The parliamentary system including the horrendous HoL needs to go. A ridiculous, pompous, outdated system that was past its sell by date a hundred years ago.Our whole voting, parliamentary system needs a full overhaul. Get rid of all the pomp and bollix and get elected representatives in who a. Care b. Are competent and c. Are not in it as a career/job/expenses gravy train
For starters. PR is an absolute must for me
His point is very secondary though, as the big point he misses, like always, is you need to win first.I was at "A Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn" on Monday night and this very question came up.
He made an interesting point - that while he's broadly in favour, it's vital that we try to keep the relationship between MPs and the constituencies they serve. Obviously he's big on community action but I think it is a valid point, we've seen some useful victories even during this parliament where MPs have fought actions in Parliament on behalf of their constituents.
He mentioned that having spent time in countries in PR he would often get vague responses when asking MPs who they represented...."I'm regional representative No. 198" etc.
Which is, roughly, the same system we have here.The Tories rely heavily on them being the only real right of centre party while the left of centre is split, often meaning peoples votes are effectively worthless in FPTP.
Any system that makes each vote equal everywhere is obviously the best option, the issue is the form that would take for each constituency.
They way I would do it is to have 2 votes, one to pick an MP and the other to pick the party (national vote) to determine the weighting that party has on a commons vote.
For example the Tories might enjoy an 80 seat majority of MP's but only 40% of the popular vote, meaning for a Bill to pass, they in theory need 10% worth of MP's from other parties (or at least a majority in favour).
In reality any PR system would decimate the Tories and probably spilt Labour in 2, but it would be worth it for a system that doesn't hand 100% of the power for a minority of votes.
Agree, let's not beat about the bush, PR if pushed through by a centre-left coalition is effectively fixing the game (the very thing the Conservatives are trying to do at present with voter ID, constituency boundaries etc).
That said if it means they can't get back in I'm all for it