Party Line – 1:1 chat across the political spectrum

Re:Party Line – 1:1 chat across the political spectrum by pjc50 on Monday October 19, 2020 @11:01AM (#24826964)

This is a political problem and not a technical one. The UK already uses STV, D'Hondt, and AMS in various elections. There is no campaign to change those to FPTP. The reason we can't change the Westminster voting system is exactly the reason we want it: because it would disrupt the existing party alignment and power structure. Same reason we still have an entirely unelected legislative house.

The same, presumably, applies in America. Parties are willing to sabotage elections altogether there rather than risk making them fairer.

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Re:Party Line – 1:1 chat across the political spectrum by dane-pgp on Monday October 19, 2020 @01:11PM (#24828450)

> There is no campaign to change those to FPTP.

That depends what you mean by "campaign"[0] (or "is", I suppose[1]).

We saw in the 2019 election that individual MPs[2] and even the parties themselves[3] were willing to create electoral alliances for a single issue goal. It is not inconceivable then that an alliance could be formed (perhaps in the aftermath of a hung parliament, or in the run up to a close election) where MPs agreed to introduce a voting system which made the minimum possible change to the existing procedure while also making all future "standing down candidates" alliances unnecessary.

[0] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/the-conservatives-just-p...

[1] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research...

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50398820

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/07/lib-dems-gr...

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