2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Every other major news item gets a thread, so thought why not have a thread about the election?

Some big names not standing as MP's this election. Some I admire, some I don't. 34 Conservatives, 35 Labour, 10 Liberals, 1 Plaid Cymru, 1 Independent. A selection of those not standing.

CONSERVATIVE

William Hague, Richmond Yorkshire
David Willetts, Havant

LABOUR

Hazel Blears, Salford & Eccles
David Blunkett, Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough
Gordon Brown, Kirkcaldy & Fife
Alistair Darling, Edinburgh South West
Frank Dobson, Holborn & St Pancras
Glenda Jackson, Hampstead & Kilburn
Dame Tessa Jowell, Dulwich & West Norwood
Dawn Primarolo, Bristol South
Jack Straw, Blackburn

Notable Liberal not standing, Sir Menzies 'Ming' Campbell, former leader of the Party. Representing North East Fife.

---------- Post added at 21:37 ---------- Previous post was at 21:35 ----------

Link to Wiki article, where I found the list of who is standing down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_2015

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

A few less of Blair's babes to worry about, not to mention the women... :D

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Wow.

So long Ming!

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/01/12.jpg

So long Flash!

EDIT: Alright I just voted on the poll. Have people been smoking crack on a school night again?!

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

No greens, other or not bothering :(

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Added.

---------- Post added at 06:46 ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 ----------

Although the questioner has asked who will get the most seats rather than who'll you'll vote for

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Indeed, that was the part that freaked me out although I did assume that people read the poll.

At the time I voted the leader of the poll was UKIP. Really?

Here's a thought for UKIP supporters - try supporting electoral reform if (when) the results of the GE make you feel unrepresented in Parliament as ~14% share of the vote turns into less than 1% of seats. :)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

A representative system can have anomalies over the national figures but is far better than a national PR system that simply gets the least unpopular in and blocks ability to vote for a candidate, local party/independent.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

A half and half per-Germany of course is the best of both.

There are far too many safe constituencies where holding an election is basically a waste of money - this one's been Labour since 1923, the lowest share of the vote they've had in all that time being 47.3% with the current incumbent polling 48.2%, 66.9%, 60% and 49.3%.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Because it's not for 3 1/2 months yet, and everyone will be sick of it by March? ;)

I'll be running official opinion poll threads during the three weeks immediately prior to the election itself, plus an exit poll on election day, as I did in 2010 and 2005 (10 years ago! :Yikes: ). This thread will do for general discussion for the time being. :)

---------- Post added at 13:34 ---------- Previous post was at 13:30 ----------

That's certainly true. Here in Scotland we are suffering a nationalist "government" which has an additional fig leaf of legitimacy thanks to its overall majority of MSPs. A lot of people don't even realise that they achieved this, despite the PR voting system, on no more than 45% of the popular vote, thanks to the limitations of the system in use.

Personally I think a two party system, with mass membership and a genuine influence over policy, candidate selection and recall is inherently more democratic than a fractured system of single interest pressure groups doing coalition deals behind closed doors, the inevitable consequence of which is a programme for government that nobody voted for.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

l think the majority of us are sick of it already and there are still 108 days to go before the damn thing.:sleep::bigcry:

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I feel like the majority of the 5 years of this government have been one long campaign :(

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Indeed if only politician's thought about what's best for this country rather then their own selfish ends we would be a much better country but sadly all they are interested in is how they can manoeuvre themselves into a better position to get re-elected in five years time.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Sorry Chris, I'm just an impatient little twerp.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Hear, hear, denphone.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

No problem. It'll be quite interesting to see how this goes actually. As Carl said, we've just come through what amounts to a five-year election campaign (brought about, IMO, by a hung parliament kept hanging around by the ridiculous fixed term Act that was one of the consequences of the coalition). It will be interesting to see what people are thinking about it all as what may now be the longest campaign-proper in political history gets underway.

I thought the fixed term act was a good idea initially. But after watching the last 18 months of parliamentary time going to utter waste, I have changed my mind.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Labour lead falls as Greens hit 20-year high in Guardian/ICM poll.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...e-lib-dem-ukip

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I voted for "other" because there isn't an option for "none of the above / spoiling vote"

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Poll question is about who will have the most seats, regardless of a majority not who you are voting for.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

:tu:

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

:clap::clap::clap:

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Indeed, let it happen tomorrow i can make my spoiling vote against Cameron and then get on with my life.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I wonder if this election will spark electorate reform, especially a move to proportional representation of some kind. It's possible in the aftermath to have many parties (UKIP, Greens) where they voter share doesn't translate to many seats at all. You could have, theoretically at least, a situation where the majority of the parliament is made up 600+ seats are assigned according to 60% of the vote whereas the other 40% gets a handful.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

The majority will be with the 'not voted' camp as it has been since the 1950's iirc

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

We have had a referendum on electoral reform. It didn't go well for the reformers. Given that PR would result in endless coalition, and we have just experienced five years of coalition, I find it hard to see where the arguments are going to come from that might change everyone's mind on the issue.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Can't say I fancy another 5 years of bickering and inertia.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I think the arguments will come when the outcome of the election shows a wide discrepancy between votes cast and seats awarded. It's one thing to advocate first past the post in a two party system where 70% to 80% of voters have voted for one of two parties. It's another when only around 60% voted for them and the remaining 40% see but a handful of seats allocated to them.

If you take current polls and assume a uniform swing then the Liberal Democrats will win 8% of the vote but get 18 seats whereas UKIP with a projected vote share of 15% will win anything between 1 to 4/5 seats. The Greens will increase their vote share about 10 fold from 0.9% to 10% (again on current polling) but could well lose their only seat to win 0 seats for that share.

I don't think you can sustain the argument that FFTP is better when people are being allocated twice as many seats or more than parties that won far more votes. It's absurd that the Liberal Democrats can get less votes than the Green Party but get 18 seats to their none. The Conservatives can get twice as many votes as UKIP but UKIP will be award a handful of seats whereas the Tories would be given orders of magnitude more seats.

It seems to me that this system only works when the majority of votes goes to one of the two parties. When the vote share is more evenly spread then people are voting for coalitions anyway and all FFTP does is cause a big inequality to the process. You suggest that coalitions are a unfavorable result but for the second time running it seems that is what the electorate will choose. The arguments will come from the that we might as well make sure that the coalitions better represent the voters themselves.

Finally I suspect that a minority Labour/Lib-Dem/SNP coalition will make a referendum on this a condition of any agreement and insist the Labour leadership campaign for a Yes vote. This time they'll also have the support of likes of UKIP and the Greens in additional to the Lib-Dems and SNP. The electoral landscape has changed a lot in 5 years.

I think voters sick of the two-party system and more open to voting for minority parties will win that the vote for electoral change will be a lot closer than last time.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

You sound like a Scottish nationalist. They're also fond of claiming that the reasons why they lost their referendum no longer apply. ;)

Nobody voted for a coalition in 2010. All the parties made a pitch for outright control of the Commons and I doubt many people who voted Lib Dem, Tory or Labour, did so in order to influence the structure and nuances of the resulting government, but rather to state which party should have the job, or else (in the case of the Lib Dems) to make a principled but futile stand against the rest.

I'm not sure which polls you're reading to suggest people may deliberately choose a coalition this year by opting to support minor parties. British electoral arithmetic is well understood. There can't be many people who actually think about their vote, who don't understand the likely consequences of voting for a party that has a thin sheen of support across a nation of 65 million people, but almost no depth of support in any one place.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Their referendum was a few months ago though. ;)


I don't think anyone is actively choosing a coalition but that their support for a minority party shows that the prospect isn't sending them to Labour or Tories. They may switch back at the last moment as we saw with the Lib Dem collapse 5 years ago but if they don't then they're at best ambivalent about the idea of it.

I mean a lot of UKIP and SNP support is voters who want them in a coalition to pressure one of the main parties into whatever policies they want enacted.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Labour extends lead over Conservatives despite attacks from business.


http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...liband-cameron

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

ITV to air first party leaders’ TV debate on 2 April.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...ate-on-2-april

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

If it goes ahead.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Labour to cut Student Fees to £6,000 if they win.

BBC So.......

There are roughly 1.5 million full-time students (doing a first degree, so not counting post-grads), so we will need to raise £3000 x 1,500,000 per year = £4,500,000,000.

£4.5 billion pounds per year - does he really think there are enough people earning over £150,000 per year in the country, whose reduction in tax relief on their pension contributions could pay for this?

Also, further down in the article, it states Cutting £4.5 billion from the Universities funding, and replacing it with £2.7 billion - excellent idea.......

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Doesn't matter about the sums, Hugh.
everybody's sums won't work out when they get in anyway.

so 1.5 million votes for Labour is good

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Except they never bother to turn out so they don't count.

