And so the tide begins to turn

[Gary L]

There might be a big spurt of BNP voters on the day.

I think you chose the correct verb there, Gary old bean.

TBH I can't see what all the fuss is about a hung parliment in the UK. Moany, if not most european countries have hung parliments after every election. It doesn't cause Germany, Norway etc grinding to a political halt....

[Will21st]

Originally Posted by Earl of Bronze

TBH I can't see what all the fuss is about a hung parliment in the UK. Moany, if not most european countries have hung parliments after every election. It doesn't cause Germany, Norway etc grinding to a political halt....

Um,yes it does.... Germany is not exactly willing to reform it's laws and/or practices.Just like Japan it's a society of consent,and as such change happens slowly.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Will21st

Um,yes it does.... Germany is not exactly willing to reform it's laws and/or practices.Just like Japan it's a society of consent,and as such change happens slowly.

It cuts both ways really. Under proportional representation small parties have a bigger chance of getting seats, and in a hung parliament (which is pretty much the norm under pr), they may be needed to make up the majority. They may be able to punch above their weight in the negotiations leading up to the coalition. Also, smaller parties can get popular more quickly, as there is less of a disincentive to vote for a smaller party. Unlike in the UK, they actually have a chance of getting a seat.

Either way, I think this issue of consent is actually quite important, as it means that more people feel represented in parliament. The biggest threat to any democratic system (imo) is people not feeling represented. Under pr, more than 50% of the people will have voted for one of the parties in power, something which is not (usually) the case in the UK.

[v0id]

Originally Posted by Gary L

There might be a big spurt of BNP voters on the day.

I much rather those who were going to waste their vote, at least waste it on something like the pirate party

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by danielf

It cuts both ways really. Under proportional representation small parties have a bigger chance of getting seats, and in a hung parliament (which is pretty much the norm under pr), they may be needed to make up the majority. They may be able to punch above their weight in the negotiations leading up to the coalition. Also, smaller parties can get popular more quickly, as there is less of a disincentive to vote for a smaller party. Unlike in the UK, they actually have a chance of getting a seat.

Either way, I think this issue of consent is actually quite important, as it means that more people feel represented in parliament. The biggest threat to any democratic system (imo) is people not feeling represented. Under pr, more than 50% of the people will have voted for one of the parties in power, something which is not (usually) the case in the UK.

If there is a hung parliament, it may give the government an opportunity to at l;eats start discussing the viability of PR.

However, PR would unfortunately allow the more extreme wings of party politics to gain representation in the national government, so I would treat the concept with some caution.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

If there is a hung parliament, it may give the government an opportunity to at l;eats start discussing the viability of PR.

However, PR would unfortunately allow the more extreme wings of party politics to gain representation in the national government, so I would treat the concept with some caution.

It would. I am well aware of that. It does also mean that more people will feel represented, which I think is what democracy should be about. Not a two horse race, with a third one thrown in to make up the numbers, but a broad spectrum of parties that cater to different political preferences. The fact that you get coalition governments can smooth these differences out again.

Another thing to bear in mind is that under pure PR you do away with your local MP, which may or may not be a good thing.

Originally Posted by Damien

Not sure if we have a topic yet for this Election so thought I would start one. Mods please rename/delete if you think it's too early to be chucking election talking into one topic.

A new poll has been released suggesting a Hung Parliament, which seems to be a common view amongst the pollsters.

This is the second Grauniad/Observer poll in as many weeks to make this prediction, and we have a thread on the first one. Probably best to keep discussion about them together.

As for a general, all-purpose General Election thread, I think we should keep that until the election is formally called. As in 2005 I will be running a weekly opinion poll thread to see how the floating voters of Cable Forum evaluate the parties' campaigns, so when the time comes, I will be starting those threads and exterminating all competitors.

So, for the time being, two threads discussing Guardian/Observer predictions of a hung parliament have been merged.