A lot of British people are bemused by how Donald Trump won in 2016 and the Republicans remain a strong force in the USA, despite getting less votes than the Democrats. I suggest that they look closer to home for an electoral system that does not work.
Britain’s political system is totally broken. Only two countries in Europe still operate the first past the post system for elections – the UK and that bastion of democracy – Belarus.
In a previous post (https://wordpress.com/post/fivemilesout.home.blog/2213 ) I pointed out how The Queen failed in her one challenge as Head of State. Long followed democratic norms are no longer followed by parties – arguably started by Tony Blair, in many cases Parliament has become irrelevant.
When was the last time the UK government won a majority of the votes (coalitions aside)? 1935. Since then only the Conservative/ Liberal coalition of 2010 and the Lib/ Lab pact during the 1976-79 Parliaments have actually had a majority of the electorate voting for them.
Some tables below on elections since 1931. In yellow are the party (or parties) forming a government. No party is highlighted in the first election of 1974 as no majority government was formed (for the sake of not getting bogged down it only covers the elections, not the effects of by elections, which affected the Parliaments of 1964 and the second 1974 election). The 2017 government is a minority as it never had a coalition with the DUP.
These are the seats each party won in each election
| Seats won | ||||||||
| CON | LAB | LD | PC/SNP | Other | Total | Majority | ||
| 1931 | 522 | 52 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 615 | 215 | |
| 1935 | 429 | 154 | 21 | 0 | 11 | 615 | 122 | |
| 1945 | 210 | 393 | 12 | 0 | 25 | 640 | 73 | |
| 1950 | 298 | 315 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 625 | 3 | |
| 1951 | 321 | 295 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 625 | 9 | |
| 1955 | 345 | 277 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 630 | 30 | |
| 1959 | 365 | 258 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 630 | 50 | |
| 1964 | 304 | 317 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 630 | 2 | |
| 1966 | 253 | 364 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 630 | 49 | |
| 1970 | 330 | 288 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 630 | 15 | |
| 1974 | Feb | 297 | 301 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 635 | |
| 1974 | Oct | 277 | 319 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 635 | 2 |
| 1979 | 339 | 269 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 635 | 22 | |
| 1983 | 397 | 209 | 23 | 4 | 17 | 650 | 72 | |
| 1987 | 376 | 229 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 650 | 51 | |
| 1992 | 336 | 271 | 20 | 7 | 17 | 651 | 11 | |
| 1997 | 165 | 418 | 46 | 10 | 20 | 659 | 89 | |
| 2001 | 166 | 412 | 52 | 9 | 20 | 659 | 83 | |
| 2005 | 198 | 355 | 62 | 9 | 22 | 646 | 32 | |
| 2010 | 306 | 258 | 57 | 9 | 20 | 650 | 38 | |
| 2015 | 330 | 232 | 8 | 59 | 21 | 650 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 317 | 262 | 12 | 39 | 20 | 650 | -8 | |
| 2019 | 365 | 202 | 11 | 52 | 20 | 650 | 40 |
This is the share of the vote. Not only was 1935 the last single party government to get a majority, the ability to get overwhelming majorities on shares of the vote under 45% has skyrocketed since 1979.
