Political Showdown


As the pundits pour over the the local election results in England one of the striking issues for me at is the fact that the contest was fought on the basis of First Past The Post (FPTP) - whereas just about every other election in the UK these days is fought under some form of proportional representation (PR).

 Except for the Westminster Parliament which is a part of the problem, of course, and one of the main reasons why there is such an anti-politics mood in so many parts of the country.

 The unrepresentative nature of the House of Commons favours the big two parties and in some ways it's understandable that both the Conservatives and Labour are not in favour of change because turkeys don't normally vote for Christmas.

 But the FPTP system is corroding trust in politics from the inside if you ask me, as voters sense that the UK political establishment has been cynically manipulating the cosy world of a 'two party' democracy to prevent other voices being heard.

 The same was true in Scotland until 1999 when PR was used to elect the first Scottish Parliament in 300 years and again in 2007 when a different form of PR was introduced for Scottish council elections.

 Scotland is undoubtedly a better place as a result of the changes and whatever political differences still exist in the Scottish Parliament or council chambers up and down the land, no one argues any longer that the political system is unrepresentative or that it works only for an established elite. 

 Ironically, Labour in Scotland faced up to the PR challenge many years ago as the price for cross party agreement on establishing a Scottish Parliament in 1999.

 And the party was forced to grasp the nettle again by introducing PR for Scottish council elections in 2007, as the price for securing a second four-year coalition deal with their Lib Dem partners in Scottish Government between 2003-2007.  

 The scene is now set for a showdown over PR at Westminster although that prospect may be given an even more intriguing twist if Scotland votes Yes in the independence referendum on 18 September 2014.     
         

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