Does Ed think he's really found another magic money tree?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

And that's the problem - as long as it's someone else's money, it doesn't matter....

(but tax money is all our money (those of us who pay taxes, anyway...))

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Nobody cares about taxes.
it's either given away to other countries or being used for something stupid anyway.

as long as we all get something out of it. then a lot of people are not fussed.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

People that don't pay much tax don't care about taxes.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Even ignoring the rest this is an extraordinarily bad idea in the manner it's being funded.

What happened when Labour messed with tax relief on pensions? The money piled into buy to let. Exactly the same will happen here. By making pensions even less attractive it'll push yet more money into the property market.

We already have the second 'hottest' property market in the world, this won't help.

That's ignoring the policy as a whole. A far better policy, in my opinion, would be to spend a couple of hundred million a year educating potential HE students on the particulars of student finance, alongside lowering the interest rate on the loans somewhat, perhaps to match the cost to the government of funding them, so perhaps based on the 10 year gilt rate.

This is a really lame attempt at a bribe for the youth vote... the youth that would largely have voted Labour anyway.

Our politicians are, by and large, truly pathetic.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Oh, I pay loads of tax.

and still don't care.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Of the 1.5 million students, Hugh, some will be international students paying tuition themselves, so it's perhaps not as simple as 1.5 million times £3000.

---------- Post added at 20:16 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

I suspect your definition of 'loads' probably differs from Hugh's.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

According to HESA, there are over 1.8 million under-grads, of which 1.58 million are from the UK - I didn't count the over half a million post-grads. ;)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Probably. might be millions :)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Thanks for the figures. Even worse than you first thought. So a crap policy in basically every way beyond the superficial bribery angle. Superb work by Labour.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I agree Den

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Like the Conservatives offering more bribes to pensioners I am guessing the idea is to get their 'base' to turn out.

The better policy would have been to introduce a graduate tax that's payable over a certain income post graduation. This is all the student loan is now anyway. The funding is a red-herring in my opinion as the particulars of how the loan is paid back means that many won't ever replay the full loan anyway. You pay 9% on incomes over £21,000 and after 30 years any remaining debt is written off. Most are not projected to pay it all back.

So the Labour policy is rubbish anyway as it works out making little difference to students unless they're paying it off as a lump sum or will have a big enough income post graduation to pay it off within the 30 year time frame.

The amount for the treasury probably balances out but Labour have also increased the maintenance grant so overall this will probably be more expensive. The expansion of the maintenance grant however is a much more morally defensible policy and one which will help students.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

We are going to be subjected to quite a few stupid policies and plenty of false promises pity there isnt a four month sleeping pill I'd be first in line as its just going to be a very negative nasty campaign with the same end at the end of it more of the public will get screwed then benefit.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Agreed, i have not bothered reading or listening to any of the rubbish spouted so far by any of the parties. I will make my mind up in the voting booth when i go to vote if i go to vote.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Ed Miliband on course for a absolute majority, according to the latest poll but not many approve of his leadership of the Labour party.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...y-labour-party

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

My prediction is that we are on course for another 1992. A lot more people will vote for the nasty Tories than are prepared to admit it. They will look at Ed Miliband on polling day and think, "if he wins today, will the last person out of Britain please switch off the lights."

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

My hunch is we could be looking at another coalition.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I'd go with the political pundits on this: A minority government with another election in the Autumn in an attempt to secure a majority.

Why would anybody hitch up their cart to the lib-dem loosers?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

If the Conservative or Labour parties don't get the absolute majority then sadly the horse trading will begin and if that means getting hitched up with the Lib Dems then l think they are both prepared to do that to get their grubby hands on power again heero.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

This might happen but polling has got better since '92 and people have expected a Tory resurgence as we got closer to the election but it hasn't happened. Remember that the last time around the Tories didn't win enough to get a majority and now they've got UKIP biting at their ankles.

I think we're heading for a coalition. Either Labour/Liberal Democrats or a Tory/Lib-Dem one like this time.

We could get a Labour/SNP confidence and supply agreement too. The SNP are looking likely to be the third biggest party but are unlikely to get a coalition government ahead of a 2016 election in Scotland.

Still it's hard to see how Cameron can remain Prime Minster at the moment. The electoral maths doesn't help them at all.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

my prediction is the country will be run by a morally bankrupt self serving bunch of toffs .

