Labour got 262 seats out of the 650 in Parliament, on the basis of 40% of votes cast nationally. 40% of 650 seats is 260, so the actual result is a fair approximation, this time.
But although the Conservatives polled 42.4%, which proportionally should have given them 276 seats, actually they got 318 = 42 bonus Members of Parliament!
So now they're getting back into bed with Ulster Protestants to make a workable coalition. What effect that will have in Northern Irish politics, who knows.
The system doesn't even work within individual constituencies, as I discussed six years ago*. In the 2005 General Election, only 220 MPs out of 650 obtained a majority of votes cast by their constituents; in 2010, only 217.
I expect it will turn out to be a similar picture when the results of this fiasco become available.
No wonder the inhabitants of The Bubble hate plebiscites like the EU Referendum; they're so used to gaming the usual rotten setup.
* http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/voting-reform-av-first-past-post.html
2 comments:
It would seem that world wide the system is gamed, the blocking of parties with a big vote by others who are the status quo and combine to keep out a "new kid on the block" as in France and Germany because "their" politics don't conform.
With PR it is even worse as few ever have a percentage mandate from the voter, what to do I haven't a clue but the system is broken, when was the last PM anyone thought did a good job for the nation and not the party, long long time ago.
It's much more pronounced in the US. Here in Ohio, the votes run about 53% GOP to 47% Democrat, yet the former get about a 70% share of all positions.
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