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May 26, 2009
Campaign Talking Points
Real change, not just new faces
- it isn't enough simply to vote out the bad apples at the next election (and as many of them are in safe seats, it'll take a lot of Martin Bells to do that and is highly unlikely to happen).
- we need a new system which better holds MPs to account and allows greater voter choice at the ballot box.
Power to the People
- Currently, power is wielded by only a small number of voters in marginal constituencies. As few as 8000 voters may decide the next election result.
- We want to see a situation where every vote counts. No matter where you live, your vote should be able to make a difference.
We the People
- MPs currently decide how they are elected. In effect they set their own employment terms and decide how they are hired and fired. Few other people get that luxury.
- The expenses scandal has graphically demonstrated that not all MPs can be trusted to act in a selfless way.
- Furthermore, MPs have a vested interested in the status quo; of not changing away from a system that gives many of them jobs for life.
- We the voters, the MPs' employers, are calling for a referendum, to take back that power and make the decision on how we elect them.
Choice and Competition
If choice and competition are key values, why are parties afraid of implementing them in their democratic agenda, and especially to the election of MPs?
Posted by malcolmclark on May 26, 2009
Comments
I stongly believe in the necessity of changing the electoral system for the House of Commons to one which is much more proportional but, in trying to ride the tide of popular revulsion against greedy MPs, it seems to me that the MVC petition misses the opportunity to call for more rapid reform and disregards the valuable work previously done by the Jenkins Commission.
In my view, the referendum on adopting a new electoral system should precede the next General Election, then, assuming that a more proportional alternative to FPTP won the day, we would have a parliament that was more democracic and accountable in 2010 - not have to wait another four or five years for it.
It also seems to me to be unnecessary and a waste of time to recruit a panel of randomly selected members of the public to devise a new electoral system when the options have previously been examined in detail by the Commission headed by the late Roy Jenkins. Yes, the people who served on that Commission were political insiders, but they had a genuine interest and motivation to devise a system that was fairer, produced more accountability and respected this country's tradition of the link between an MP and his/her electorate.
In Jenkins recommendations, there is a ready-made alternative system to put to the electorate in a referendum later this year. That is what electoral reformers should unite behind.
Posted by: Paul Wheeler at May 27, 2009 09:56 AM
WhTever happened to Gordon's enthusiasm for The Power report's recommendations? He was gushing about it when it came out.
Posted by: Andrew Kitching at May 27, 2009 11:18 AM
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