| Share of vote (%) | |||||||
| CON | LAB | LD | PC/SNP | Other | Total | ||
| 1931 | 60.7% | 30.9% | 7.0% | 0.1% | 1.3% | 100% | |
| 1935 | 53.3% | 38.0% | 6.7% | 0.1% | 1.9% | 100% | |
| 1945 | 39.6% | 48.0% | 9.0% | 0.2% | 3.2% | 100% | |
| 1950 | 43.4% | 46.1% | 9.1% | 0.1% | 1.3% | 100% | |
| 1951 | 48.0% | 48.8% | 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 100% | |
| 1955 | 49.7% | 46.4% | 2.7% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 100% | |
| 1959 | 49.4% | 43.8% | 5.9% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 100% | |
| 1964 | 43.4% | 44.1% | 11.2% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 100% | |
| 1966 | 41.9% | 48.0% | 8.5% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 100% | |
| 1970 | 46.4% | 43.1% | 7.5% | 1.7% | 1.4% | 100% | |
| 1974 | Feb | 37.9% | 37.2% | 19.3% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 100% |
| 1974 | Oct | 35.8% | 39.3% | 18.3% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 100% |
| 1979 | 43.9% | 36.9% | 13.8% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 100% | |
| 1983 | 42.4% | 27.6% | 25.4% | 1.5% | 3.1% | 100% | |
| 1987 | 42.3% | 30.8% | 22.6% | 1.7% | 2.6% | 100% | |
| 1992 | 41.9% | 34.4% | 17.8% | 2.3% | 3.5% | 100% | |
| 1997 | 30.7% | 43.2% | 16.8% | 2.5% | 6.8% | 100% | |
| 2001 | 31.6% | 40.7% | 18.3% | 2.5% | 6.9% | 100% | |
| 2005 | 32.4% | 35.2% | 22.0% | 2.2% | 8.2% | 100% | |
| 2010 | 36.1% | 29.0% | 23.0% | 2.2% | 9.7% | 100% | |
| 2015 | 36.8% | 30.4% | 7.9% | 5.3% | 19.5% | 100% | |
| 2017 | 42.3% | 40.0% | 7.4% | 3.5% | 6.8% | 100% | |
| 2019 | 43.6% | 32.1% | 11.5% | 4.4% | 8.4% | 100% |
If seats were won based on the percentage vote the seats would look like this:
| Seats based on % share | |||||||
| CON | LAB | LD | PC/SNP | Other | Total | Majority | |
| 1931 | 373 | 190 | 43 | 1 | 8 | 615 | 66 |
| 1935 | 328 | 234 | 41 | 1 | 12 | 615 | 20 |
| 1945 | 253 | 307 | 58 | 1 | 20 | 640 | -13 |
| 1950 | 271 | 288 | 57 | 1 | 8 | 625 | -24 |
| 1951 | 300 | 305 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 625 | -13 |
| 1955 | 313 | 292 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 630 | -2 |
| 1959 | 311 | 276 | 37 | 2 | 4 | 630 | -4 |
| 1964 | 273 | 278 | 71 | 3 | 5 | 630 | -37 |
| 1966 | 264 | 303 | 54 | 4 | 5 | 630 | -12 |
| 1970 | 292 | 271 | 47 | 11 | 9 | 630 | -23 |
| 1974 | 241 | 236 | 123 | 16 | 19 | 635 | |
| 1974 | 228 | 249 | 116 | 22 | 20 | 635 | -68 |
| 1979 | 279 | 235 | 88 | 13 | 21 | 635 | -39 |
| 1983 | 276 | 179 | 165 | 10 | 20 | 650 | -49 |
| 1987 | 275 | 200 | 147 | 11 | 17 | 650 | -50 |
| 1992 | 273 | 224 | 116 | 15 | 23 | 651 | -53 |
| 1997 | 202 | 285 | 110 | 16 | 45 | 659 | -45 |
| 2001 | 208 | 268 | 120 | 17 | 46 | 659 | -61 |
| 2005 | 209 | 227 | 142 | 14 | 53 | 646 | -96 |
| 2010 | 234 | 188 | 150 | 14 | 63 | 650 | 59 |
| 2015 | 239 | 198 | 51 | 35 | 127 | 650 | -86 |
| 2017 | 275 | 260 | 48 | 23 | 44 | 650 | -50 |
| 2019 | 284 | 208 | 75 | 28 | 55 | 650 | -41 |
The 2010 Parliament would not be an outlier – it would be the norm.