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Either party that wants power. If one of the big parties gets enough to form a working majority with the addition of the Liberal Democrats then that is what will happen. They will be a lot easier to work with than the SNP who'll spend the next 5 years pulling stunt after stunt to boost their popularity in Scotland alone, destabilise the union and gain Independence.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Anyway, that's enough about Nigel Farage.....;)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

i see the spokes person for the bum twitching party has awakened from his slumber :)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Yes, I think another coalition but doubt Lib Dems will hold the power this time to help form a Government. Apparently, a lot of Liberal voters are so disillusioned by Clegg since 2010 that they are planning to either not bother voting or give their votes to UKIP or Conservatives.

Realistically, think the Tories might have to do a deal with either UKIP or the SNP. Preferably the SNP (despite my feelings on the Scots having a say in Westminster politics).

---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 ----------

According to a website (www.electionforecast.co.uk), current projections of seats won are:

CON - 290
LAB - 277
LIB - 25
SNP - 56
PC - 1
GRN - 1
UKIP - 1
OTH - 1

So realistically, it would have to be a coalition with the SNP at these current projections.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

To be honest I would be happy with the current arrangement continuing. The Tories in power but with the Liberal Democrats curtailing their authoritarian tendencies. A Labour Government is more likely to reform the electoral system though so that would suit me too. Last thing I want is the SNP doing anything.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Well, the way you react when anyone makes a joke about St Nigel, you may be the spokesman for the twitchy party.......

Methinks your words and negativity show your lack of confidence......;)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

It is a matter of who we trust and that is not easy, as long as the SNP Don,t get in.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

l suppose at the end of the day voters will have to choose the least worse option nash but sadly the candidates we have to choose from are poor to say the least.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

There wasn't an awful lot wrong with the polls in 1992. The problem was, people *lied*. They didn't want to admit they were voting for the nasty party. Right up to and including the exit polls. But they had looked at Neil Kinnock and thought "no way".

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

IMHO the really nasty party is the party which lied and spun it's way into power, cynically saying one thing whilst doing another. They're worse than the supposed 'fat cat Tory toffs' they perennially try to smear in order to gain favour yet waste no time emulating when they get the chance whether in or out of office.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Osem you've just described all politicians ;).

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Probably more because they're all steadilly descending into the gutter. That always makes the last lot worse than their predecessors.;) Mind you having said that New Liebour was a quantum leap into the abyss.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

At the end of the day, they are all out for what they can get for themselves

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Agreed

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Exactly and they will have nice gold plated pensions at the end of it as well.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Yes Den and when they are caught cheating they say " It was an error of judgement" and then they get an extra bonus.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

SNP set for 56 of 59 Scottish seats in general election, poll suggests.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...-poll-suggests

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Well i never thought i would be calling Cameron a coward but i am now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31745808

If that man wants people to vote for him and his party he should take part in these debates. At the moment he looks weak and cowardly.

He has changed the goal posts constantly over these debates just like he will over a referendum, the way it looks he will not get the chance anyway as who would vote for a weak cowardly politician who cannot face his opponents in a debate.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Apparently, debates are only good for those opposing the sitting person (in this case, it would be good for Miliband, etc. but bad for Cameron). So if this is indeed the case, then of course Cameron will be scared. What Cameron needs is for Mili-Bean to be caught insulting voters before the election, a la Brown and his bigoted woman slip.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I feel insulted every time Miliband opens his mouth. :LOL:

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

A poll also suggested they would win the referendum.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Yup. The debates would allow Miliband, who is generally viewed poorly in terms of leadership, to appear on a level footing with the Prime Minister. Since expectations would be so low for Miliband he could well gain from it whereas it's hard to see how Cameron benefits unless Miliband has a meltdown.

Debates aren't a democratic right. This is only the second election we may have them. They're a political campaigning tool as so they will be viewed as such by the political parties. Cameron doesn't want them because he doesn't suit him and Miliband desperately wants them because the format suits him.

Cameron would have rather been seen as a coward than allow Miliband to be seen as a prospective Prime Minister.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Indeed and that's why we can have all these polls saying this and that but the only one that matters is in the first week of May.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I dread to think what will happen if the SNP win , we will be back to a referendum in no time, Makes me wish I was English,

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Do you think the SNP would push for that in a coalition deal, like the Liberals did with a referendum on the AV system?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

The SNP has a long list of things it wants out of a coalition. Their list is so long, they have already pretty much guaranteed that a coalition involving them is off the table.

But no, they won't get another referendum, even if it's their only demand.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Great. :D

Now we'll all be able to focus better on what the SNP's going to do about all that oil revenue it's already 'spent' many times over but isn't likely to get any time soon.

