tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post1096277468491354641..comments2023-10-27T07:50:27.411+01:00Comments on Next Left: The Disraeli option: Why Cameron would gain most from a PR pact with CleggTom Hampsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917325958130851128noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-50979658080258728782010-05-10T13:50:55.449+01:002010-05-10T13:50:55.449+01:00Stuart
Thanks. Yes and I think that is one of the...Stuart<br /><br />Thanks. Yes and I think that is one of the changed future dynamic points, though it might be difficult to make a massive breakthrough at once. If it did get 10%+ of the vote what could it do with it, ie would the right-wing Thatcherite party prove coalitionable and with whom? <br /><br />To get Cameron and Clegg out, it might have to want to help put Labour in out of anti-Cameron animosity. (That does not strike me as a massively positive social democratic opportunity, though Enoch Powell endorsed Labour in 1974 to get the Tories out). Other Thatcherites might prefer to try to take back the Tories from within.<br /><br />I guess what that could do over time is open up a Hague-UKIP coalition possibility, in an attempt to ditch the LibDems, though I doubt one could build a majority vote for this, and it is difficult to see how the LibDem-Tory-UKIP alliance works!<br /><br />So, especially if there was ever a significant left of Labour party which was not the Greens, but more like Respect/SWP (which I personally doubt would have much support under PR), the other possibility is of a long-term fragmentation which makes any centrist Lab-Green-Lib or Tory-Lib coalition quite difficult. <br /><br />However, I guess one might then anticipate greater support for the three current major parties to counter that, and the effect might be somewhat countered by using AV+ and STV systems which can tend to reward more pluralist parties with broader support who can win transfers, as against non-preferential PR systems (like those in Scotland and Wales) which may be more prone to fragmentation.Sunder Katwalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06671411534003530927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-9223540590951694602010-05-10T12:27:59.349+01:002010-05-10T12:27:59.349+01:00Sunder: a very interesting piece. But what about t...Sunder: a very interesting piece. But what about the possibility that under PR the Tories would probably face the emergence of a stronger electoral force to their right - a version of UKIP perhaps reinforced by Tories defecting from Cameron's party in disgust? Doesn't that affect the likelihood of the Cameron-Clegg coalition hanging on for two terms?Stuart Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05090728365798166746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-4909482875812092162010-05-10T05:46:27.061+01:002010-05-10T05:46:27.061+01:00That second poll question is dreadful. I too agre...That second poll question is dreadful. I too agree with both statements. Of course the current system is the only way to deliver strong one-party Governments that get things done. But I don't *want* a one-party Government. I want a system that will force parties to work together to get things done.PHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12442781568629782535noreply@blogger.com