General Election 2015

[MKR&*42]

Also, it is very rare for a party to be in government for three terms.

Ah yes.

But the past 2 governments (not including the 2010 + current) ran for three terms didn't they? Would certainly be very interesting if they ended up in for a third term again.

[dbgtz]

Ah yes.

But the past 2 governments (not including the 2010 + current) ran for three terms didn't they? Would certainly be very interesting if they ended up in for a third term again.

Conservatives lasted 4 terms before Labour won under Blair.

[MKR&*42]

Conservatives lasted 4 terms before Labour won under Blair.

Oh really? I must have been getting confused with how many Thatcher was elected in I guess

[dbgtz]

Oh really? I must have been getting confused with how many Thatcher was elected in I guess

Well it was Thatcher 3 times, Major once.

[MKR&*42]

Well it was Thatcher 3 times, Major once.

Yeah I checked Wikipedia after you said (A).

[Chippiewill]

that is only 1 method of proportional representation, figures youd pick the one that shows UKIP in the best light. so predictable. if we had AV then things would look very different indeed. rip ukip we hardly knew yee

AV isn't proportional representation (Unless you regard it as an edge-case of STV and even then it's only as proportional as FPTP).

The method he picked is the result of a 'full' proportional representation system (Systems like MMP would result in this) and is not an unreasonably basis to present, especially as its easier to present vaguely accurate figures than it would for a PR-lite solution like STV (Which in reality is the system we'd more likely end up with).

[Oleh]

UKIP, Greens, SNP and whatevers left of lib dems will definitely be angling for a PR vote. After Caroline Lucas called for it, I reckon it will happen.

[FlyingJesus]

lol Farage was a staunch defender of FPTP until he defected to a small party. They want it for obvious selfish reasons and don't care that it would make all governmental decision-making grind to a halt. Will do and say anything for a vote, anything for a seat, nothing for the country.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Here's a map of second place results in each constituency which shows the fracturing of our electoral system is still ongoing. Ukip scored second place in 120 seats, fulfilling their aim to become the main opposition in seats across the country. It also shows the Liberal Democrats certainly aren't finished forever.

lol Farage was a staunch defender of FPTP until he defected to a small party. They want it for obvious selfish reasons and don't care that it would make all governmental decision-making grind to a halt. Will do and say anything for a vote, anything for a seat, nothing for the country.

I have never heard Farage defending FPTP.

I can certainly understand the arguments for proportional representation, I used to believe in it until not long ago. It's certainly true that Ukip having one seat for 3.8m votes and the Greens one seat for 1.1m votes whilst the SNP get 1.4m and have 56 seats is unfair and excludes the voices of a huge proportion of the population. FPTP is only fit for a system with two dominant parties, and as we know more and more people are choosing to back other parties (and more would if their vote counted). My solution though isn't to meddle with our constitution, its simply this: keep persuading more and more people to stop voting for the main two parties who are the problem, not the system. FPTP works fine when we have two parties who are actually different to one another.

As the 1900s and 1980s in Britain proved, the 1990s in Canada, and 2015 in Scotland: FPTP helps the main parties but it doesn't make them 100% safe.

[FlyingJesus]

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeeh...we-support-it/

DB: Why are you supporting AV?
NF: Well, first past the post is finished, it doesn’t work.
DB: Why?
NF: It doesn’t really have legitimacy. You know, it worked when we were a two party state. I completely lost faith in it in 2005 when Blair was returned with a 60 seat majority on 36 per cent of the vote, or 22 per cent if you factor in low turnout. I’d always argued that we needed FPTP because it gave us strong government and we mustn’t become like Italy. 2005 put a torpedo through that for me. It’s bust.


Basically he didn't do as well as he wanted so changed his views even though the situation behind his original views hadn't changed at all