doctorvee

Tomorrow morning we will wake up and Blair will have won another majority, in a country where the majority is opposed to Blair. People aren’t discussing which party will win — just the majority by which one party will win. The best people who support parties other than Labour can hope for is a Labour majority of something like 70 or less. Yes, a Labour majority of under 70 will be “a good result.”

This is what they call democracy?

No wonder people think their vote doesn’t count. That’s because, for the most part, it doesn’t. The result of the election rests on the votes of a few floating voters in a few marginal constituencies. Labour know this and use it to their advantage.

You need 75,000 votes to win elections in this country and I know where they all are.

Murky has spotted something. Those calling for proportional representation are moving into the mainstream. Barely a day goes by now when I don’t hear PR mentioned on the radio, on the television or in the newspaper.

Tony Blair is said to be looking into PR. But he said that in 1997 aswell, and he did absolutely nothing about it. Will Blair let us down yet again?

I get a feeling that this time round there is actually a chance of PR being implemented for General Elections very soon. Because this time round it’s just too obvious. How can Blair win another majority when people clearly dislike him so much? It is because the voting system currently favours the Labour Party and the Labour Party alone.

People say that First Past the Post creates a two-party system — and it does. But it also usually amplifies the result of the first party so that it has so much more power than it actually deserves. FPTP unfairly disadvantages “Flora” parties whose support is large, but evenly spread across the country.

PR should be the number one priority. When we’ve sorted out the voting system can we begin to sort out everything else.

I wholeheartedly support Make Votes Count:

Our goal is to reform the House of Commons with a voting system that balances the principles of:

• Broad proportionality
• Stable government
• Extending voter choice
• Maintaining a constituency link

They suggest AV+. This would be good, but it could be better. The Single Transferable Vote system would more than fit the bill.

The momentum is going in the direction of PR. Here in Scotland, the antiquated FPTP system is only used in one election. Unfortunately it is what is probably the most important election, the General Election. STV is being introduced in local council elections here. Ideally I would like to see STV used in every election. Those of us in favour of PR should join together to get right behind to make this the last unjust election.

• Sign Nosemonkey’s petition
• Visit the Electoral Reform Society website
• Visit the Make My Vote Count blog

And while you’re at it, why not stick a sympathetic graphic on your blog? This is going up in the morning: