Dog Bites Man


A YouGov opinion poll of people's voting intentions published at the weekend - shared the following dramatic 'news' with the great British public:

Labour - 41%
Conservatives - 31%
Liberal Democrats - 12% 
UK Independence Party (UKIP) 12% 

So what? - was my immediate response - because a Labour lead with more than two years to run to the next general election is hardly surprising and barely counts as news.

In fact by historical standards the Labour lead in the polls is much less than you would expect - at the half way point in the present Coalition Government.

Now Labour's performance may simply reflect the difficulties Ed Miliband and Ed Balls are having - in persuading voters that they would do any better. 

In a separate poll was commissioned by Lord Ashcroft - a Tory peer - the news was that if Labour's present lead in the opinion polls would - if repeated at a general election - give the party an overall majority of MPs at Westminster.    

I suspect the real intention of Lord Ashcroft's poll was to talk up the prospects of a Labour victory - in an effort to shift the Government and the Conservative Party further to the right.

But the much more significant issue contained within the opinion poll is that a party with only 40% of the popular vote - can produce a majority of MPs in the House  of Commons.

Now this could not happen in the Scottish Parliament - or in any of Scotland's 32 local councils - because these bodies are elected by proprotional representation (PR).

The purpose of PR and fairer voting is to prevent minority parties getting their hands on power - through a minority share of the vote - and that seems pretty much par for the course these days in most developed countries.

The fact that the UK Westminster Parliament retains this discredited 'First Past The Post' (FPTP) - is a sad comment on the state of British politics and the attitude of the two main parties - Conservative and Labour.

Because the Conservative and Labour parties are, of course, the main beneficiaries of FPTP - which is not just past its 'sell by' date - but completely undemocratic into the bargain .       

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