tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post3968314410833715710..comments2023-10-27T07:50:27.411+01:00Comments on Next Left: Lammy: Reform of our politics is long overdueTom Hampsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917325958130851128noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-52930957791594017692009-06-20T04:53:32.561+01:002009-06-20T04:53:32.561+01:00As an Australian I would suggest that it shouldn&#...As an Australian I would suggest that it shouldn't be the AV system used for the Federal elections but rather the optional preferential system used in some states and territories.<br /><br />Also with AV we've seen the rise of the Greens challenging Labor in some inner-city seats (helped by preferences from the conservative Liberal Party). There's also been the phenomenon where preferences all flow in one direction (especially when one of the major parties decides not to run) where it can be one major party vs a minor party/independent that receives all preferences. Then again Australia has compulsory voting.<br /><br />Depending what kind of changes one would want, the most radical change (even though I'm not a fan) would be optional preferential STV with no party lists but Robson rotation (used in the ACT and Tasmania) meaning that each candidate would have to campaign separately to get elected.Osmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02017532827717065665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-49403532264984412562009-06-17T16:27:34.673+01:002009-06-17T16:27:34.673+01:00I am very disappointed that David Lammy has joined...I am very disappointed that David Lammy has joined the growing chorus of leading Labour figures calling for AV. <br /><br />David's arguments for AV are good as arguments for AV as an alternative to the present system. Yes, AV gives more opportunity to express a full range of preferences. Yes, it preserves the constituency link.<br /><br />But the same is true also of many more proportional schemes which, unlike AV, also address the problem of radical disproportionality in the present system. In some recent elections, e.g., 1997, AV would have produced even more disproportional results than the present system.<br /><br />So, David, what is the case for AV as against, say, AV+ or STV?Stuart Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05090728365798166746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-31188738777926949732009-06-17T15:24:41.777+01:002009-06-17T15:24:41.777+01:00This is, at times, a very candid assessment of the...This is, at times, a very candid assessment of the anxiety felt amongst different communities in Britain today. However, it is the assumptions that form the basis of the proposed solution that I have a problem with. Two v. brief points:<br /><br />The constant clamour for reform as the silver bullet that will cure the frustration of the electorate mischievously shifts blame from individual MPs and toward a narrative of establishment as culprit. This is nowhere more true than the increasingly fervent calls for a bulldosing through of reform of the Upper House - and yet, the corruption in the unelected House of Lords is nothing like that in the elected House of Commons. Get your own House in order first, should be the response of the Lords. <br /><br />Which leads to the second point on voter frustration, and the mechanisms of electing an MP. To put it simply, why change the rules on how an MP is elected, when the cause of the frustration is rather the conduct of MPs once they are elected? The AV voting would be simply unnecessary, and the frustration much less acute, if those elected MPs returned by the electorate simply kept to those commitments and promises upon which they were elected. One need hardly compile a comprehensive list here, but I fail to see how an AV system of government would have prevented the executive taking us to war or reneging on a referendum. Again, it is the conduct of the MPs that is the problem, not the rules by which they play. <br /><br />In sum, it seems that the overriding will of MPs is to change the wheels on the cart rather than the blinkers on the horse. We have what is necessary in our Parliamentary system for the problems you identify to be solved - what we don't have is a political class willing to govern by them.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18022198435721656172noreply@blogger.com