Finally the winners and losers in this mismatch. Positives are winners, negatives are losers.
| Difference | |||||
| CON | LAB | LD | PC/SNP | Other | |
| 1931 | 149 | -138 | -7 | -1 | -3 |
| 1935 | 101 | -80 | -20 | -1 | -1 |
| 1945 | -43 | 86 | -46 | -1 | 5 |
| 1950 | 27 | 27 | -48 | -1 | -5 |
| 1951 | 21 | -10 | -10 | -0 | -1 |
| 1955 | 32 | -15 | -11 | -1 | -4 |
| 1959 | 54 | -18 | -31 | -2 | -3 |
| 1964 | 31 | 39 | -62 | -3 | -5 |
| 1966 | -11 | 61 | -42 | -4 | -4 |
| 1970 | 38 | 17 | -41 | -10 | -4 |
| 1974 | 56 | 65 | -109 | -7 | -5 |
| 1974 | 49 | 70 | -103 | -8 | -8 |
| 1979 | 60 | 34 | -77 | -9 | -9 |
| 1983 | 121 | 30 | -142 | -6 | -3 |
| 1987 | 101 | 29 | -125 | -5 | -0 |
| 1992 | 63 | 47 | -96 | -8 | -6 |
| 1997 | -37 | 133 | -64 | -6 | -25 |
| 2001 | -42 | 144 | -68 | -8 | -26 |
| 2005 | -11 | 128 | -80 | -5 | -31 |
| 2010 | 72 | 70 | -93 | -5 | -43 |
| 2015 | 91 | 34 | -43 | 24 | -106 |
| 2017 | 42 | 2 | -36 | 16 | -24 |
| 2019 | 81 | -6 | -64 | 24 | -35 |
| Total | 1,044 | 748 | -1,418 | -27 | -346 |
The Liberals/ LibDems (and their voters) have historically lost, though more recently UKIP and the Greens have been victims too.
I understand that people may not have voted the same ways in protest with a different system. It still appears to me that I have lived in a minority run country for all but 5 years of my life.
The other great unfairness of the system is not all votes are equal. Live in a constituency with a huge majority for one side and your vote is useless (in Brightlingsea or Newham the corpse of Jimmy Saville (deceased UK celebrity, unmasked after his death as a massive paedophile and sexual abuser) could run as the candidate for Tories or Labour respectively and win).
There needs to be change.
Constitution
The UK needs a written constitution. All the bits and pieces and accepted norms are no barrier to charlatans and demagogues. I do not want to be taken to war again by a Prime Minister in thrall to an idiot from Texas. It would define the roles of the legislature, judiciary, Cabinet and the roles in there. A series of moderated meetings of statistically selected members of the public would bring debate and decide on this – moderated by an independent panel. This has been done in many other countries.
I would get rid of the monarchy, but we could keep a ceremonial one if people really wanted it, whatever we need a head of state. The argument against this would be that they are a political figure. I suggest a Head of State in charge of enforcing the Constitution. Their only roles would be to ensure that the other parts of the system follow the rules. They could override the Prime Minister in constitutional matters.
There would be a supreme court in charge of legislation under the constitution. It would not be political and membership would not be open to anyone who had served in the upper or lower house. Appointment would be based on interviews and their performance in the judiciary, not in the power of the Constitutional Head or the Prime Minister.
The behaviour of individual MPs and Senators would be monitored and enforced by a Committee for standards under the constitutional head.
There would be a strict code of misconduct. Lying to either house, briefing the media before Parliament, misuse of public funds, etc. would be offences that would have them removed from either House.
The Upper House
The USA manages on an upper chamber of 100, yet the UK has over 800 Lords and Ladies, 93 of whom are still hereditary. I would suggest an upper chamber of 99 based on the same system as the European elections were with constituencies, with numbers scaled up.
| London | 11 |
| South West England | 8 |
| South East England | 14 |
| East of England | 9 |
| West Midlands | 10 |
| East Midlands | 7 |
| North West England | 11 |
| North East England | 4 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 |
| Wales | 5 |
| Scotland | 8 |
| Northern Ireland | 4 |
The upper chamber would act as a check on the Lower House and act as a buffer against illegal activities, prior to the Constitutional Head. There would be no question of them not being able to act as they see now as unelected members.
