Insult To Democracy

I read one opinion poll at the weekend which I hope reflects the actual result - when we get to the next general election which is expected in 2015. 

If I remember the figures correctly, the poll gave the Labour Party 36% of the total vote - and the reason I would like this would be such a great result is that it would signal the death-knell of the First Past The Post (FPTP) voting system - which is still used for Westminster Parliamentary elections.

Because any party which claimed to have a proper mandate to govern the country on just over one third of the popular vote - would be asking for trouble and deservedly so.

The polling rsults for the other parties don't really matter in this scenario - but I think, from memory that the Tories stood at 30%, UKIP at 20% and the Lib Dems were on 10 or 12% - with the SNP not on the radar screen as it was a UK not a Scottish survey.

But hugely interesting nonetheless - don't you think?  

I wonder when and if the penny will actually drop amongst the big two party leaders - because it really is just the Tories and the Labour Party who believe that FPTP is a sensible voting method in this day and age.

Sensible is probably the wrong word to use in this context since Labour and the Tories know that FPTP exaggerates only their support - while holding out the elusive prospect of an overall majority in the House of Commons based on much less than 40% of the popular vote. 

Now I can't see the ordinary British voter putting up with that - assuming the UK is still intact in 2015 and that Scotland hasn't voted for independence inn September 2014 - because just about every other election in the Uk these days is conducted via some form of proportional representation.

Which means that whatever their faults, these other elected bodies from the Scottish Parliament to the Northern Ireland and Wales Assemblies - from the London Mayor and his London Assembly to the European Parliament and local councils - are all elected on fairer votes to ensure that they are broadly representative of the people they claim to serve.

The Westminster Parliament is the last bastion of FPTP - an anachromism and insult to democracy that now deserves to be put out of its misery along with the unelected House of Lords.

So roll on 2015 I say - and let's hope the 36% polling figure comes true.