british politics]

@helenS 🤔the liberal democrat party in the united kingdom use too float that idea in the late eighties proportional representation. lol really the only policy they had as that was all they ever banged on about

@helenS PR looks great on paper, but when one of those "new movements" is Reform UK polling at 13%, I am extremely thankful for first past the post.

@helenS sadly with that you get extreme right wing members of parliament, like that Nazi Farage

@Fentonisfree farage is nothing but the nasty and angry right wing of the conservative party that the tories do not want any association within there party

@Fentonisfree
Heil Farage

@Fentonisfree farage is doing labour a service by splitting the tory vote in doing so bring out the nasty right wing thinking of farage out into the open

@SunshineGirl They are a part of the population, and they need representation. Nobody can rule a country based on just 13% of the votes. The presence of many smaller parties means they will all have to compromise. Nobody will be the victor. that's what a democracy should be like, in my opinion: peacefully find a suitable compromise.

@smiler2012 They organised a referendum on the subject in approximately 2012! The proposal was rejected.

@SunshineGirl 19% in some polls. But of course you couldn't give a tinker's cuss for people you disagree with. Shame on you.

@helenS Conversely, if the polls are to be believed, under the present system Labour will govern the country virtually unchallenged despite getting fewer than 40% of the votes. (I doubt it personally, but we'll see.)

@MartinII Main problem of "first past the post": the system produces a victor, one who defeats his opponents.
In my perfect world, there would be no winning, only compromising.

@SunshineGirl You really get my goat. Leave won the referendum!! You lost. I have no idea what a hard Brexit might have been, but I assume a soft one would have involved pretending to leave while signing a commitment to do anything van Leyden told us to. "One of their volunteers"! One!! One who is alleged to have been a planted actor. Misrepresentation like yours has no place in a democratic society, or on SW.

@MartinII No, no, no 😞 There is a huge difference between respectfully disagreeing with an opposing point of view and calling out vile abuse. The metropolitan elite may find this all very entertaining and refreshing, but it's the sort of s**t that many of us have to put up with every day. There is no place for playground slurs in grown-up politics.

@helenS I don't entirely agree with that. I think a relatively radical change of government from time to time is a healthy thing. But first past the post only works when the great majority of people are content with one or other of two parties. That certainly doesn't apply in the UK at the moment.

@SunshineGirl Vile abuse from a single alleged canvasser. And I'm sorry, but lies from you.

@MartinII So you don't give a "tinker's cuss" for the 48% of people who disagree with you? Also, don't presume to know what my views are on this issue.

@MartinII There were three individual volunteers filmed in the C4 report. And a further three candidates were dropped by the party over the weekend (and personally condemned by Farage) for racist abuse.

@SunshineGirl Of course I do, even though quite a few have subjected me to "vile abuse". But they lost. Every single political party in Parliament promised to abide by the result of the referendum, and every one except the Liberal Democrats has done so. One thing I hate is bad losers. And if you weren't a Remainer, why would you be peddling lies about Brexit?

@SunshineGirl And how many Labour and Conservative candidates or would-be candidates have been dropped for various reasons, including racism? And does it not occur to you that the fact that these alleged volunteers were filmed by a left-wing TV channel is ever so slightly suspicious?

@MartinII It's not too difficult to set the parameters of a referendum so that you get the result you want.

@helenS Nobody wants PR. “We’ve sent our own MP to Parliament since 1232 and I don’t see why anybody should tell us different”. The trouble is I live in a solid Labour constituency. Huge Labour majority in 2019 even. Labour would win if they put up a tub of lard as candidate. Unfortunately our last MP was worse than a tub of lard and spent the whole parliament as an independent hiding from the electorate. Why do I even bother voting?

@JoeXP I think if you check nearly all constituencies returned two MPs until the 1800s. First past the post is a recent invention

@JoeXP One of those identical twins (Labour, Tories) will rule the country, no matter if you vote or not. Most likely it will be Labour, this time. Of course, Labour will have sold out after a couple of years, so they will be replaced by another Tory government. A bit like a spinning wheel. 👎🏼

@kwood1 Wow I didn't know. Thank you!! 🌷