badgerx16

From the BBC ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8651231.stm ) 3. The UK itself already provides plenty of examples of both PR and coalition government, at the level of local government or national assemblies . One form of PR, the single transferrable vote, is used in elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, in local government elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and in Northern Ireland's elections to the European Parliament. Other forms are used in elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly of Wales, the London Assembly, and in European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. "Most British citizens are also familiar with multi-member elections in many other situations, from the election of School Governors to the election of governing boards of interest groups, professional associations, trade unions, university student unions, sports clubs, and many other organisations," write Professor Hix and his co-authors in a report for the British Academy, Choosing an Electoral System. "In fact, multi-member elections may currently be the most commonly used type of election in the United Kingdom."

You could add Alec Douglas-Home to the list of 'unelected' Tory PMs - it really is a fatuous argument, born of right-wing obsession.

I think you might need a cold shower

That's the system for me

William Vague is a politician, and I swear I saw his lips move, therefore.........

Yep, there is plenty of concensus ..... Taxation, ( oh, probably not ) Europe, ( oh, probably not ) Defence, ( oh, probably not ) etc, etc, etc

I think that he hasn't actually resigned yet, his statement said that he would stay to try to build the Lab/Lib coalition, and then stand down in time for a new Labour leader to take power by the time of the party conference in October,- so therefore he is still PM for now.

Let's wait and see how much of the Tory right-wing objects, and where else the LDs can water things down, before you start crowing. There was a vox-pop from a Tory councillor on the radio who said the grass roots of the party would never tolerate the Liberals and their 'looney policies'. Oh, btw, you didn't win

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_%28UK%29_leadership_election,_2007 It's not his fault if nobody stood against him

Too many egos these days.

Somewhere on the Election threads is a post by NorwaySaint about how it works in Norway, try to find that and hopefully that will help.

The semantic argument says by an uncontested election within the PLP, the main point aimed at Gordy by the right was that he didn't get an electoral mandate, neither did Major, so stop trying to avoid the facts.

And that electorate voted for Maggie, not the Grey Man

1) Open up a browser window 2) Go to http://www.google.co.uk ( other search engines are available ) 3) type into the search bar "proportional representation systems" 4) Voila !

Which of these is democracy ? Option 1 - less than 25% of the total electorate give one party an overwhelming majority, giving them absolute, unaccountable power. It also leads to the establishment of 'safe' seats, where career politicians can entrench themselves at the front of the queue for the gravy train. Option 2 - more than 50% of the electorate are represented by a group of parties, who are forced by circumstance to work collaboratively and with full, open, scrutiny of the public.

Not with PR, HTH:)

William Vague's press statement

John Major was an 'unelected' PM for the first part of his tenure. Churchill was 'unelected' as leader in WW2.

I don't have a problem with the points you make, but why couldn't a concensus coalition, born out of a proportional system, acheive this ?

Out of curiosity, give us some examples.

Why are the only people complaining about PR the more right leaning among us ?

True, but that just means they are slightly less unpopular than the others.

The Lib-Lab pact, "Rainbow Alliance", or whatever you call it is a complete non-starter, stillborn, and should be buried quietly and swiftly ignored. ( There, does that help you ? ). However, the Tories DO NOT HAVE A MANDATE ( have you got that yet ? ). It would appear that the right wing of the blue donkey party, together with the left wing of the red donkey party, are actually the ones who are out of touch with the electorate, and wish to cling to the status quo as it gives them the best chance of obtaining disproportionate power, and hence enhanced gorging rights on the gravy train. Unless we revert to the way things worked in the strictly 2 party system of the 18th & early 19th centuries, politics in Britain has one hell of a lot of growing up to do. Why can't Westminster operate more in the fashion that the devolved legilatures do ?

The statistics disprove your argument. It's 60-40 against the Tories in England.

Well, the public have 'spoken', and look what they wanted ! The majority REJECTED DC, ( as well as rejecting GB, and even NC ). ( "You choose your leaders and place your trust As their lies put you down and their promises rust You'll see kidney machine replaced by rockets and guns And the public wants what the public gets ..............................." ) The Jam - Going Underground