« Join the debate over at the Guardian | Main | The Guardian talks constitutional reform / renewal »
March 25, 2008
7,500 voters to determine the next General Election
Charles Clarke has raised anxiety amongst the Parliamentary Labour Party by circulating a 'doomsday list' of Labour MPs who would risk losing thier seats if just 7,417 voters in 24 seats switch sides.
These marginals are overwhelmingly located in London and the South East, this has led to MPs reiterating that they will target these crucial seats in the South in the next General Election.
Whilst Brown has an overall majority of 67, the abolition of six Labour-held seats and other boundary changes mean that he will go into the next election defending a majority of just 47.
In his dossier, Clarke states 'Labour holds 27 seats with a majority of less than 3% over its main opponent...which would change hands with a universal 1.5% swing'.
Back in November 2007 the Electoral Reform Society revealed how, in the election that never was, roughly 8,000 votes would have decided the fate of the government.
Make Votes Count oppose such an electoral strategy. It is simply an anathema that so few votes should produce an election result, and second, an electoral strategy aiming policies at a tiny proportion of the electorate is unreprentative and unhealthy in our democracy.
Posted by carolineleneghan on March 25, 2008
