Tagged with Electoral Reform

Left Unity? No thanks, at least not yet

Left unityThe 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 could actually have counterproductive effects.

The implosion of the Communist Party (CPGB) in 1990, up until then the largest party of the left other than Labour left a few small grouplets, only one of which is now of any size (the Communist Party of Britain, which still, amazingly, manages to publish the Morning Star). Continue reading →

‘Labour against Sin’ launched today (and why we should oppose it)

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 (though they talk about pluralism versus tribalism). The Independent suggests its real purpose is “to heal the party’s rift with the Liberal Democrats and open the door to Lib-Lab co-operation in another hung parliament.”

Fortunately, there seem to be plenty of us who are for Labour, for democracy, and against sin for that matter, but also against Labour for Democracy, and from all sections of the party. Labour First, shadowy right-wing Old Labour group run by John Spellar got in first (though the mouth of former Labour national executive member Luke Akehurst), describing the new group as “a slap in the face for grassroots campaigners“. Continue reading →

Back to first past the post?

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 likely to take effect at the next election. The Welsh Assembly currently has a top up system with FPTP elections for the current 40 Westminster seats, and 20 top-up seats for each of five regions. It seems all parties accept that there must be a change, since two different sets of constituencies don’t make sense (as experience in Scotland has shown, says Peter Hain). Continue reading →

Thinking electoral reform has a future in our lifetime is plain potty

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 enthusiastic advocates,  but quite a few who were pro-AV are anti-PR, the public would still have been unmoved, and the Clegg factor would have been even more decisive. It’s not that the public will never vote for constitutional change. They did vote for devolution, second time around (just about, in Wales) because it gave them more power as well as more politicians. Unfortunately, electoral reform doesn’t give the people more power, it just shuffles it about a bit. Continue reading →

It’s PR in the Lords, not AV, that could save the skins of Lib Dem MPs

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 first election to the House of Lords is held. Under the Coalition agreement, the government will shortly “bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation.” According to Patrick Hennessy in the Torygraph, this is seen by Cameron as a way of shoring up the position of Deputy Clegg if the referendum goes against AV as seems increasingly likely. Continue reading →