Just listening to the Daily Politics and Lord Adonut claiming that Gordon Brown agreed to TV debates because he thought they were a "good democratic innovation". What a crock!..... :rofl:

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I don't think the SNP want to enter a formal coalition anyway.

I wonder if the broadcasters will follow though on the threat to empty chair Cameron? If they had a two way debate with only Miliband turning up that would be a pretty brutal image for the Conservatives. Would the BBC/ITV have the nerve to do it?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I think if the Prime Minister decides not to attend it is the right decision. Let's get back to the Government governing this Country, not the media.

The TV would love a "ratings busting" bickering talkshop. If the debates go ahead, an empty chair will show me that Mr Cameron is getting on with the real job, not turning up to squabble with a bunch of no-hopers.

This isn't a service for the public either; it's not as if we'll all be sitting around with our popcorn watching.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I hope your right Chris,

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Not a massive fan of the debates tbh, three hours on TV do not a statesman make, I mean everyone agreed with nick during them but no one has agreed with him since

---------- Post added at 15:40 ---------- Previous post was at 15:39 ----------

I hope he's wrong about the referendum

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

People don't really care what politicians think, they want to see a barney arguing over party lines and seeing who can perform the best. So politicians don't state what they think in debates, it may come over wrong, may give the wrong image.

The modern curse, image over content.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I see Cameron's spine has turned yellow.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I am hoping they go ahead with the debates and leave a gap where he should have stood so everyone can see what a yellow belly he is. :D

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

The cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz seems to have more courage then Mr Cameron if he can't face the Labour misfit Mr Miliband in a one on one debate.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

I remember the "Have I got news for you" quiz where they put a pat of lard in the chair that Roy Hattersley was supposed to occupy.

Perhaps members could nominate a product to occupy Dave's vacant chair?

Yellow custard?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

One Party banned...https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/03/43.jpg


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-31751548

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Cameron isn't a coward. He is a politician and we're coming up to an election. The debates are not a constitutional requirement of supreme importance to the democratic process. They're a electioneering tool for the parties and cheap TV for broadcasters that we imported from the United States complete with 'spin-rooms' and snap polls declaring a winner.

Miliband wants them because it helps him. Cameron doesn't want it because it won't help him and could help Miliband. It's a political calculation in an election. They're playing politics. It's a winner for Labour because either way Cameron probably doesn't look good from it.

Personally I want the debates because I think Miliband is a better person then he gets given credit for filtered by the press but also because it would be fun to watch the debate.

The politics and the tactics of it are debatable but the moralising over it winds me up.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

White feather :)

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Cameron has everything to lose and little to gain. Milipede would do exactly the same in his shoes.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Exactly. Wasn't Brown playing these exact same games back in 2009/10 before that election? Look how that worked for the incumbent party. People might call him a coward, but actually Cameron is being smart as he knows from experience that he will only damage his party's chances of winning the election.

---------- Post added at 23:19 ---------- Previous post was at 23:09 ----------

Out of interest, does anyone know what the likely result would be if the Liberals had managed to get the AV system in for this election? And also am I right in thinking had Scotland voted yes they wouldn't be voting in this election?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

The AV system would allow the eurosceptics to vote UKIP + conservative, would probably increase the green vote as people could choose green + whatever they think the least worst alternative is.

AV would probably have increased the representation of minority parties (though nothing like as much as PR) and also mitigated the "divided opposition" effect.

Personally, I'd favour PR as a topup system, like the London assembly, which combines direct representation and proportionality, though either the total number of MPs would have to be increased, or the number of constituencies reduced to make room for the topups - possibly two MP constituencies where one is directly elected an the other by a proportional formula.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

That was another unknown. The SNP position was to have Scottish MPs until indepence kicked in a year or so after the election.

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Scotland outcome will be interesting, given that they mostly don't support Conservative. I suspect that the SNP will do pretty well and in the likely event of another fricking coalition government, they are somewhat unlikely to go with the Conservatives. I wouldn't discount a Lab/SNP coalition, then we'll all be screwed, it's definitely interesting times we're living in now that the trad Con/Lab two party thing has been diluted by this myriad of small parties. Presumably as a result the FPTP system will need to be reworked, but to what?

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

They are going ahead with the debates and will empty chair Cameron if he doesn't turn up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31771198

Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread
 

Have I Got News For You faced a similar problem in the 90s when Roy Hattersley refused to turn up so they replaced him with a tub of lard.