (as well as safe Labour seats) are playing their part in dividing Britain!
Electoral Reform is an issue which will now just not go away. More and more Brits can see the First Past The Post fault lines. Do you have the courage to challenge this discredited electoral system? If you wish to engage with myself, you can do so on twitter, @AndyWatson75.
Best wishes
Andy J Watson
Many of you will take pride in being the parliamentary constituency of the sitting Chancellor of the Exchequer, not to mention George (Gideon) Osborne's Conservative majority in the Tatton constituency increasing from five years ago at May's general election.
My politics are very much on the centre ground. Of the five general elections I have been eligible to vote in, I have voted Conservative on the one occasion. That was my first general election in 1997, when Tony Blair came to power in a landslide victory for Labour. I am sure some of you will remember that election very well. It was a rarity, due to being the only occasion since the Tatton constituency was created in which a Conservative MP was not returned.
I have my reasons for not voting Conservative since the late nineties. I will add that I consider it unlikely that I will vote for the Tories again in the foreseeable future. However, for as long as I remain officially unattached to any political party, the only people I will ever rule out voting for completely are fascists and non-democrats.
As much as you may take satisfaction in the Tory majority increasing, I do believe you also need to take a look at the future of democracy in the UK, and the role of safe Conservative seats like Tatton. The circumstances in which Neil Hamilton (following his implication in the Cash for Questions Scandal) was defeated by the Independent Martin Bell in 1997, were very much a one off.
The second Tony Blair Labour landslide of 2001 has shown that Tatton will always be true blue Tory territory, apart from the odd blip as 1997 was. This one horse race in Tatton makes voters in this seat amongst the least powerful voters in the UK.
Let's take a look at the constituency whose boundaries I currently reside in, which has seen a change of winning party twice over the last 23 years. Why should voters like myself in Warrington South be more powerful than you?
First Past The Post is now a flawed electoral system, in an era which now sees less people vote for either of the two main parties. Of all democratic systems, First Past The Post provides the least representative government.
The 2015 General Election has seen a single party gain a parliamentary majority on about 37% share of the vote. Furthermore, the current electoral map shows that safe Tory seats like Tatton (as well as safe Labour seats) are playing their part in dividing Britain!
Electoral Reform is an issue which will now just not go away. More and more Brits can see the First Past The Post fault lines. Do you have the courage to challenge this discredited electoral system? If you wish to engage with myself, you can do so on twitter, @AndyWatson75.
Best wishes
Andy J Watson
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