On 14 Mar 2003 at 17:47, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > -------Original Message------- > From: Andrew Crystall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >I am currently pretty frustrated by the UK's "First Past > >the Post" system - at no time because of demographics > >(I've still voted, but...) has my vote counted > > Your vote still counts even when your guy loses. > > Indeed, there is no meme more inimical to the concept of > republican/democratic government than the meme that your vote doesn't > count when you lose.
That IS my perception and it is downright COMMON in people my age and younger in the UK. It is, however, not unfixable. Understand, a lot more turnover happens at local levels even if it IS still FIrst Past the Post. (actually, only part of the local council is re-elected each time round. And local elections are more frequent). And our European Parliament elections are PR, which does have regions but they're huge. So, we allready have two different political models arround. Actually, given the Liberal Democrats dedication to PR as a system they're picking up a lot of votes and threaten to change our system from two parties to three on that basis. While I'm not that happy with some aspects of the LibDem platform, of all the major parties I am MORE happy with them than any of the other major parties, and their powerbase while fairly only slightly rising in percentage terms has geographically consolidated - they are likely to make big gains again at the next election. I wouldn't put cash on the Labour party not having some kind of internal split either. *big sigh* Given the sitation with the House of Lords which remains essentially unresolved, the situation over here politically can best be described as extremely volatile. I know some people don't see it that way, but I do. Something's going to give, and if Labour is smart, First Past the Post will be it. It would make them lose in terms of majority but be a win in the long term, because the major gainers would be the lib- dems, who they can work with a lot more easily than the Conservatives. And it would defuse a LOT of the current tension. That's just my take. I don't LIKE politics. I don't like being involved in politics. But they have a way of biting me when I'm not looking. Andy Dawn Falcon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
