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Re:UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after just 45 days in... by Aromasin on Thursday October 20, 2022 @09:38AM (#33274531)
To say they have not been elected is a completely falsification of our parliamentary system. The UK general populace has never voted for a PM. Party members do, and every single prime minister (bar some few exceptions) have been elected by their Party in some way, shape, or form. The four PMs you mention were voted into power by Conservative voters. Conservative members decide who to lead their party, not the anyone else. This is why you don't get situations like you do in the US, where the President can be of a different party to most of those in government (and little ever gets done because legislation gets caught in either house or senate).

We vote for MPs, not Parties. Of course, in practice, the vast majority of people vote for their Party not their local MP when they go to the polls during a general election. That isn't how the system is design to function though. Most people couldn't even name their local MP - the one who is actually meant to represent their personal interests - which is an utter travesty.

Re:UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after just 45 days in... by smcl on Thursday October 20, 2022 @10:19AM (#33275028)
Ah come on, when someone says this everyone knows what is meant and that when it happens there's a risk you could end up with a prime minister who is popular within the party but disliked by the electorate (Gordon Brown or Liz Truss).

So yeah you don't vote for a PM ... but there's a clear, well-understood difference between being the leader when your party wins the general election and a winning an internal leadership battle when a few hundred thousand party members vote.

Re:UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after just 45 days in... by ycombigator on Thursday October 20, 2022 @06:48PM (#33281829)
I always love it when people turn up to explain why we technically have a functioning democracy.