UK Politics
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!ukpolitics@lemm.ee appears to have vanished! We can still see cached content from this link, but goodbye I guess! :'(
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LFF yet again put the cart before the horse.
The problem, as they acknowledge, is that power is held in a minority of swing seats. It isn't only Labour and the Tories that benefit from this, but those voters as well.
But if Labour put voting reform in to their manifesto - and for it to be a day 1 issue they would have to - all it takes is for the Tories to run the sort of negative campaign we saw with the AV referendum, and every election since, in those swing seats for Labour to not win, and not be able to make the change.
The only route to electoral reform unfortunately seems to be a second Labour term. The theory being that it would be harder to run the sort of negative campaign the Tories would do, after a successful first term.
Or, via a coalition agreement, and instead of having a referendum - because parliament does not need one to decide how it's members are elected - just enact the reform.
If Labour put it in their 2024 manifesto, it would be too easily defeated.
Yeah not surprised with LFF. Lots of surface level commentary without substance. But absolutely agree with your analysis. I wish it wasn't the case that we have to wait even longer for electoral reform but the realist in me knows this needs to happen in the way you described.
I'll go further and say that whilst Labour are successful (two terms three terms whatever) this will also never happen. I don't have faith in them not to be sucked in again by power like the Tories have been. I think only a coalition can force the thing through.
People criticise Labour for dropping pledges, or not committing to bringing in proportional representation, during a cost of living crisis and a media war led by the right-wing press that's constantly distracting people with inflammatory rage bait about small boats and culture wars.
Those people didn't learn the lesson of 2019; do not write a manifesto covering loads of seemingly disparate issues.
The cool kids in the room, of which I very much am one, understand the connection between voting systems and under-representation, because it was part of our initiation in to the cool kids club. Unfortunately most people have better things to do with their lives than study to pass that exam, so it isn't clear. It's a failure of the cool kids to communicate that connection simply and correctly.
Or to put it another way, electoral reform underpins everything, but it's feels both very abstract, and like the people who are promoting it are trying to change to rules of game, because they can't currently win. And tbh, there is a lot of truth in that, even if the current rules are massively unfair.