The initiative by Left Unity (LU) to found a new party of the left (NPL) is the most serious attempt to do so for some years, and merits some consideration. I would like to argue that a NPL should not be formed, at least at least not now, as it is unlikely to succeed and […]
Posts Tagged ‘Electoral Reform’
‘Labour against Sin’ launched today (and why we should oppose it)
Dec 4th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Well, almost. Labour for Democracy actually. Misleading name – it’s the electoral reform lobby. They just won’t lie down. As if we haven’t had enough of coalitions! We haveone now that satisfies neither party that’s in it, and gives us policies that their voters voted against, never mind ours. And they want more of the same […]
Share:
Back to first past the post?
Jul 21st, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Labour’s Shadow Welsh Secretary, Peter Hain, has called for a return to first-past-the-post voting system in the Welsh assembly elections and is meeting with Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan today to discuss the matter. The proposal is prompted by the reduction in the number of Welsh constituencies for Westminster elections from 40 to 30, which is […]
Share:
Thinking electoral reform has a future in our lifetime is plain potty
May 11th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.First Past the Post (FPTP) is here to stay in House of Commons elections for quite some time. Electoral reformers need to get used to that. AV may have been the electoral reform that nobody really wanted but Proportional Representation (PR) would have fared little better. The case for PR is more substantial and has many […]
Share:
It’s PR in the Lords, not AV, that could save the skins of Lib Dem MPs
Apr 20th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Political Scrapbook today reports that Lib Dem losers — Elwyn Watkins, two-time loser in Oldham East, and soon-to-lose leader of Sheffield Council, Paul Scriven — are to be given “ermine parachutes” in the House of Lords. Many more ermine parachutes could of course be available to Lib Dem MPs who lose their seats when the […]
Share:
Stamping out Newspeak
Feb 9th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.We were pleased when the BBC banned the use of the phrase electoral “reform” in its coverage of the referendum on whether to change the voting system. “Reform” is indeed too positive a word, as the corporation decided, to be used in supposedly neutral reporting by its journalists ahead of the referendum due on 5 […]
Share:
AV could bring long-term Tory-led coalition
Feb 2nd, 2011 by Jon Lansman.The suggestion by Andrew Grice in the Independent this morning that David Cameron might be planning to assist the Lib-Dems over electoral reform — just as he did in the Oldham East & Saddleworth by-election — changes the whole nature of the AV referendum debate. Many of those Labour MPs who have backed AV see […]
Share:
Labour Yes is trying to bounce Labour around…
Jan 25th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.I want to tell you a story. It starts with me receiving a copy of the Lib Dems local Focus. Don’t leave me just yet because it gets better than this. On that Focus is some pretty blatant campaigning for a Yes vote in what it laughably terms the ‘fairer votes referendum’. If ever there […]
Share:
The ‘No to AV’ campaign needs to engage with Labour voters and fast….
Oct 27th, 2010 by Darrell Goodliffe.In May, alongside the local and (in Scotland and Wales at least) national elections, there is the small matter of a referendum to change our voting system to consider. We know that the first electoral test for the Coalition will motivate Labour voters to turn-out and Labour activists to ensure a high turnout. Turnout will […]
Share:
A referendum on AV? Not without more options
Jul 7th, 2010 by Jon Lansman.I am unconvinced of the case for reforming the voting system, and not just because of the gerrymandering which Nick Clegg is trying to squeeze into what John Prescott calls the poisonous package. But if there is a national debate about it, it should be about all the options not just one.
