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Happy to admit I voted Green in 2017. Wasted vote? Absolutely. But then I live in Vauxhall; have a look at the voting figures for the last several elections, and tell me just how much value my vote had or did not have.
Outside chance that it will be more debatable this year, with Kate Hoey stepping down, but if you are a Tory living here (I'm not) then you still have as much chance of your vote mattering here as I do of marrying Jennifer Lawrence in a ceremony on the surface of Jupiter. Or Notts not finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at some point in the next 12 months.
PR isn't perfect, but FPTP is just disenfranchising. I'm not scared of coalitions - what would be so wrong with two ideologies having to attempt consensus? Same reason the US has the three branches of governance, limits the risk of someone gaining power unchecked.
I knew you'd say that!
I think the Lib Dems gave a masterclass in how not to go into coalition. Talk about selling yourself short. Everyone remembers it as Cameron and Osborne's Govt and there was almost nothing Clegg wouldn't suck up - tuition fees, bedroom tax. It was like a Man U v Salford town cup final with the latter just happy to be there.
The DUP did far better in their less formal coalition with May.
The examples do not alter the basic undemocratic nature of FPTP, both added extra representation (of sorts). The problem is they're the exceptions not the rule. Usually 35% is enough to win absolute power over everybody.
Quite enjoying this debate about FPTP. A quick search online of previous elections does make some interesting reading.
In 2015 Cameron's Conservatives won a majority with 330 seats, just over 36% of the votes and almost exactly 2 million votes more than Ed Millibands Labour with 29% of the votes. Labour lost 26 seats that election, whilst the Tories gained 24. The SNP gained 50 seats but the Lib Dems lost 49, add together the number of actual votes for both these two parties and it represents just under 25% of the votes, about 4.8 million.
So Tory 330 seats 36%, Labour 232 seats 29%.
Compare this to Tony Blair's third election win in 2005 where he managed 355 seats but that only represented 35.2% of the votes, just 2.8% and 770k more votes than Michael Howard's Conservatives. Charles Kennedy's Lib Dems managed 22%, just shy of 6 million votes.
This makes it look like there were three contenders but if you look at the votes per seat won it makes for slightly different reading.
Votes per seat: Labour 26,908 | Tory 44,368 | Lib Dem 96,540. Thats a lot of votes won by the Lib Dems for very little gain.
I suppose in theory you could look at increasing the number of seats required for a majority from 326 to whatever but then an actual majority win would become less likely resulting in continuously hung parliaments. If nothing else it is clear that FPTP has benefited both of the main parties over the years.
Orrible b@stsrds but Ukip got 4m votes in 2015 and no MPs. Democracy my arse.
Do you live in a country where the Greens have any say in Government? I do. The man thing they will be remembered for here is introducing a referendum to legalise Cannabis use, while increasing the mental health budget exponentially. The biggest user of international travel is the Minister for Climate Change, who did double the international travel in 2018 of the next minister. The Minister for Climate Change is also the leader of the Green Party. Hypocrites! If you think they will have any impact on saving the planet, you’ll probably be getting up Christmas Day morning, excited to see what Santa Claus has left you.
FPTP generally gives you a government that has the power to introduce their policies. PR doesn’t. In countries where PR is the electoral system, you end up with indecision and wishy-washy compromise. Some people here love it because ‘it means every vote counts ‘, but in our system we have List MPs, who come in under the PR system and are accountable to nobody. Outside of Parliament many who support PR are too young to remember FPTP or don’t understand how politics work.