Policies / Democracy
|
We consider the election process in this country to be highly undemocratic. The system where a small constituency elects a single MP inevitably results in a parliament being created of representatives who do not represent the majority of the electors in this constituency. This is not democracy! For example, if party A achieves 40% of the vote, party B 35% and party C 25% the candidate of Party A is elected. However this leaves 60% of the electorate effectively unrepresented in that constituency! In the General Election of May 2005 in broad statistics 44.3 million people were eligible to vote. 27.1 million people actually did vote and 9.6 million of those people voted for the Labour Party. This represents 35.2% of those who voted and 22% of those who were eligible. If we look at the distribution of seats, the Labour Party, who won 35% of the vote took 55% of the seats, the Liberal Democrats who won 22% of the votes took 10% of the seats. Excluding the particular situation of Northern Ireland, small parties (including Scottish and Welsh nationalists) won 5% of the votes but only took 1.7% of the seats. This is not democracy! This system of election leaves huge numbers of people feeling totally turned off by the process. If they live in a constituency which traditionally elects a member of party A with a large majority, why would they bother going to vote for any other party? The election inevitably boils down to those constituencies that are finely balanced, the “marginals”, more campaigning targeted in these places is what is seen to make the difference. All the other seats are left unattended to thereby alienating those voters. Humanists campaign for a new electoral system, based on proportional representation with multiple lists and lines. We want a democracy where the vote of every single person counts and where the overwhelming majority of people in this country know that in their area there is an MP in parliament who represents their views. Ridiculous arguments that PR systems bring weak government ignore the vast majority of governments in the world that are elected by PR and point an accusing figure at Italy. What this country needs is a government of consensus politics rather than a government elected by a minority that can run roughshod over the majority of the citizens of the country. PR elections will undoubtedly increase the proportion of people who go to vote because everyone will know that their vote really does count; it will allow the supporters of small parties to finally have their voice heard in National government and it will bring to an end the imposition of unpopular policies by a government with an unfairly obtained majority. We propose to scrap the costs of registering as a candidate, instead to replace the system by a nomination process. Each candidate has to have the backing of a number voters in their constituency in order to take part. For Humanists money should never be a barrier to taking part in the democratic process. We propose to reduce the legal age of voting to 16, recognising that if we consider 16 year olds eligible to get married and to have children, they certainly have the right to cast a vote. We propose to allow all people who live in an electoral territory (ward/constituency/region) to have the right to cast a vote. Those who are elected represent everyone in that constituency. To omit people, who do not have the correct paperwork, nationality or immigration status, from the electoral process is a gross form of discrimination. |
Newsletter Sign UpBreaking News
Humanist solidarity with non-violent Burma protesters
Voices in defence of Bolivia
Humanists demonstrate in Rostock against the G8 We'll do our best to get straight back to you. |