Terms would be six years with a third of members (roughly) being elected every two years.
The Lower House
Lovers of first past the post say that any PR will remove the link to constituencies. This is totally rubbish. If there was a house of 401 MPs then 300 could have constituencies and the others be top ups. Alternatively like the upper house there could be regional groups that elect up to ten MPs and they would be assigned a smaller area within that to be responsible for surgeries, etc.
The Lower House would have a sensible working schedule, that does not include late night sitting. Voting and attendance remotely would be allowed for representatives, especially those from constituencies far from London.
There would be coalition government – I think there would be a Corbynite Left, a Centre Left, the Lib Dems, a One Nation Tory party and an ERG type party, plus regional parties and the Greens. Good. I Have no love for UKIP, but all those voters had no parliamentary voice. There would also be no mileage in appeasing extremists as the more moderate would have alternative parties to go to. Some people do not want coalitions – ignoring the fact that we already have them – within the two main parties where the deals are made behind closed doors and a change of leader can bring a total change of direction.
The current state of devolution means that Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on matters that do not affect their constituents. This may affect how governing coalitions are made up, but fundamentally the principle of having a say on what does not affect you is unfair.
MPs and Senators
The reduction in the number of representatives would mean that salaries would be higher. This may annoy some people but I want the best, smartest people to be running the country. I would then ban any external jobs. These are full time jobs, not part time exercises where they can be topped up with directorships etc. Any shareholdings would have to be placed in a blind trust, run by a genuinely independent group of trustees (possibly a body set up to do it). Salary rises would be linked to a weighted average of public sector workers.
Conversely MPs and senators would not be allowed to use private medicine or private schools. Anyone running these services for the public has to be users of them. This may be seen as unfair but people do not have to run for office. Bars and restaurants in Parliament would no longer be subsidised.
MPs and Senators from outside London would have accommodation in London. Several blocks of flats would be built and furnished (with security) so there would be no expenses scandals for flipping.
Any expenses would have to be supported by receipts, unlike the current situation where they can have £500 without a receipt.
Rather than office allowances each MP or Senator would have an office provided with a set number of workers. These would be employed centrally and subject to proper recruitment processes, rather than the current situation where family members are disproportionately employed.
In order to better reflect society each party would not be able to have more representatives (percentage wise) than the proportion of the general population that attended public schools. Lists would have to reflect the general diversity of the UK population.
I would not allow just anyone to be elected. Recent statements from ministers and MPs have shown a devastating lack of knowledge (like Dominic Raab not knowing a lot of trade goes through Dover or Priti Patel and Liz Truss in general). I would introduce exams that would have to be passed to stand for election. There would be supplementary papers to qualify to be eligible for roles as Ministers or select committee chairs.
I would also have term limits for representative roles. I suggest no one would be able to remain as an elected representative member for more than 23 years (or the end of the Parliament that their 25th year falls in).
Another Jim Steinman produced track (https://wordpress.com/post/fivemilesout.home.blog/2242 ). A soaring, crashing epic of a track by the Sisters of Mercy, Three albums with three different line ups, the only links being Andrew Eldritch and the drum machine Doktor Avalanche. The best album is their third, Vision Thing, with tracks like Doctor Jeep – a reflection of the Reagan years. This is from their second album, Floodland, when it soars (like on this track and Dominion/Mother Russia) it is unbeatable, on other tracks it is less good.
The title is so apposite for the main part of this entry.
This Corrosion
Playlist:
- First and Last and Always
- Black Planet
- A Rock and a Hard Place
- Marian (Version)
- Dominion/ Mother Russia
- Lucretia My Refection
- 1959
- This Corrosion
- Flood II
- Vision Thing
- Detonation Boulevard
- Doctor Jeep
- More
- Ribbons
- When You Don’t See Me
- Temple of Love (1992)
- Under the Gun
Five Miles Out 