It comes down to the voting system, as it often does. First Past the Post ruins everything once again. The Tories gained 1.2 percentage points and 300k votes over 2017, but that translated to a gain of 48 seats, or a 8% of the House of Commons. Labor lost 7.8 pp (2.6 million votes) from 2017, and lost 60 seats, -9.2% of the House of Commons. Meanwhile the SNP gained 0.9 pp amounting to 250k votes, but gained 13 seats, or 2% of parliament, and the LibDems gained 4.2 pp (1.3 million votes) -- the largest gain for any party, percentage-wise or in raw numbers -- and LOST 1 seat (-0.15%) in the House of Commons. It was Corbyn's (highly deserved, IMO) unpopularity and a fractured anti-Brexit vote in a broken electoral system that did it.
They were offered IRV though, not STV. IRV without multi-member districts can have worse outcomes than FPTP. ETA: It still might be worth the risk for elected executive offices, assuming no means can be found to share the power among a committee, but for a legislature, very likely not.
Define worse outcomes? It's definitely not perfect but we use it for the House of Reps and it's definitely superior to FPTP most of the time.
The fact that it's only safe to vote for your first choice first if they either are guaranteed a win or have no chance of winning. Otherwise it's just as likely that your vote causes your least favorite to win (in a 3-way race), and it's even harder than in FPTP to vote strategically.
That's a fair point, but I'd bet that happens a lot less than vote splitting causing the same result in FPTP. Not to say there aren't better preferential systems like you mentioned. Definitely agree on having multiple representatives per electorate.
Parliament backs Brexit deal in decisive step toward leaving the E.U. on Jan. 31 LONDON — British lawmakers on Friday finally voted to back a plan to withdraw from the European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's bill, backed by a huge parliamentary majority, will take the country out of the 28-member bloc on Jan. 31, and lays the groundwork for sweeping foreign and trade policy shifts. The 358-234 vote marks a significant breakthrough for Johnson, who stormed to electoral victory last week on a pledge to “get Brexit done.” The former mayor of London won the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987, confirming his position as prime minister after he took over from Theresa May in July. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...it-deal-decisive-step-toward-leaving-n1105601
Really? Mine are devasted, two have filed for citizenship in Germany over the last months, one is about to do so in France. The one Scotswoman I know is much more upbeat.
You mean the ones who live in the US? Those of us who live here and can think beyond singing the anthem and waving a flag are less pleased.
In which case I'm sorry to say we have an awful lot of people who would agree with them, typically without really knowing why. Brexit has always been tribal but the "get it done" line is particularly dangerous where it plays on people's frustrations with delays. Admittedly there is a lot to be said for the silver lining of having dodged "no deal" but the fact remains we have a very strong conservative and nationalistic cabinet in place with little to no effective opposition and I suspect very little realistic planning or assessment has been done with regard to the aftermath. We owe our position as the world's sixth largest economy to our EU membership and we lack the infrastructure and manufacturing to operate on a WTO trade arrangement, not to mention the destabilising effect this will likely have on Europe as a whole. Bear in mind the period characterised by the EU has been the single longest period of uninterrupted peace between it's constituent states in history, one driven by shared economic interest. It's a bad time to be a Brit and if it weren't for the ties I have here I'd have been looking to emigrate three years ago.
I am not sure the new BMW look is going to sell over all, but it sounds like the right, get it right, step for the brand. Especially for sale in america. I actually think that might be the first BMW a trumpanzee would be all about buying. Especially if you could put a gun rack in there I am sure you could compete with ford. I would imagine it gets about 2 or 3 mpg and belches black smoke without the added coal burner which is a draw for the right wing. I also like how the style will go along with the other vehicles in trump voter's yards. All you brits have to do is slap the word trump on it and you can sell these over here like hotcakes.
Yay, Brexit is happening! The UK was nice while it lasted. Don't worry the US will probably join you when we elect trump for a second term. Good luck and godspeed.
